AFRICA REQUIRES DIVERSITY, NOT A GREEN REVOLUTION

By Howard Buffett Reprint | | Print |

This column is available for visitors to the IPS website only for reading. Reproduction in print or electronic media is prohibited. Media interested in republishing may contact romacol@ips.org.

DECATUR, ILLINOIS, Nov 23 2009 (IPS) - It is essential that the renewed interest in and funding for African agriculture and food security exhibited at the recent World Food Summit be acted upon quickly to avoid past failures. A heavy reliance on technology and western farming systems is not appropriate for addressing food security for poor, small-scale, resource-limited farmers.

The call for a green revolution for AfricaÂ’s fifty-four countries ignores the vast physical, political, and cultural differences found across the African continent. No technology or single philosophical approach can simultaneously correct soil fertility, replace organic matter or substitute for human knowledge across a continent the size of China, India and Russia combined. A singular focus on technology implies that agricultural production is a universally adaptable formula responsive to human innovation. It is not.

Technology has an important role to play in reducing malnutrition, improving crop yields and enhancing food security. At the same time, we cannot conclude that it is a silver bullet to a complex problem. Doing so has already decreased research for and investment in low-input solutions, including alternatives to inorganic chemical fertilizers. When technology is treated as an agricultural panacea, we force farmers to adapt to existing research and systems rather than the more appropriate course which is responsive to and driven by farmersÂ’ current systems, utilizing local knowledge and combing these elements with appropriate technology for specific situations. We must acknowledge that precision agriculture in one place may include the use of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and in another, it may require a string and stick to plant by hand.

Africa is a vast and diverse continent; the Inter Academy Council (IAC) reported that it has 17 distinct cropping systems with extreme variations in soil, climate, diseases and pests. As many as 70 percent of farms are small, fragmented plots of land with limited infrastructure; 95 percent of African crops are rain-fed with limitations for large-scale non-commercial expansion of sustainable irrigation. Farmers in these conditions have little or no access to markets; their survival is dependent on crop diversity. These eighty million small-scale farmers are by far the largest group of farmers found across Africa. They are net buyers of food, often experiencing hunger periods between harvests, and they require highly specific solutions that must be must be tailored, often on a village or individual basis. Using a template designed for other parts of the world is a mistake.

As evidenced by their limited agricultural budgets, few African countries champion farming as a means for poverty alleviation. Governments have also failed to deal effectively with land tenure issues. Without land ownership, there is little incentive for farmers to invest in improvements for long-term productivity gains. Unfair land policies are particularly hard on women, who comprise 70 percent of AfricaÂ’s farmers.

Africa is not conducive to the type of green revolution that occurred in the twentieth century. The green revolution in India and South East Asia emphasized monoculture wheat fields and rice paddies based on the intensive use of fossil fuel inputs and irrigation to achieve maximum yields. A large portion of Africa requires stable yields, adapted to low-input systems that maintain multiple crops. Most African farmers rely on crop rotations, intercropping and heterogeneous cropping to survive extreme conditions. Systems that drive uniformity have a negative impact on both traditional values and the environment; they can exacerbate hunger and malnutrition by reducing crop diversity.

There are solutions. The IAC recommends “regionally-mediated rather than continent-wide strategies”. After four years of research by 400 scientists, the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) came to similar conclusions, noting that a focus on small-scale sustainable agriculture, locally adapted seeds and ecological farming is the most beneficial way to address hunger, poverty and agricultural production in developing countries. These approaches require intensive training and a broad based extension service. Because they provide less opportunity for multinational corporations to make a profit, African governments are often forced to choose between two choices: accepting western ideas (and foreign investment) or refusing support and contending with their own inadequate resources.

Many resource-poor farmers can benefit from small interventions, including training in seed spacing, seed depth and row spacing; improved open-pollinated and hybrid seeds; basic land management; cover crops; terracing; inter-cropping; and minimum tillage techniques to help replace organic matter and rebuild soil structure. They also need access to sustainable fertilizers and soil analysis.

Policy and institutional reforms are also crucial; these include better extension services, strengthened farmer associations, improved rural credit, development of pest-resistant, drought-tolerant crops, innovative ideas such as carbon credits, increased research for local crop varieties, maximized yields through crop rotations, plant intermixing and integration of compatible varieties, improved post-harvest storage, rural electrification and soil regeneration strategies.

There are no quick fixes to Africa’s agricultural challenges. Until we admit this fact and deal with reality ­ that high-tech solutions do not fit the 80 million small-scale farmers in Africa- we will do a disservice to the very population we claim to help. True solutions require widespread multi-sector collaboration, a broader commitment to agriculture from African governments, a more flexible approach from donors and a lighter hand by western governments. It is imperative to include the voices of resource-limited farmers. Interventions must include an exit strategy for western donors with a commitment from African governments to develop successful rural economies. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

(*) Howard Buffett, President of HGB Foundation and United Nations Ambassador Against Hunger for the World Food Programme.