Revolutionalising agriculture
Revolutionalising agricultureBy Editor
Saturday June 16, 2007 [04:00]
Looking at the state of agriculture in Zambia today, we agree with the observation that has been made by former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan that the sector has remained largely neglected on our continent.
And it is encouraging that this international statesman has continued to be useful to the many processes aimed at the advancement of human development, especially the development needs of poor continents like Africa. We not only welcome his ascendancy to the chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa but also acknowledge his precise observations on the state of agriculture in Africa in the last few years.
True to Annan's observation, we can safely state that most governments, especially in Africa, have ignored the role of agriculture to the overall goal of development and poverty reduction. What is even more worrying is that interest in agriculture is diminishing at a time when the challenges for food security have become greater.
The numbers of people to be fed are growing and the magnitude of food insecurity is not going down. Even more worrying is that the number of malnourished people in Africa continues to go up while some regions of the continent have continued to face droughts. Yet, as Annan states, it is very clear that we will not pull the people of this continent out of poverty by only revolutionalising agriculture without helping farmers to improve their capacity.
When we talk about improving agriculture, one of the greatest challenges is to improve the ways of doing farming. We have stated many times that agriculture has the potential to be the mainstay of our economy if only a few things are put in order.
We have also stated that improving the conditions of living for the people could to a greater extent be determined by the extent to which the agricultural sector is given attention. So when we talk about improving agriculture in Zambia, we are talking both about the capacity to produce with the capacity for sustainable subsistence as well as to produce for export. If current statistics are anything to go by, most of the labour force in Zambia is in the informal sector, the majority of which is in agriculture-related activities.
If that is the case, then there is every reason why appropriate attention should be given to the sector. In our view, improving agricultural production in the country will also have to depend on the means and ways by which we do our farming. And that will obviously require a revolution in the sector. Such a revolution should essentially be anchored on a programme aimed at a rapid mechanisation of farming. If we are serious about a revolution in this sector, there will be no better way than to move towards mechanisation.
This is the way that countries which are serious about agriculture are taking. Fortunately, we do not need to look far for lessons in this area. Just last Monday, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe was handing over agricultural equipment under the country's farm mechanisation programme. There is no doubt that Zimbabwe is moving very well with its programme of rolling out tractors to its farmers, especially those who are unable to purchase them on their own.
According to the Minister of Agricultural Engineering and Mechanisation, Dr Joseph Made, mechanisation of farming in Zimbabwe will be undertaken within the horizon of 50 years and the mechanisation policy looks at every aspect of cropping, livestock, plantation and forestry as they relate to machinery and equipment requirements. For Zimbabwe, the decision to mordenise agriculture is irreversible and the people of that country are determined to take the lead on the continent by actually mechanising on individual farmer level.
As a nation, we need to move in this direction if we are serious about the role that agriculture should play in our economy. If anything, mechanisation of agriculture will not be completely new to this country because the UNIP government had at one time embarked on this programme although it was never really sustained. It is not too late to start rethinking the programme of tractorisation. As a consequence of livestock diseases, most peasant farmers’ production capacity has been severely impaired. Therefore, a programme aimed at mechanising farming at the lowest level of production will increase the capacity in the sector.
There are many other areas in which the agriculture sector requires serious attention. These include access to loans for farmers as well as a proper marketing mechanisms for farm produce. The question of a farmers' bank has not yet been adequately answered or addressed. We still see contradictions in terms of the marketing policy of agricultural produce.
All these are questions which need to be addressed if our capacity for agricultural production has to improve.
On the subject of mechanisined farming, we know that such a programme will require huge investments in terms of finances. And this is why such a programme cannot be driven by the market which is largely motivated by profit intentions. If such a programme is to succeed, the government would have to be ready to play a significant role in it. We are not saying that the private sector should not be involved at all.
All we are saying is that the programme for mechanising agriculture should be a major national policy programme which should involve all stakeholders, but the government should be on top of things in this regard because leaving such a programme to the market may not help much in our quest for an improved agriculture sector.
Labels: AGRICULTURE, EDITORIAL, KOFI ANNAN
posted by MrK @ 4:32 AM
1 Comments:
Mechanisation is going to play a major role in revolutionising agriculture in Zambia.
However, there are also two other factors:
- irrigation
- land redistribution
They all go hand in hand, especially land redistribution and mechanisation.
When farmers will have bigger plots of land to farm, they will not be able to do it by hand. That is where mechanisation comes in.
However, mechanisation without land redistribution makes no sense, because the incentive is rarely there. If a farmer has two hectares he or she can do by hand, mechanisation may be seen as an unnecessary cost.
It is when the redistribution of land puts considerable pieces of land in the hands of what are now 'peasant farmers' or 'subsistence farmers', that we are going to see a revolution of farming in Zambia and Africa.
Also, irrigation is crucial, because right now over 90% of agriculture is dependent on rainfall, instead of making use of Zambia's ample sweet water resources (10% of Africa's sweet water resources).
Agriculture in Zambia should be a huge growth industry in this century.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home