tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/farming-in-africa-34094/articles
farming in Africa – The Conversation
2021-02-23T14:56:26Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/155398
2021-02-23T14:56:26Z
2021-02-23T14:56:26Z
Poor rural infrastructure holds back food production by small Nigerian farmers
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385569/original/file-20210222-17-1h4twqy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman drying red chillies outside her hut in Niger State, north central Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Jorge Fernández/LightRocket via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Agriculture is an important part of development and poverty mitigation in low income countries. It depends on infrastructure such as good roads, safe drinking water, adequate power supply, a market network, modern communication services and facilities for processing and storing farm harvests. </p>
<p>But inadequate and unreliable infrastructure services are <a href="http://www.africanmonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Rural-Infrastructure-In-Africa.pdf">common</a> in rural communities in Africa. Nigeria is no different. Its rural population faces a range of difficulties that hinder agricultural productivity. They include environmental hazards, technological constraints, rising production costs, inadequate agricultural incentives and lack of sustainable rural development programmes. </p>
<p>To show how various factors affect farming in Nigeria, we had a closer look at some rural communities in Ogun State.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20421338.2020.1821441">Our research</a> investigated the impact of rural infrastructure on production efficiency of food crop farmers. We found that better infrastructure translates into better food production. Other factors like farm size, labour and cost of planting materials also influenced crop output, but to a lesser extent. Therefore, for Nigeria to feed its growing population efficiently, investment in rural infrastructure will be necessary to strengthen the food system. </p>
<h2>What did we do?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20421338.2020.1821441">this study</a>, we interviewed 160 farming households from 20 communities in Ogun State. The study locations were the state’s major food crop producing zones, where cassava, maize, fruit and vegetables are grown. They contribute significantly to the local economy as well as the Nigerian food system. We focused on the state of rural infrastructure, level of development in the selected villages and how infrastructure affects the production efficiency of food crop farmers. </p>
<p>We found that the main livelihood for rural people in the area was subsistence farming, but more than half of the food crop farmers also engaged in trading. This suggests that the majority of these households were experiencing constraints in their farming activities and needed additional income sources. </p>
<p>We looked at which inputs made the most difference to efficient production of food crops: labour, capital or the state of infrastructure. The last of these included how close the farm was to market and storage centres, tarred roads, health centres and potable water.</p>
<p>Most of the participants were male, with a high school certificate. The average age was 48 and their farming experience was about 19 years. Participants mostly use family labour on their farm. <a href="https://agrifoodecon.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40100-014-0008-z">Literature</a> has confirmed that labour and capital make a difference to rural household incomes and farm competitiveness. </p>
<p>The participants indicated that the majority of the roads linking their farms to the city were in a state of disrepair. Health centres were no longer functioning due to poor funding by government and inadequate medical personnel. Potable water, electricity supply and storage facilities were also identified as inadequate. And most of the smallholder farmers said they didn’t receive adequate agricultural extension services.</p>
<p>We used an <a href="https://www.oxfordurbanists.com/magazine/2020/5/19/6rwytzq63sbiv2hl1c5itxcdke1g1k">Infrastructure Index Estimation</a> to gauge the level of development of the study area. It allowed us to group the communities within the area according to development level. <a href="https://www.oxfordurbanists.com/magazine/2020/5/19/6rwytzq63sbiv2hl1c5itxcdke1g1k">The index</a> was based on the cost of transport to get to each type of infrastructure (school, storage, health centre, potable water, market, tarred road and processing facilities). The study used the standard indicators of infrastructural development. Out of the 20 communities sampled, 12 <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20421338.2020.1821441">were found</a> to be developed while eight were less developed. </p>
<p>The study further compared the return on farm investment by farmers in these communities. We found that farming was more profitable in developed communities than in the less developed communities. Farming output is a function of area of land cultivated, family labour, planting materials, distance to tarred road, distance to market, distance to agro-chemical centres, storage facilities and assess to extension personnel. But the main contributor to efficient crop production was the availability of infrastructure. </p>
<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p>The findings suggest what Nigeria can do to increase food production and farm profitability.</p>
<p>Effective extension and rural advisory services are needed to improve farming skills and techniques. But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X1300036X?casa_token=rXGkLUinxE8AAAAA:RDxojQdjRZ9BUv7PF3WMIu8ztcP_wXCqPjvEbHV-rnUMIxm_-CQ25zwBOtnhW6Hi-oaeXbGg">other studies</a> have confirmed that smallholders’ readiness and ability to accept innovations in agricultural production depends largely on infrastructural facilities and market structures. </p>
<p>Therefore the government, NGOs and the private sector should repair and rehabilitate rural infrastructure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155398/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
For Nigeria to feed its growing population efficiently and support food production by small farm holders, investment in rural infrastructure is key.
