Learning from others

In a recently published paper titled, Pathways to success, discussing several developing countries that have succeeded in transforming their agriculture sectors into important sources of growth and export earnings, and thus increasing their contribution to poverty and hunger reduction, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says the international community is committed to redouble its efforts to fight hunger and malnutrition, writes Simba Nembaware.

“Dismal global figures hide the fact that the number of hungry people has been declining in thirty one countries during the fifteen-year period from 1991 to 2005. The paper analyses examples of countries that are on track to achieve 2015 food security targets. Based on these examples, it argues that success in the battle to halve hunger will usually be characterised by: (1) creation of an enabling environment for economic growth and human well being, (2) outreach to the most vulnerable and investment in the rural poor, (3) protection of gains, and (4) planning for a sustainable future,” reads part of the introduction of the paper which also notes that an unwavering commitment from developing country governments themselves and strong support from the international community is required.

Developing countries discussed are Armenia, Brazil, Nigeria, Vietnam, Algeria, Turkey, Indonesia, Mexico, Sierra Leone and closer home- Malawi. The paper reveals that Algeria and Turkey have succeeded in significantly increasing their agricultural exports with Algeria having significantly boosted the production of cereals. In both countries, success was due to government policies that promoted international trade, as well as sustained efforts to promote the agriculture sector as a pillar for future development of the economy. In Malawi, it is the performance of its staple crop, maize, which has responded to the new government policy of a smart subsidy for fertilizers; enabling the country to cover domestic demand and generate an exportable surplus.”

With the bulk of the population in the developing world based in rural areas and earning a living off their usually small tracts of land, FAO advises that “supporting smallholder farmers is one of the best ways to fight hunger and poverty. It is estimated that 85 percent of the farms in the world measure less than 2 hectares, and that smallholder farmers and their families represent 2 billion people, or one-third of the world’s population.”

The first part of the paper that looks at halving hunger defines food security, as stated in the Rome Declaration of the World Food Summit Plan Of Action 13 November 1996, as existing “when all people, at all times have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” In this section, it is noted that eight of the thirty-one countries exhibiting a trend decline in the number of undernourishment, have already halved both the proportion and number of undernourished, thus achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and World Food Summit (WFS) for 2015.

On creating an enabling environment for economic growth and human wellbeing, Armenia succeeded in creating a strong enabling environment for private sector enterprise and reached out proactively to its small farmers to facilitate their transition to market-oriented operations. “In 2001, the Government of Nigeria introduced macro-economic reforms involving de-regulation and privatization in many sectors and began a major drive to develop agriculture within the framework of a National Special Programme for Food Security (NSPFS) which it launched with technical help from FAO. The non-oil economy of Nigeria is now growing at a rate of over 7 percent per annum, twice that of a decade ago. In 2008, the agricultural sector contributed 42 percent of GDP and employed about 70 percent of the active population.”

On the aspect of reaching out to the most vulnerable and investing in the rural poor Nigeria is reported to be pursing a policy of investment in small farmers as the core of its food security strategy. “The National Special programme for Food Security (NSPFS) promoted technologies that enabled small farmers to increase productivity and income significantly by introducing double and triple cropping.” This has helped develop rural communities through enhancing access to extension, credit and marketing services and nutrition and health education. As a result, this integrated approach is now being implemented through out Nigeria, with benefits for the economy as a whole, as well as for participating farmers.

For Armenia, planning for a sustainable future includes continuing to “enhance competitiveness, upgrading its water infrastructure to reduce leakage, investing in rural development to reduce disparities between capital and rural areas, and protecting biodiversity.” In Vietnam the priorities are investing in agricultural research and promoting environmentally-sustainable watershed management and irrigation technologies. Also in the plans is the tackling of public health challenges including sharp increases in the prevalence of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, and food safety in the agro-processing industry.

The second part of the paper discusses transforming agriculture to meet global demand and it reflects on an October 2009 expert forum on How to Feed the World 2050 which stated that “in most regions by 2050, farmers will need new technologies to grow more from less land, with fewer hands.”

Algeria, Malawi and Turkey are cited as examples of countries that have begun transforming their agriculture sectors so that it promotes investment in the production of commodities and processed agricultural products for which there is growing demand in regional and global markets. FAO notes that the chronicles of these three countries show what is possible when governments commit themselves to policies and actions that are conducive to growth and development of export-oriented agriculture.

