Over 70% of the SSA population live in rural areas and an estimated 60% of the world’s uncultivated land – suitable for farming – belongs to Africa. Agricultural development can stimulate economic development and generate wealth in an eco-friendly manner. Investment in agriculture is therefore central to food security and job creation in SSA.⁽²⁾ George Mukkath, Director of Programmes at Farm Africa, notes that “African productivity is low. If there’s an investment then African farmers are very capable of producing enough food, not only to feed themselves, but also for the export market.”^(3;4) This CAI paper highlights the importance of agriculture as a means through which sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) can promote pro-poor growth and food security in a region often blighted by starvation.

A focus on agriculture certainly challenges the notion that SSA’s future depends on rapid industrialisation, a process that has too often led to ballooning urban slums. In fact, industrialisation is typically based upon a solid agricultural foundation and thus pro-agriculture policies.⁽⁵⁾ Professor Calestous Juma of Harvard University believes that “Agriculture and economy for Africa are one and the same” and that “It is the responsibility of an African president to modernise the economy, and that means essentially starting with the modernisation of agriculture.”⁽⁶⁾

Political will vs. the needs of the people

The success of any agricultural revolution in SSA depends on the political will of the ruling party of the government of a state. Without sufficient political will, agricultural revolutions will remain a dream. It is therefore the duty of governments of SSA states to improve the skills of producers, or farmers, by teaching them the methodologies necessary to increase their productive capacity. Farmers would, as concomitant feature, have to be provided with the tools training to use them. In addition, investment in agricultural research is important, as is the creation of a link between agricultural research and farmers’ implementation of research outcomes. Governments would need to supervise assistance to farmers and continuously educate them via supporting training sessions. Such training, acquisition and proliferation of tools and technology, and research should emphasise harvest storage mechanisms in order to cut losses and optimise productivity.⁽⁷⁾ Success via governmental assistance would change the image of farmers from impoverished survivors to successful entrepreneurs.⁽⁸⁾ A positive and confident image of farmers holds untapped potential for attracting investment and improving the capacities of farmers.

Professor Juma believes that “the expansion of basic infrastructure, including new road, irrigation and energy schemes” would be greatly beneficial and that “Farms should be mechanised, storage, and processing facilities built, while biotechnology and GM crops should be used where they can bring benefits.”⁽⁹⁾ There is “great scope to expand crops traditionally grown in Africa, such as millet, sorghum, cassava or yams,” he says, and predicts that cereal farmers may switch to livestock or more radical options – such as tree crops like breadfruit ^(10;11) – in areas where they have to adapt to a changing climate.⁽¹²⁾

SSA could gain a comparative advantage in certain agricultural products,⁽¹³⁾ but merely emphasising the role of farmers would certainly not lead to an agricultural revolution of any kind.⁽¹⁴⁾ Governments would need to support the development of logistical infrastructure – be it rail, road, or air – and communications infrastructure that would enable to farmers and associated staff to obtain a comparative advantage in selling their produce.⁽¹⁵⁾ This need not be as expensive as might be imagined. According to Juma, “You can modernise agriculture in an area by simply building roads, so that you can send in seed and move out produce. The ministers for roads are not interested in connecting rural areas, they are mostly interested in connecting urban areas.”⁽¹⁶⁾ He further states that it presidents will have to convince governments to invest in connecting rural areas to cities.