Abiodun Olusola Omotayo, Extraordinary Senior Lecturer, Food Security and Safety Niche Area, North-West University
Abeeb Babatunde Omotoso, Postdoctoral research associate, North-West University
Saidat Adebola Daud, Researcher and Lecturer
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/149003
2020-11-08T09:11:34Z
2020-11-08T09:11:34Z
Women’s memories of food offer insights into Mozambique’s liberation struggle
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367566/original/file-20201104-15-1opvl7m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Jonna Katto</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We don’t just taste food. Aromas, visual images, sounds and touch are equally part of our eating experience. Food also evokes feelings. We can experience it with joy but also with displeasure. This sensorily evocative power of food makes it an important site for remembering the past, which in turn influences our relation to food in the present.</p>
<p>There is much important literature in Africa that deals with <a href="https://theconversation.com/investing-in-science-can-help-put-food-on-africas-plates-64017">food security</a> and the biological necessity of eating. However, my research explores how food is connected to remembering and making sense of the past, especially a violent past.</p>
<p>Food was not my main focus when I set out to conduct <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03057070.2020.1793518">research</a> on women ex-combatants’ lived experiences of the Mozambican liberation struggle in northern Niassa province. Yet food and cooking continually came up in my life history interviews with them.</p>
<h2>The women of the struggle</h2>
<p>The Mozambican <a href="https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/the-struggle-for-freedom-in-mozambique-jstor/QRl-vPcs?hl=en">liberation struggle</a> against Portuguese colonial rule was mainly fought in the northern bush thickets. Led by the Mozambique Liberation Front (<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Frelimo">Frelimo</a>), it lasted from 1964 to 1974. The combatants and civilian populations that supported them lived in very difficult bush environments.</p>
<p>Most of these combatants were young people. I was interested especially in Frelimo’s female detachment, many of whom were in their early teens when recruited. Their main job in the military camps in the beginning was to cook for the male soldiers. However, after 1967 they started receiving military training and became comrades-in-arms, mostly mobilising the population to support Frelimo and working in the bush nurseries and hospitals.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367509/original/file-20201104-23-117mwis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two rustic structures of logs and woven sticks with a rooster pecking at the earth in the foreground and a grassy veld in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367509/original/file-20201104-23-117mwis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367509/original/file-20201104-23-117mwis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367509/original/file-20201104-23-117mwis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367509/original/file-20201104-23-117mwis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367509/original/file-20201104-23-117mwis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367509/original/file-20201104-23-117mwis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367509/original/file-20201104-23-117mwis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A full granary of maize in N’kalapa in Mozambique.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Jonna Katto</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I interviewed 34 female ex-combatants, starting with their childhood memories. This was followed by an interview on their work and life during the struggle and a third on their experiences after independence. I also conducted individual and group interviews with 15 male ex-combatants.</p>
<h2>Food and danger</h2>
<p>Growing up in the rural communities of northern Niassa, most remembered their childhood foodscapes as plentiful. Their principal food was <em>wugadi</em> (stiff porridge from maize flour) with an accompanying dish of beans or the leaves of pumpkins, beans or sweet potatoes boiled with salt.</p>
<p>But war disrupted normal village life. In peace time, seasonal changes brought different foods, the rainy season associated with the joy of a new growing cycle. But in the time of war the ex-combatants remembered rain further intensifying the painful conditions of the bush.</p>
<p>Food became a constant struggle. Due to heavy bombardments by the colonial troops, the cultivation of crops was extremely difficult. There were periods in which the guerrillas experienced intense hunger and were forced to eat things considered inedible during peacetime. </p>
<p>One ex-combatant, Rosa Mustaffa, remembers how the guerrillas were forced to eat just about anything that happened in their path, just to “get rid of the feeling of hunger”. Others observed the monkeys to see which roots they were digging up. What didn’t kill the monkeys was considered suitable for humans too.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367516/original/file-20201104-17-1yv0i87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three dishes of food in different metal plates rest on a woven mat." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367516/original/file-20201104-17-1yv0i87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367516/original/file-20201104-17-1yv0i87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367516/original/file-20201104-17-1yv0i87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367516/original/file-20201104-17-1yv0i87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367516/original/file-20201104-17-1yv0i87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367516/original/file-20201104-17-1yv0i87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367516/original/file-20201104-17-1yv0i87.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wugadi and pumpkin leaves cooked with red onion and tomatoes, with dried usipa fish.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Jonna Katto</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Food became associated with danger. The “things of the bush” could kill a person. Helena Baide explained how the guerrillas cooked poisonous fruits and roots to eat, taking the whole day and changing the cooking water continuously. Ash was added to the water to mitigate the bitter taste associated with poison.</p>
<p>Honey and game meat were the main sources of nourishment, but hunting posed a danger as it could alert the enemy to their location. The guerrillas learned to farm and cook differently in wartime. They cultivated small, dispersed fields on river banks, partially under the cover of trees. Hearing the noise of aeroplanes, they would flee to nearby bunkers. Or they farmed in the moonlight.</p>
<p>The noise of the pestle and smoke from cooking fires could also draw the enemy’s attention. Often cooking was done at night under the cover of trees.</p>
<h2>The taste of freedom</h2>
<p>For many, the promise of liberation carried food-related dreams. This is the future that Assiato Muemedi spoke of imagining during the war:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I will cook with cooking oil, build a house and open a big field to eat food with my children. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>After being demobilised, the transition to civilian life was easier for some than others. Many of the young female ex-combatants had been forced to leave home so early that they had not learned, for instance, how to cook and farm properly.</p>