“In Algeria, the aggregate agricultural growth rate has averaged more than 4 percent per year since 2000, dipping only modestly in 2007 – the latest year for which data are available. This reflects government efforts to promote agriculture as a pillar for future development of the economy. The growth of Turkey’s agriculture sector as a whole has been slower, but the real value of its agricultural exports has increased significantly, thanks to economic reforms that liberalised markets and promoted trade. In Malawi, it is the performance of its staple food crop, maize, which has responded to a new government policy of subsidizing fertilizer, with the objective of enabling the sub-sector to cover both domestic requirements and export demand.”

Just as in much of Southern Africa, maize is the staple food of Malawi and as a way of making it available to the whole nation, an Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme (AISP) has been in operation in Malawi since 2005 with results being the boosting of production significantly and the stabilisation of prices.

Malawian smallholder agriculture is characterised by large numbers of very poor farmers of which the majority are women who when harvests are poor survive only if they can gain access to free food provided by various donor-funded food aid programmes. In breaking the dependency syndrome the government started implementing AISP in the 2005/6 season which is premised on improving smallholder productivity, reducing vulnerability to food insecurity and hunger, increasing food and cash crop production, promote food self-sufficiency, develop private sector input markets and promote wider growth and development.

As a result of the generalized improvement in access to fertilizers and improved seeds afforded by AISP, Malawi was in 2006 able to restore maize self-sufficiency through a significant increase in domestic production. Both commercial farmers and vulnerable households benefited and this has seen both the AISP and the improvement in production performance being maintained since then.

A striking effect of AISP is that “In 2008, despite sharply rising world market prices for food and energy early in the year, Malawi was able to contain food prices because of the strong performance of its maize sub-sector, and achieve an overall economic growth rate for the year of around 8 per cent. Moreover, harvests in the 2008/9 season have been good enough to allow the country to begin to position itself as a maize exporter within the southern African sub-region.”

Malawi is positioning its agricultural sector for sustained growth and this is evidenced by allocating as much as 16 percent of its public sector budget to agriculture each year, thereby making it one of the few African countries to have surpassed the agreement reached among ministers at the 2003 Maputo African Heads of State and Government Conference for a minimum allocation of at least 10 percent annually.

The report notes that “in line with directives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and its Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), the Government of Malawi and its development partners have recently formulated and endorsed an agriculture development program, called the Agriculture Sector Wide Approach (ASWAp) that provides the framework for donors and the government to allocate resources to agriculture and food security. The ASWAp envisions developing the agricultural sector so that it can simultaneously assure national food security and produce a diversified mix of commodities for the export market.”

Food security remains a priority in this Southern African country and in maintaining momentum in agricultural development; the Malawi government has set up the Green Belt Initiative that is aimed at stabilising the farmers’ access to water during growing seasons. The government envisages developing “a Green Belt along the parameters of Lake Malawi and its tributaries, which would allow the country’s smallholder farmers to make more productive use of the country’s abundant natural water resources for the production of food.”

As Turkey positions itself to become the fruit basket of Europe, exporting fruits and nuts to its western neighbours in both fresh and processed forms, it has embarked on a host of programmes that are aimed at boosting and strategically positioning its agricultural sector. Part of the Turkish government’s plans include recruiting 10 000 agricultural consultants to provide free advice to farmers in a network of over 30 000 villages with 2 500 having already been appointed by 2009.

In 2006 the Turkish government initiated an agricultural insurance system that secures farmers’ products and pledged to underwrite 50 percent of insurance pay outs as a from of grant. In addition to insurance, the government has embarked on a land tenure reform which will see “breaches of land protection and usage laws” now being severely punishable, “while over 1 million hectares of land have now been consolidated, double the amount in 2002.”

FAO notes that Turkey is developing human capital in its rural areas by improving education systems and agricultural training programmes. The aim of this investment is the stimulation of entrepreneurship and innovation, leading in turn to creation of more off-farm employment opportunities in the Turkish countryside and social empowerment of rural people.”

The Turkish government’s other strategies include one on water conservation where government is offering interest-free credit “and a 50 percent grant in support of drip and sprinkle irrigation investments as well as pressure irrigation systems, so as to provide efficient water usage and conserve the environment.” Still on conserving the environment, Turkey has for the first time prepared an Agricultural inventory aimed at conserving the environment and its natural resources with the result being native gene resources of crops having been put under protection thereby making the country to possess the third largest plant gene bank in the world.

“To make the vision of a world without hunger a reality, development processes combined with social safety nets must reach marginalized and food insecure people on a large scale, in the places where they live,” spelt FAO’s vision of a world without hunger at the 2007 National Programmes for Food Security Convention. A number of countries have taken major strides in achieving this with Mexico among the front runners in the developing world.

“Reaching the rural poor in remote areas has long been a challenge for Mexico. Now, through decentralized Rural Development Agencies (ADR), the government is putting teams of technical experts at the service of local communities, who define their own rural development initiatives.”