Dr Steve Wiggins, a research fellow of the Overseas Development Institute, says that “It’s perfectly possible to get Africa on a much higher growth rate but I wouldn’t have such a long list of things to do, particularly if I thought it was going to pre-empt all government investment.”⁽¹⁷⁾ He also says that, “To make a difference, you don’t need to throw the kitchen sink at the problem.”⁽¹⁸⁾ Clearly, igniting agricultural development in Africa is not an impractical thought at all, and not as prohibitively expensive as some might imagine. Committed governments need to identify and coordinate development partners interested in agriculture, and persuade the private sector to invest in agricultural development projects in order to make them sustainable.⁽¹⁹⁾

Critics often point out that the majority of Africans living in SSA depend on subsistence farming and that this mentality has been ingrained into the region’s agricultural mindset, with few exceptions.⁽²⁰⁾ Some also argue that smallholding farming would lead to disaster.⁽²¹⁾ Whilst large commercial farms have their place, they cannot accommodate the majority of the rural population. Smallholdings and community farms involve the community and address unemployment and food insecurity by creating more distributed responsibility through a set of checks and balances. More governments must adopt a can-do attitude, gather the necessary funds and commit to the agricultural development that will uplift their citizens.

Stimulating agricultural-led growth in West Africa

Developments in West Africa prove that agricultural growth a viable, necessary investment area in SSA. The World Bank, with the assistance of associated governments and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), coordinated by the Central African Council for Agricultural Research (WECARD/CORAF), initiated the first phase of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) in Ghana, Mali, and Senegal in 2007.^(22;23) Centres of specialisation for agricultural research have been set up in each country, which serve as a platform for greater cooperation among researchers and institutions.⁽²⁴⁾ The countries participating in the first phase are “specialising in the production of root and tuber crops, maize and rice, respectively, where they have comparative advantage.”⁽²⁵⁾ The second phase of WAAPP was initiated in 2011, with Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo, Benin, Gambia, and Niger joining Ghana, Mali, and Senegal.⁽²⁶⁾ US$ 51 million has been earmarked for the second phase of the project, involving 1.5 million farmers.⁽²⁷⁾

The first phase of the project brought some success. Opanin Kwaku Manu, a yam farmer in Ejura, Ghana, said that since the first phase of WAAPP was initiated, his crop yield has increased significantly.⁽²⁸⁾ Other successes include: (a) the establishment of “12 acres of breeder seed of cassava multiplications fields” in Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, and the Volta Region; (b) the dissemination of four high yield cassava varieties; (c) the validation of the use of yam vines for weed control in cassava; (d) the development of “eight different products and recipes of sweet potatoes”; (e) the training of 65 farmers in Brong Ahafo and 34 farmers in Greater Accra in cassava and sweet potato rapid multiplication; (f) the establishment of “two acres community demonstration sites in Techiman Municipality and Krachi East district on yam cultivation using ridges” with 8 000 yam setts having been planted “using ridges as against 5 400 – 5 600 that were planted on mounds”; and (g) the funding of various technologies to be applied to farms and processing plants, such as (g.1) technology which enables the rotation of “two plantings of cowpea with one planting of cassava,” which has been adopted by 160 farmers in the Wenchi area; (g.2) the spreading of “sliced chips uniformly on solar drying platforms” allowing them to dry until they are brittle, a technology which is now in use at several gari processing plants in Techiman, Wenchi districts; and (g.3) technology which has enabled a longer duration of weed control (8 weeks), which is on trial at farms in Aworowa, Fumesua, and Wenchi.⁽²⁹⁾ Various research exchange programmes have also been funded in addition to the approval of several research funds.⁽³⁰⁾