<p>Those that were older found it easier, and they spoke of continuing the work of their ancestors, cultivating crops such as beans, maize, potatoes (regular and sweet) and cassava.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367565/original/file-20201104-15-1oh6388.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hand stirs a steaming and battered metal pot with a spoon. The contents resemble a stew." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367565/original/file-20201104-15-1oh6388.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367565/original/file-20201104-15-1oh6388.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367565/original/file-20201104-15-1oh6388.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367565/original/file-20201104-15-1oh6388.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367565/original/file-20201104-15-1oh6388.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367565/original/file-20201104-15-1oh6388.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/367565/original/file-20201104-15-1oh6388.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cooking beans with cabbage, carrots, green pepper and potatoes in a refogado of oil, tomatoes and red onion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Jonna Katto</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For most ex-combatants, food in peacetime has in many ways been a “liberating” experience of pleasure and fulfilment. Many experience freedom to cultivate, to eat together in peace with family or to buy basic items from nearby markets. This has helped to forget the bad things they ate in the bush.</p>
<p>Yet eating has not only been a positive experience. The idea of “eating badly” is, in the ex-combatants’ accounts, strongly associated with their current experiences of social division and inequality.</p>
<p>During the struggle, Frelimo’s political talk of unity, freedom and a future good life gave the combatants strength to endure hardship. And they remember that, while they ate badly, they ate together and shared the little they had.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-african-food-basket-should-be-full-of-beans-and-other-pulses-60207">Why the African food basket should be full of beans and other pulses</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet these days the former comrades-in-arms of the Niassa forests are divided by space, education and class. Most of those in leadership were transferred to Maputo after independence as part of Frelimo’s state-building project.</p>
<p>The ex-combatants in Niassa criticise the elite in Maputo for eating well at the expense of the majority of their former colleagues, who are unable to participate in the new consumerist modernity. In this context, it is the imagined diets of the nationalist elites that have come to symbolise freedom and liberation.</p>
<h2>A bitter aftertaste</h2>
<p>The official history of the Mozambican independence war is a linear narrative that proclaims the happy ending of liberation. Yet this narrative ignores the violence that is intimately part of its lived history.</p>
<p>Liberation takes on many different meanings in contemporary Mozambique.</p>
<p>Studying the ex-combatants’ food memories shows how the history of liberation is not a closed process. They continue trying to make sense of their past and present experiences (and even future anticipations) of violence. Food plays a role in this.</p>
<p>Even today bodily memories of food-related violence persist. So while food again animates their senses, liberation has, for many, a slightly bitter aftertaste.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/149003/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jonna Katto received funding for this research from the Finnish Cultural Foundation. She is affiliated with Ghent University and the University of Helsinki. </span></em></p>
The ex-combatants’ food memories show how they continue trying to make sense of both their past and present experiences of violence.
Jonna Katto, Postdoctoral researcher, Ghent University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/141076
2020-08-26T15:01:40Z
2020-08-26T15:01:40Z
African farmers are younger than you think. Here is why
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345296/original/file-20200702-111333-1ajtquz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A young African farmer</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past 20 years sub-Saharan Africa has registered the <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-bo092e.pdf">highest rate</a> of agricultural production in the world. There have been knock-on effects with the region also seeing the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---inst/documents/publication/wcms_624872.pdf">fastest growth</a> in off-farm employment and non-farm labour productivity. </p>
<p>There’s a <a href="https://farmerline.co/2019/05/29/securing-the-future-of-agriculture-in-the-face-of-an-ageing-farmer-population/#:%7E:text=Ghana%20is%20like%20many%20other,Food%20and%20Agriculture%2C%202011">widely held</a> view that Africa’s agricultural growth trajectory could be jeopardised by an ageing farm population because young people are fleeing from farming. Several sources indicate that the average age of Africans in farming has risen to 60 years or more. But we are unaware of any empirical evidence to support this claim. </p>
<p>To understand what’s really going on, we used nationally representative survey data collected by the government statistical offices of six African countries – Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania. Because these surveys were replicated multiple times in each country between 2000 and 2018, we can compute how much time people spent annually in farming and off-farm jobs. We can examine trends in the age distribution of the labour force in farm and off-farm employment since 2000. </p>
<p>This was done as part of our <a href="https://www.rural21.com/english/current-issue/detail/article/the-myth-of-africas-ageing-farmers.html">research</a> into young people’s access to land as well as their migration decisions and employment opportunities.</p>
<h2>Breaking the myth</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.rural21.com/english/current-issue/detail/article/the-myth-of-africas-ageing-farmers.html">findings</a> debunk the myth that most farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are over 60 years of age – far from it in fact. </p>
<p>According to the national government-administered data in the six countries, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from about 32 years to 39 years. Even when not counting young adults in the 15 to 24 year old range, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from 38 to 45 years of age. And even going beyond the generally accepted labour force age range of 15 to 64 years to include all elderly people of any age working in farming, the mean age of farmers barely changes. </p>
<p>This is explained by the fact that <a href="https://www.populationpyramid.net/africa/2020/">only 3%</a> of sub-Saharan Africa’s population is 65 years and over. And less than half of this group is economically active and engaged in farming. </p>
<p>Secondly, the average age of the agricultural workforce in the six African countries examined has either increased by one or two years or remained constant over the past decade. Between the first and latest survey periods, which spanned from seven to 12 years, the average age of the labour force in farming increased by less than two years in four of the six study countries (Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia). The mean farmer age remained unchanged in Nigeria and declined slightly in Tanzania.</p>
<p>In other words, the age of Africans in farming is barely rising, if at all. Considering that roughly 7 million to 10 million young people are entering the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa each year, it is easy to understand why the average age of the farming population is not rising, even with large numbers of young people partially or fully moving out of farming. </p>
