FACING THE FOOD CHALLENGE IN AFRICA

It has been taken for granted that Agriculture and the economies of countries in sub-Saharan Africa must remain liberalized irregardless of the consequences that arise from this process.

At a recent regional course in Sustainable Agriculture for East & Southern Africa held in Eldoret, Western Kenya, African experts lamented that the sorry state of the African farmer needs to be addressed. “The farmers have been thrown to the dogs and left to God’s mercy”, said one participant from the University of Zimbabwe. The workshop which was organized by the Sustainable Agriculture Centre for Research, Extension and Development in
Africa (SACRED-Africa), was attended by 36 participants from 7 countries in the region – namely South-Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, America and the host Kenya. An economist from Bunda College of Agriculture in Malawi, felt that African researchers spend too much time working on irrelevant and out-dated priorities and agenda. “These experts should be the ones telling us how liberalization and other market policies have affected the small-holder farmer in Africa, and what can be done to alleviate the situation,” adding that if a doctor gives a prescription to a patient and it does not work, he should be human enough and summon some courage to try another and not continue killing the poor fellow. What surprises everyone is the way governments in the region elected by the same farmers (70% of all voters across the region are farmers) continue to ignore this time bomb, just because they must please somebody ‘above’. Participants felt that while liberalization may not be had per se, its implementation was hurried, haphazard and without any escape routes. “life cannot just be about making money”, said one Kenyan participant.

One of the biggest challenges discussed at the workshop is how to make African farming more efficient and competitive. Improved communication and access to information by smallholder rural farmers was seen as the key in this direction. The issue of land tenure and conservation of natural resources (including forests, wetlands, and water) featured prominently at the meeting. It was felt that the continent inherited an unfair land tenure system from the former colonial governments and any efforts to reform and improve the situation has only ended up helping the rich and the well connected. “Only the color of the land owners seem to change, but the system remains unfair” said a participant from Makerere University, Uganda. The meeting felt that for the continent to improve the land productivity and incomes of its people, there is need for a radical change in land tenure systems that ensure maximum and efficient use of existing land resources. This should marry traditional and modern land legislation systems.

Dubbed participatory approaches to Sustainable Agriculture, the workshop was held from 29th October to 2nd November 2001, and brought together representatives from universities, NGOs, government, community-based organizations and the private sector. One participant from the Kwazulu Natal province, South-Africa, said that it was very frustrating the way we continue agonizing over Africa’s problems. We know the problems and the solutions, but we are not moving in any direction to show that we can solve these problems sustainably. The example of integrated development and decentralization of service provision in South Africa was seen by the participants as the one that holds the key to empowering local people in all our countries to take a lead in solving their own problems, leaving the central government to only play supervisory roles. The participants from Uganda shared their experiences of how agricultural service delivery has been decentralized in Uganda – under modernization for agriculture program. Under this program, farmers in the local counties are empowered to manage agricultural research and extension in their local areas – choosing the right service providers, deciding which messages they need and evaluating the performance of service providers. It was suggested that farmers be involved in the hiring and firing of agricultural extension agents-to increase accountability and improve service provision.

The issue of access to credit by farmers remained a contentious issue throughout the meeting. While noting that previous loans were often poorly repaid and that giving farmers loans was an expensive exercise since they often live in the rural areas which makes monitoring expensive. This coupled with natural calamities and poor producer prices has led many experts to conclude that credit to small holder farmers is an exercise in futility. However, participants at the workshop strongly felt that small scale farmers need and must have access to credit. A participant from CARE-Kenya said that there is no way professionals can pretend that they cannot come up with a model Sustainable Agriculture credit scheme for smallholder farmers.

Towards the end, It was resolved that because the workshop was a major eye opener in the region, it should henceforth be held annually on a rotating basis in different countries. SACRED Africa would like to thank the Rockefeller Foundation for sponsoring 8 postgraduate students from across the region to attend this workshop. Additional sponsorship for this workshop also came form Kulika charitable trust (Uganda), CARE-Kenya, Rural Outreach programme(Kenya), University of Zimbabwe, Moi University (Kenya) Ethekweni Municipality (South Africa), African Evangelistic Enterpises (Uganda), Kasisi Agricultural training college (Zambia), The international Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), VI-tree planting (Kenya) and several private companies-most of whom sponsored their staff or contacts. The wide range of participants at the meeting enabled the interaction and sharing of ideas and experiences between researchers, extensionists and community workers.

Next years workshop is scheduled for 13th – 14th October 2002 and will be held in Jinja, Uganda. Those wanting to attend or send their staff or contacts can contact the undersigned at the –email address below.

Dr. Eusebius J. Mukhwana,

Workshop Convener & Coordinator,

SACRED-Africa.

Po Box 2275, Bungoma, Kenya,

Tel – 254-337-30788; Email – [email protected]

SACRED AFRICA
Sustainable Agriculture Centre For Research & Development in Africa
PO Box 2275, Bungoma, Kenya, East Africa
Tel.: ++254-337-30788/30293
Fax: ++254-337-20235

Visit Our Award winning website: http://www.acts.or.ke/sacred

(comments made in this report are those of the organizers ans shoulkd not be taken to represent the opinion of the sponsors of this course).