Mali was traditionally seen as a cotton-producing monoculture.⁽³¹⁾ However, the country has made great efforts to diversify its agricultural economy, which is imperative given that close to 80% of Mali’s population depends on agriculture for their livelihood.^(32;33) WAAPP has been instrumental in this regard. Mamadou Diallo, a farmer in Mali, has, as a result of government and WAAPP assistance, been able to grow more fruit in less time on his farm land after he received a new type of papaya seedling from Burkina Faso.⁽³⁴⁾ He states that he “would still be cultivating, but not producing as much if I had not received help.”⁽³⁵⁾ Like Diallo, Boubacar Sanojo received the new type of papaya seedlings, as well as technical advice on how to cultivate them.⁽³⁶⁾ Sanojo says that “From what I now plant under the trees I have food and have made enough extra money to buy another hectare.”⁽³⁷⁾ WAAPP helped Habib Traoure to construct an environment-friendly place to store his crop of onions.⁽³⁸⁾ Traoure says that “They gave me a plan to build this storage room and I provided the bricks.”⁽³⁹⁾ Traoure can now sell his onions wholesale throughout the year, as opposed to seasonally.⁽⁴⁰⁾ WAAPP has furthermore given financial and technical support to a 125 of Mali’s medium-sized agri-business investors.⁽⁴¹⁾ Madame Coulibaly, an agri-business owner, was able to transform a small store into a flourishing grain business due to WAAPP’s facilitation of government permits and bank loans.⁽⁴²⁾ Coulibaly says that “We now have eight women employees who do the washing. Before, we had two. We have a guard, a driver, three publicists, and me. So now we are 14.”⁽⁴³⁾ In this case, an increase in sales allowed for an increase in staff.⁽⁴⁴⁾

Conclusion

It is quite evident that smallholder agriculture can and is transforming the lives of impoverished Africans.⁽⁴⁵⁾ The World Bank is involved in similar programmes elsewhere in SSA, including Togo, Rwanda, Mauritania, and Kenya.^(46;47;48) Equipping communities to move beyond subsistence farming promises economic independence, not only for the involved communities, but also for the future of the African continent. Investing in agriculture means investing in people and this does not have to equal piecemeal charity with no returns. With the right approach, investment outcomes could be measurable, sustainable and ultimately affect the quality of life of millions of African people.

NOTES:

(1) Contact Casper Hendrik Claassen through Consultancy Africa Intelligence’s Optimistic Africa Unit (optimistic.africa@consultancyafrica.com).
(2) J. Massarenti & G.T. Alemu, ‘Interview – inspecting continental agriculture: So far so good’, Addis Fortune, 2 October 2011, http://www.addisfortune.com.
(3) N. Bowdler, ‘Africa ‘can feed itself in a generation’’, BBC News, 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk.
(4) McKinsey Global Institute, ‘Lions on the move: The progress and potential of African economies’, McKinsey & Company, 2010, http://www.nepad.org, pp. vi.
(5) J. Massarenti & G.T. Alemu, ‘Interview – inspecting continental agriculture: So far so good’, Addis Fortune, 2 October 2011, http://www.addisfortune.com.
(6) N. Bowdler, ‘Africa ‘can feed itself in a generation’’, BBC News, 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk.
(7) Ibid.
(8) J. Massarenti & G.T. Alemu, ‘Interview – inspecting continental agriculture: So far so good’, Addis Fortune, 2 October 2011, http://www.addisfortune.com.
(9) N. Bowdler, ‘Africa ‘can feed itself in a generation’’, BBC News, 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk.
(10) Dr. Frank Place of the World Agroforestry Centre, found that planting certain trees improves soil quality and can boost crop yields for African farmers. Dr. Place further found that fertiliser tree systems (FTS) increase food security and assist in “climate proofing” SSA’s arable land. This is significant, given that poor soil fertility is a major obstacle to increasing food production in Africa. Andrew Dokurugu, a project officer for Tree Aid, believes “In the absence of trees, our communities would simply collapse,” and that “Now, growing populations and an erratic climate means that villages have to invest in trees, rather than letting nature do its own thing… In the drylands of Africa, where Tree Aid operates, the real value of trees is the products that they can take: fruits, leaves, bark and roots, firewood, building materials. Dokurugu also notes that “People rely on trees to recycle nutrients, prevent erosion and maintain moderate water flows… Without trees in the landscape, you cannot have a sustainable farming system,” and “Without farming, you do not have any life in these communities.” M. Kinver, ‘Trees ‘boost African crop yields and food security’’, BBC News, 16 October 2011, http://www.bbc.co.uk; M. Kinver, ‘Trees: More than just carbon sinks’, BBC News, 19 March 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk.
(11) Miranda Spitteler, Chief Executive of Tree Aid, believes that trees can serve as “famine food” when other crops fail during droughts. She notes that trees provide “fruits, nuts, seeds, leaves, flowers, sepals, even sap, which can be used as food” and create greater self-sufficiency in rural communities. M. Spitteler, ‘‘Trees of life’ are vital food source’, BBC News, 4 August 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk.
(12) N. Bowdler, ‘Africa ‘can feed itself in a generation’’, BBC News, 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk.
(13) According to Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the New Economic Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), “Experience has shown us that it is quite possible to set up a multi-crop system such that income is generated from commercial crops while food security is assured by the production of cereals for domestic consumption which can be exported to neighbouring countries if surpluses are produced.” See J. Massarenti & G.T. Alemu, ‘Interview – inspecting continental agriculture: So far so good’, Addis Fortune, 2 October 2011, http://www.addisfortune.com.
(14) J. Massarenti & G.T. Alemu, ‘Interview – inspecting continental agriculture: So far so good’, Addis Fortune, 2 October 2011, http://www.addisfortune.com.
(15) Ibid.
(16) N. Bowdler, ‘Africa ‘can feed itself in a generation’’, BBC News, 2 December 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk.
(17) Ibid.
(18) Ibid.
(19) J. Massarenti & G.T. Alemu, ‘Interview – inspecting continental agriculture: So far so good’, Addis Fortune, 2 October 2011, http://www.addisfortune.com.
(20) D. Nierenberg, ‘Farmers of the future’, Worldwatch Institute, 4 October 2011, http://blogs.worldwatch.org.
(21) C. Boin, ‘The dangers of romanticising subsistence farming in Africa’, IPN, 15 June 2010, http://www.policynetwork.net.
(22) ‘West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program’, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation, 23 May 2007, http://knowledge.cta.int.
(23) ‘Liberia joins West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program’, World Bank, 21 July 2011, http://web.worldbank.org.
(24) Ibid.
(25) ‘CRI steps up technology transfer to farmers’, GhanaWeb, 20 October 2011, http://216.92.106.51/GhanaHomePage.
(26) F. Nnabugwu, ‘Nigeria, 11 others earmarked for World Bank agric project… To get $51m assistance for 1.5m farmers’, Vanguard News, 7 March 2011, http://www.vanguardngr.com.
(27) Ibid.
(28) ‘CRI steps up technology transfer to farmers’, GhanaWeb, 20 October 2011, http://216.92.106.51/GhanaHomePage.
(29) ‘Achievements of the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP)’, Ministry of Food & Agriculture (Republic of Ghana), 2011, http://mofa.gov.gh.
(30) Ibid.
(31) J. Massarenti & G.T. Alemu, ‘Interview – inspecting continental agriculture: So far so good’, Addis Fortune, 2 October 2011, http://www.addisfortune.com.
(32) Ibid.
(33) ‘Innovative farming produces more fruit and money for Mali’s farmers’, World Bank, 9 December 2010, http://www.youtube.com.
(34) Ibid.
(35) Ibid.
(36) Ibid.
(37) Ibid.
(38) Ibid.
(39) Ibid.
(40) Ibid.
(41) Ibid.
(42) Ibid.
(43) Ibid.
(44) Ibid.
(45) M. Mutamba & L. Nyagah, ‘Africa: Smallholder agriculture transforms lives of poor’, AllAfrica.com, 23 December 2009, http://allafrica.com.
(46) ‘Kenya Agricultural Productivity Project’, World Bank, 10 November 2011, http://web.worldbank.org.
(47) ‘Food security in Togo and Rwanda’, World Bank, 10 April 2011, http://www.youtube.com.
(48) ‘Agriculture means more food and independence for Mauritania’s women’, World Bank, 9 December 2010, www.youtube.com.

Written by Casper Hendrik Claassen (1)