<p>Based on these nationally representative surveys, it is clear that of the region’s many agricultural challenges, an ageing workforce in farming is fortunately not one of them. </p>
<p>Third, our study found that individuals in off-farm jobs are on average one to three years younger than those in farming, especially when the sample excludes the 15-24 year old age group. </p>
<h2>How to make farming profitable for young people</h2>
<p>As highlighted in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220388.2018.1430767?journalCode=fjds20">previous studies</a>, the share of employment in farming has been declining over time as opportunities for off-farm employment expand in Africa’s rapidly transforming economies. But farming still accounts for a significant proportion of the jobs held by working-age individuals and remains the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00220388.2018.1430767?journalCode=fjds20">single largest</a> employer of rural youth. Most of the jobs, however, are, part time. </p>
<p>It is true that many young people from rural areas are leaving farming as off-farm opportunities continue to expand. Nevertheless, most young people who are economically active remain engaged in farming. What is missing, however, is a critical mass of skilled young Africans with access to finance and know-how to drive productivity growth in farming and related value chains. </p>
<p>The idea of keeping young people in farming for fear of African agriculture becoming the preserve of the elderly is misplaced. A more effective strategy would prioritise resourcing the millions of rural youth already engaged in farming to make farming more profitable. Making agriculture “sexy” is not nearly as important as making it profitable. Young people will flock to agriculture if and when it becomes clear that it can make good money. </p>
<p>A related priority is to encourage skilled young Africans to apply their expertise to address the many policy, regulatory, and financing barriers that inhibit them from starting and expanding agribusiness firms that provide important services to African farmers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141076/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felix Kwame Yeboah receives funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Jayne receives funding from the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM), which is led by the International Food Policy Research Institute. </span></em></p>
Africa is far from having an ageing farming population. What is missing is a critical mass of skilled, young farmers with access to finance who could drive productivity in farming.
Felix Kwame Yeboah, Assistant Professor of International Development, Michigan State University
Thomas Jayne, MSU Foundation Professor, Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/114092
2019-03-26T14:04:33Z
2019-03-26T14:04:33Z
Land reform in South Africa is doomed unless freed from political point-scoring
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265616/original/file-20190325-36264-15z7oq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Villagers till their fields in South Africa's North West Province. Access to land for small holder farmers remains unresolved.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Epa/Jon Hrusa</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Black landlessness has become a convenient weapon for political populists in South Africa. With elections around the corner, the lingering questions about land reform are ever more crucial and timely. But, challenging questions need to be debated if a radical land reform programme is to be realised.</p>
<p>The pace of land reform has been slow since South Africa’s first democratic elections 25 years ago. Recent <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/storage/app/media/Pages/2017/october/High_Level_Panel/HLP_Report/HLP_report.pdf">findings</a> confirm that the land reform programme has done very little to achieve equitable distribution and access to land for black South Africans. </p>
<p>By 2017 less than 10% (8.13 million ha) of agricultural land had been transferred through land reform. </p>
<p>The latest political wave of calls for land reform has resonance because millions of black South Africans remain landless and poor. This has led to the issue becoming a potent weapon in the hand of populist politicians. </p>
<p>All hopes for radical land reform have been placed on the <a href="https://www.parliament.gov.za/press-releases/national-assembly-approves-process-amend-section-25-constitution">amendment</a> of Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation. This drastic step could be seen as a strategy by the African National Congress (ANC) to take the wind out of the radical Economic Freedom Fighter’s political sails.</p>
<p>In fact the two parties are much more interested in attracting voters than in genuinely addressing longstanding racial inequalities. As a result many vital questions remain poorly explored. And most are lost in the political noise about land expropriation without compensation.</p>
<p>Some of these questions include: how should land for expropriation and redistribution be identified? Who should benefit from land redistribution in rural areas and which institutions should deliver?</p>
<h2>How should land be identified?</h2>
<p>Where should the country look for land for the accelerated redistribution programme? </p>
<p>Some argue that land redistribution should target tax-indebted farmland (or farms that are financially distressed). Others argue that state-owned land should be the primary target for <a href="https://www.uwc.ac.za/News/Pages/Resolving-the-Land-Question-Land-Reform-Experts-Discuss-Equitable-Access-To-Land-At-UWC.aspx">land redistribution</a>.</p>
<p>There’s also a strong argument made by some that the majority of landless people are more interested in relatively smaller pieces of land (0.1 - 1 ha) which they can use for <a href="https://trello.com/c/chLLIO56/2-assessing-the-performance-of-land-reform">household food production</a>. This land could be acquired closer to the large and small urban centres. </p>
<p>But for black commercial farmers to thrive, a distinction has to be made between black small-scale and large-scale farmers. And their different needs must be prioritised when <a href="https://trello.com/c/chLLIO56/2-assessing-the-performance-of-land-reform">land transfers</a> are being considered.</p>
<p>Others propose a more radical approach that promotes the division of large farms into smaller farms and a radical redistribution that will include decongestion of densely populated urban and <a href="https://www.uwc.ac.za/News/Pages/Resolving-the-Land-Question-Land-Reform-Experts-Discuss-Equitable-Access-To-Land-At-UWC.aspx">rural areas</a>. </p>
<p>Buying land from the current owners is just one of many means of land acquisition that could be pursued. Others include expropriation, donations, release of public land, reviews of unjust leases over public land and, in some instances, granting legal recognition to land occupiers where necessary. </p>
<h2>Who should benefit?</h2>
<p>Prof Michael Aliber, an agricultural economist at University of Fort Hare, argues for an approach to land redistribution that acknowledges the wide range of reasons people want land. This approach should cater for:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the relatively small number of people who want large plots on which to pursue large-scale commercial farming;</p></li>
<li><p>the larger number of people who want small-to-medium plots on which to farm as commercial smallholders, and</p></li>
<li><p>the still larger number of people who want small pieces of land for tenure security and food security. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>For most of the past 20 years, the land redistribution programme has sought to cater to only the first of these three groups.</p>
<p>Aliber argues that the overemphasis on large scale farms has significantly slowed the pace of land reform and led to the capture of the redistribution project by well-connected elites. Yet the primary beneficiaries of land reform should be landless black people and other historically marginalised groups. These include evicted farm workers and farm dwellers, unemployed urban and rural people, women and other rural people who live on communal land.</p>
<h2>Can the state still be trusted to deliver?</h2>
<p>There’s still a great deal of disagreement about which institutions should drive land reform. The poor performance by the ANC government in addressing the land issue, particularly its inadequate support for black land reform beneficiaries and farmers in communal areas over the past 25 years, has seriously depleted public confidence in the role of state in land reform.</p>
<p>For land reform to work, redistribution should focus beyond land transfer. It should begin to focus on providing adequate support for new farmers. Which institutions can deliver on this crucial undertaking? Is it the state, business, civil society or a collective effort? </p>
<p>Undoubtedly, the mounting scepticism about the capacity and political will of the state to deliver is warranted, given the failures of the ANC-led government. </p>
<p>This points to the fact that private sector support remains crucial in promoting commercial agriculture. But, then again, some are still sceptical about the private sector. For land rights activist <a href="http://reconciliationbarometer.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/10_Advocate-of-the-New-Left.pdf">Mazibuko Jara</a>, the state and civil society <a href="https://www.uwc.ac.za/News/Pages/Resolving-the-Land-Question-Land-Reform-Experts-Discuss-Equitable-Access-To-Land-At-UWC.aspx">need to play a key role</a>.</p>
<p>A land debate left only to vote-hungry politicians is doomed. For politicians, black landlessness is nothing more than a political tool – hence the landless poor have been voting since 1994 but are still without land.</p>
<p><em>This article is based on debates at a <a href="https://www.uwc.ac.za/News/Pages/Resolving-the-Land-Question-Land-Reform-Experts-Discuss-Equitable-Access-To-Land-At-UWC.aspx">land reform conference</a> hosted by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (University of Western Cape (UWC)), University of Fort Hare and Rhodes University in February at UWC.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sonwabile Mnwana receives funding from the Open Society Foundation-South Africa and the Southern Centre for Inequlaity Studies - Wits University. </span></em></p>
Land reform programme has done very little to improve access to land for black South Africans.
Sonwabile Mnwana, Associate Professor, Sociology, University of Fort Hare
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/106469
2018-11-13T14:38:12Z
2018-11-13T14:38:12Z
Food security in Africa depends on rethinking outdated water law
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245079/original/file-20181112-83567-uezcfj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A farmer weeding his maize crop south of Harare, Zimbabwe.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/ Aaron Ufumeli</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A new <a href="http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/IWMI_Research_Reports/PDF/pub173/rr173.pdf">study</a> has found that outdated, colonial-era water permit systems across Africa are unintentionally criminalising millions of small farmers who can’t obtain permits. This undermines efforts to boost farming production and meet economic growth goals. </p>
<p>The study examined water permit systems in five African countries: Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The permit system was introduced by colonial powers in the 1920s. They were designed to regulate water use in the interests of the colonial project by granting permits only to white settlers. </p>
<p>These systems established minority ownership of a natural resource that was vital for economies dependent on agriculture. African customary water arrangements were ignored and over-ridden.</p>
<p>These colonial style permit systems are still in use across the countries that were examined, and elsewhere in Africa. As a result, legal access to water through permits remains biased towards a few large users, such as large-scale irrigated farms, mines and industries, who are able to navigate the complicated and expensive process of permit application. </p>
<p>At the same time, customary regimes are expanding in informal rural economies, where millions of small and micro-scale water users invest in water infrastructure for self-supply and water sharing. Farmer-led irrigation development is the backbone of food security.</p>
<p>The bad news is that permit obligations have expanded to cover all water users, even those using small pumps to irrigate a few hectares. Small-scale water users who don’t have permits are, according to the legal texts, effectively committing an offence which carries a penalty of being fined, jailed or both. </p>
<p>The micro-scale users who are exempted from requiring a permit have a weaker legal status than permit holders. So women who irrigate vegetables for family nutrition at their homesteads, for example, have no way to safeguard their water uses. They have to compete for water with large-scale users with permits. </p>
<p>There’s a way to address this. </p>
<h2>The hybrid solution</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://pegasysinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RECH2_Guideline-on-hybrid-water-rights-systems_95112018_final.pdf">guide</a> for African policymakers has been developed that proposes a “hybrid approach” to deal with the problem. Instead of providing legal protection to a few, the approach recognises water uses governed by customary laws at equal legal standing as permits. </p>
<p>This is a suitable way for small-scale water users to invest in infrastructure and solve water sharing conflicts. And prioritisation of water uses that’s aligned with national goals and constitutional commitments protects the most vulnerable.</p>
<p>This approach is administratively lean. By targeting existing permits to regulate large-scale water users and integrating this with alternative arrangements for small-scale users, the administrative burdens that disadvantage many under the current systems can be overcome. </p>
<p>Collective permits where possible and appropriate would also be effective. This could preserve customary arrangements and protect local small-scale water users. It could overcome the bureaucratic hurdles faced by small scale users and lessen the burden on governments to implement individual permit systems.</p>
<h2>A system built for purpose</h2>
<p>In practice, a hybrid approach to regulating water use is already in use because water authorities lack the resources to raise awareness and to process and enforce millions of permits. </p>
<p>In Uganda, they refer to this practical focus on large-scale water users as the “20-80” practice. It focuses on the 20% of water users that use 80% of the water. In Kenya, targeted permitting has been formalised. Water users are categorised from A to D, depending on the impact their water use has, and they are regulated accordingly. However, the legal protection for small-scale users still remains unaddressed.</p>
<p>Ending hunger on the continent calls for a rethink of current water rights systems, and the implementation of systems built for purpose that recognise, prioritise and protect the water use of millions of small scale water users. </p>
<p><em>Barbara Schreiner, the executive director of the Pegasys Institute, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/106469/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara van Koppen receives funding from UK government/DFID/REACH for this particular project on water legislation, and other funders of international water research. </span></em></p>
Outdated water permit systems are threatening food security on the continent. Here’s what can be done.
Barbara van Koppen, Researcher , International Water Management Institute
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/80841
2017-07-25T15:14:00Z
2017-07-25T15:14:00Z
A 10-point plan to accelerate orderly land reform in South Africa
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179156/original/file-20170721-14731-14fz5gm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Land reform remains a divisive subject 23 years after democracy in South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Filckr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A more than 365 year history of <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-slavery-and-early-colonisation-south-africa">colonialism</a> and <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/history-apartheid-south-africa">apartheid</a> have indelibly affected land, heritage and human rights in South Africa. </p>
<p>Among the vast array of discriminatory laws was the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/natives-land-act-1913">Land Act of 1913</a> that spatially segregated people through land dispossession. It amplified the vast canyon of inequality, further shattered the social fabric of <a href="http://www.saha.org.za/billofrights/property.htm">communities</a> and radically compromised economic development of the black majority.</p>
<p>It was only after the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-african-general-elections-1994">1994 democratic elections</a> that the vast majority of citizens could hope for constitutional restitution of their land.</p>
<p>Significant socio-economic advances have been made <a href="https://www.idc.co.za/reports/IDC%20R&I%20publication%20-%20Overview%20of%20key%20trends%20in%20SA%20economy%20since%201994.pdf">since 1994</a>, but several challenges need to be overcome as indicated by <a href="https://www.idc.co.za/images/2017/IDC_RI_publication_Key-trends-in-SA-economy_31-March-2017.pdf">recent trends</a>. Much more needs to be done. This is particularly true when it comes to land distribution and restitution. </p>
<p>The 2013 state <a href="http://www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za/phocadownload/Cadastral-Survey-management/Booklet/land%20audit%20booklet.pdf">land audit report</a> illustrates why. By 1994 about 87% of the land was owned by whites and only 13% by black people. By 2012 only 7.95 million hectares had been transferred to black owners through land reform. This represented only 7.5% of <a href="http://www.plaas.org.za/sites/default/files/publications-pdf/No1%20Fact%20check%20web.pdf">formerly white-owned land</a>. </p>
<p>Land reform was discussed with understandable intensity during the recent <a href="http://www.anc.org.za/content/5th-national-policy-conference-2017">National Policy Conference</a> of the governing African National Congress. Debates centred on whether land should be <a href="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/more-drama-at-anc-policy-conference-over-land-20170705">expropriated without compensation</a>. </p>
<p>It’s within this context that a <a href="http://nationalforum.nmmu.ac.za/">National Forum</a> was established for dialogues on land reform. The National Forum is made up of a network of organisations that includes three universities, the <a href="https://www.sahrc.org.za/">South African Human Rights Commission</a> and <a href="https://www.fhr.org.za/">Foundation for Human Rights</a>. </p>
<p>The National Forum focused on whether it was possible to achieve effective land reform through <a href="http://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-2-bill-rights#25">Section 25 of the South African Constitution</a>, which deals with property rights. The National Forum also examined the bureaucratic, legal and constitutional constraints that slow down land redistribution and restitution. It also explored the policy and legislative options necessary to address the complex challenges.</p>
<p>The National Forum concluded that South Africa’s constitution doesn’t stand in the way of land reform. However, it’s clear that <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-problems-lie-in-political-negligence-not-its-constitution-80474">political negligence</a> has fuelled undue bureaucracy, mismanagement and corruption, which have severely hampered meaningful land reform. It reached consensus on a 10-point plan for constitutionally accelerated land reform. The hope is that it can help break the long-standing impasse over land, and move the country toward radically inclusive socio-economic growth. </p>
<h2>Accelerating land reform</h2>
<p>Aspects of the 10-point plan include:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A human rights approach to land redistribution, grounded in the effective implementation of Section 25 of the Constitution. This could still guarantee a life of dignity, equality and freedom for all citizens. </p></li>
<li><p>Existing land reform legislation is not effectively implemented. The <a href="http://www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za/339-land-claim/685-re-opening-of-land-claims#.WW-Xr01f34g">Land Claims Commission</a> and <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/lcc/">Land Claims Court</a>, which were created through the<a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/lcc/docs/1994-022.pdf"> Restitution of Land Rights Act (1994)</a>, have not been effective. Unnecessary bureaucratic bungling, significant corruption and limited expert skills have been exacerbated by cadre deployment. This is the practice of appointing party political loyalists to government positions irrespective of ability. In addition, these institutions have yet to be made more accessible and more representative.</p></li>
<li><p>The possibility of adopting further laws to accelerate land reform is not being used. This is the case even though Section 25(8) of the Constitution specifically indicates that it can be done.</p></li>
<li><p>The possibility of repealing existing legislation that’s inconsistent with or hampering land reform is not being pursued. This should be rectified.</p></li>
<li><p>There is a need for national legislation on expropriation. A bill is before Parliament – the <a href="http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/b4-2015_150213_edited.pdf">Expropriation Bill</a> – but it’s been introduced late and processed without urgency. The possibility of effecting appropriate amendments to the <a href="http://www.did.gpg.gov.za/Acts/saf9927.pdf">1975 Expropriation Act</a> should also be considered. </p></li>
<li><p>There should be improved communication and coordination between various government departments. Currently, the location of relevant land reform mandates and competencies are spread across several departments. These should be aligned to accelerate the pace of the process.</p></li>
<li><p>A draft bill on cultural and spiritual access to land must be developed to enable citizens’ access to cemeteries and related holy sites where their family members are buried. </p></li>
<li><p>The courts should pronounce on the meaning of “just and equitable” compensation in Section 25 of the Constitution, to provide for better definition and interpretation of this provision within the context of land reform.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.cls.uct.ac.za/usr/lrg/downloads/Factsheet_CPAs_Final_Feb2015.pdf">Communal Property Associations</a>, community and traditional leader tensions must be resolved through meaningful engagement. Communication channels must be open, all role-players included and all relevant information made available to every stakeholder. Furthermore, all affected parties must be able to influence the decisions taken. In addition, skills training for officials dealing with land restitution is necessary, whilst an updated land audit is required. </p></li>
<li><p>There is need for a Land and Economy Convention, similar to the Convention for a Democratic South Africa <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/convention-democratic-south-africa-codesa">(CODESA)</a>. This was held to negotiate the country’s peaceful transition to democracy. A role for the new convention would be to address poverty, inequality and unemployment. The aim would be to restore citizens’ dignity, strengthen the economy and advance democracy.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The National Forum envisions the 10-point plan being effected within the context of the country’s <a href="http://www.gov.za/sites/www.gov.za/files/Executive%20Summary-NDP%202030%20-%20Our%20future%20-%20make%20it%20work.pdf">National Development Plan’s Vision 2030</a>. The plan was drawn up to provide a roadmap for the country to 2030. Its central aims are to reduce unemployment, poverty and inequality. </p>
<p>If land reform is realised, South Africa could present a more humane, just, peaceful, prosperous and democratic face to the world.</p>
<p><em>Key dialogue leaders at the National Forum were:
Retired Justice <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/judge-albert-louis-albie-sachs">Albie Sachs</a>, <a href="http://www.thenewage.co.za/president-zuma-appoints-prof-bongani-majola-chairperson-of-human-rights-commission/">Professor Bongani Majola</a>, <a href="https://www.pa.org.za/person/mathole-serofo-motshekga/">Professor Mathole Motshekga</a>, <a href="http://advocatesgroup21.co.za/staff/la-makua-leks/">Advocate Leks Makua</a>, <a href="http://www.derebus.org.za/retirement-ceremony-of-justice-johann-van-der-westhuizen/">Retired Justice Johan van der Westhuizen</a>, <a href="https://eiuc.org/education/global-campus-regional-masters/university-of-pretoria/programme-director.html">Professor Frans Viljoen</a>, <a href="https://za.linkedin.com/in/victor-mavhidula-544236b6">Victor Mavhidula</a>, <a href="https://za.linkedin.com/in/makgatho-motshekga-35689910a">Makgatho Motshekga</a>, <a href="http://democracyworks.org.za/who-we-are/our-people/associates">Koogan Pillay</a>, <a href="http://saintzadvertising.wixsite.com/hkkinc/elson-kgaka">Elson Kgaga</a> and <a href="https://www.fhr.org.za/index.php/about/staff/">Advocate Hanif Vally</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The South African Human Rights Commission and Foundation for Human Rights have provided support for the National Forum Dialogues. </span></em></p>
After South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994, the previously oppressed and dispossessed black majority hoped for constitutional restitution of their land. This has largely failed.
Quinton Johnson, Campus Principal: Strategic Leadership and Management, Nelson Mandela University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/69121
2016-12-08T13:27:54Z
2016-12-08T13:27:54Z
Lessons from “The New Harvest” on how academics can turn their work into policy
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149249/original/image-20161208-31379-a1xwi4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">At the continental level the book contributed to discussions that led to two African Union summits on agriculture and food security. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Embassy of Equatorial Guinea/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>It is the fifth anniversary of the publication of <a href="http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/25699/new_harvest.html">“The New Harvest”</a>. First published in 2011, it is a groundbreaking book which promotes agricultural innovation across the African continent. The Conversation Africa’s Moina Spooner asked the author, Calestous Juma, about its impact and how other academics can make their work relevant to policy and action.</em></p>
<p><strong>What is the central message of “The New Harvest”?</strong></p>
<p>The central argument of the book is that Africa can feed itself in a generation. But achieving this goal will require fundamental shifts in the way agriculture is viewed and supported. </p>
<p>In much of Africa, agriculture and the economy are one and the same. It is very difficult to expand the overall economy without growing agriculture. A key insight from this perspective is that the purpose of agriculture is not just to meet food security needs. A country can achieve food security through imports. It addresses the needs of the 60-70% of the people who are dependent on agriculture for on-farm and off-farm employment. </p>
<p>Changing the situation entails defining agriculture as a technology-based, innovation-driven, and entrepreneurial economy. Defining it this way also makes it easier to attract young people with modern expertise into this economy. The use of the term “farming” projects negative connotations of marginalised people except for a few who own large farms. The term “agribusiness”, which was <a href="http://www.is.mendelu.cz/eknihovna/opory/zobraz_cast.pl?cast=66579">coined in the US</a> in 1956 for nearly similar reasons, is a better reflection of this economy.</p>
<p><strong>Who were your anticipated audience and why?</strong></p>
<p>Initially it was to help high level policymakers, especially presidents and prime ministers, define agricultural innovation as a driver for overall economic transformation.</p>
<p>The book identifies key agricultural activities such as fostering economic growth, advancing science and technology, building infrastructure, providing technical education, and expanding regional and international trade. The bulk of these functions fall outside the purview of agriculture ministries and provides the rationale for the involvement of leaders with the power to coordinate across a large array of actors – from the private sector, academia, and civil society. </p>
<p><strong>How did you secure the attention of presidents and prime ministers given their busy schedules?</strong></p>
<p>There are three factors that helped us to gain the attention of African leaders. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The book was published in the middle of the 2010-2011 <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org/files/er-horn-of-africa-2011-2012-progress-report-050712-en.pdf">food crises</a> in the Horn of Africa which were of the worst in history. It was clear from the magnitude of the crisis that, due to resources and logistical capacity, classical food relief was no longer viable and local solutions were needed.</p></li>
<li><p>African leaders were becoming acutely aware of connections between agriculture and other system-wide phenomena such as climate change. It became obvious that food security was not just a sectoral issue to be addressed my agriculture ministries but a threat to overall national security.</p></li>
<li><p>There were a few presidential or institutional champions willing to support the book. We worked closely with Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, then Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC). The draft of the book was launched on December 2, 2010, ahead of the public release in 2011, by the five EAC heads of state and government at the Retreat on Food Security and Climate Change. In addition, the book was endorsed by the presidents of Burkina Faso, Liberia, Nigeria and Costa Rica. We also had endorsements from winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics and the World Food Prize. </p></li>
</ol>
<p><strong>Five years later, what impact has it had? Have you seen policy makers make use of it and how?</strong> </p>
<p>The goal of the book was to invest in thinking. It doesn’t have a list of recommendations but generates options for action that are backed by evidence. We chose to forgo credit by adopting this approach, but it’s been very encouraging to see some key impacts that acknowledge the book. </p>
<p>The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), for example, created a new programme on science, technology, and innovation that was influenced by the book. It also created a science and innovation advisory council inspired by the book. In addition, it is creating a university to help build capacity in regional economic integration.</p>
<p>In some cases the book helped to reinforce ongoing national discussions. Nigeria’s efforts to diversify its agriculture drew some input from the book. The efforts included <a href="https://www.ifad.org/documents/10180/4ebc0611-1d29-4172-bd8e-355db32c034b">increased</a> investment in rural infrastructure.</p>
<p>At the continental level the book contributed to discussions that led to two African Union summits on agriculture and food security. The adoption of the 10-year Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024) benefited from the analytical framework laid out in the book.</p>
<p>We will only know the full impact of the book when those who took the risk to try out some of its ideas can report on their achievements. </p>
<p><strong>In terms of how academics can make their research relevant to policy and action, what lessons has this taught you?</strong> </p>
<p>A few lessons stand out for me. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The timing of the book and the magnitude of the challenge that was being addressed. The Horn of Africa famine had brought to a close the old food aid paradigm, and the world, not just Africa, was open for alternative ideas, even if they were not necessarily new. </p></li>
<li><p>We chose to simply share information rather than advocate certain approaches. By following this approach, we could not also go around trying to influence how to use the book. Our main obligation was to offer lessons from around the world, not just a new set of theories. This helped us to give prominence to themes such as infrastructure and university reform.</p></li>
<li><p>We provide a clear and compelling message that Africa could feed itself in a generation, and we then laid out the option of how it could be done by drawing from worldwide experiences. But we also did something else. We provided a systems framework that can be used in any sector of the economy. </p></li>
<li><p>We started working with prospective champions while writing the book. We found them, sought their input, and consulted them along the way. By the time the book was published we had champions, at times presidents, ready to go.</p></li>
<li><p>I didn’t act alone. I was supported by an advisory group that not only helped me to define the contents, but also guided me on strategy. </p></li>
<li><p>We prepared a book that served as a living document. We revised it every year to update the statistics. Soon it became clear that a new edition was needed to accommodate the rapid changes that had occurred in Africa in just a few years.</p></li>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Calestous Juma receives funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.</span></em></p>
Book on agricultural innovation has had key policy impacts at the micro and macro level.
Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development, Harvard Kennedy School
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.