Global Policy Forum

By Moyiga Nduru

If Suresh Babu had his way, the small farmer would be supported to solve the problems of hunger and poverty bedeviling Africa. Babu strongly believes that raising the output of small-scale farmers would increase their incomes and food security, lower food prices, stimulate the economy as a whole and reduce poverty in Africa. ''Research shows that a one percent increase in crop production can help six million people (in Africa) raise their incomes above one U.S. dollar per day. At this rate, a smallholder-led growth strategy could lead to huge cuts in Africa's rural poverty within two decades,'' says Babu.

Eighty percent of all Africans live on a daily income of less than two U.S. dollars; nearly half struggle to survive on one U.S. dollar a day or less. A staggering one-third of the population - around 600 million - is malnourished, according to the Washington-based think tank, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which provides information about agriculture.

Babu, a researcher at IFPRI, has taken his campaign - from Johannesburg - to Gaborone, Botswana, where the 14-member nations of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are meeting this week to explore ways of improving the food security in the sub-region. ''We expect senior civil servants and ministers to attend the conference, '' he says.

While in Gaborone, Babu will call upon policymakers to assist women in improving food yields in the sub-region. Providing sustainable support to women farmers is critical to a smallholder-led development strategy. Women supply more than 70 percent of agricultural labour in sub-Saharan Africa, and they are the primary providers of family care and nutrition, according to an IFPRI policy document, made available to IPS this week.

''When women obtain the same levels of education, experience, and farm inputs as men, they produce significantly higher yields. For that reason, agricultural extension and farming technologies must target women - not only with inputs, technologies, and services, but with rights as well, including legal title to land,'' says the document.

Babu will also urge policymakers to develop technologies that increase labour productivity and profitability (such as lighter-weight plows that both women and youth can use), which is particularly important in southern Africa, where many families have lost men to AIDS. In seven countries, all in the southern cone of Africa, more than one in five adults is HIV-positive, according to the UN World Health Organisation (WHO). In Africa, where the pandemic is currently the most serious, AIDS emerged against a backdrop of extreme poverty, hunger, conflict, and inadequate infrastructure.

Babu will also persuade the policymakers to help small farmers with access to the market. ''Investment in infrastructure, especially roads, provides a critical path to agricultural development. Without roads, farmers cannot procure fertilizers and other inputs at affordable prices. Worse still, they cannot get their crops to market. Even if farmers achieve significant increases in yields, countries can still face famine if food cannot be effectively transported from surplus to deficit areas, or stored for times of crisis,''says Babu.

In the past year, Southern Africa has been devastated by drought, floods, and civil conflict, precipitating severe food shortages that threaten close to 14 million people with famine. Worst-hit countries in southern Africa include Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland and Angola. From now through 2003, up to 35 million people in Africa will need food aid, according to the U.S. Aid for International Development (USAID).

Providing emergency relief to the millions of people who are facing starvation is critical, but if life-threatening food crises are to be a thing of the past, policymakers must address the underlying causes of famine - chronic poverty, widespread malnutrition and disease, and low agricultural productivity, argues Babu.

USAID says it is working with its partners, such as the UN World Food Programme (WFP), to deliver up to 2.75 million metric tonnes of food to help meet the needs of the starving people in Africa. The U.S. agency says it is also working with governments to address longer-term structural problems, and to this end is launching four new special initiatives this year in Africa in agriculture, trade, education, and good governance. Each of this will contribute toward increasing agricultural productivity, which is fundamental to Africa's efforts to reduce widespread poverty.

Agriculture is the foundation for most African economies, supporting over 70 percent of the population and contributing an average of 30 percent of gross domestic product (gdp).

Of the 4.5 billion who live in the developing world, 1.4 billion - the majority of them in Africa - still confront the ravages of poverty on a daily basis. About 800 million are food insecure while 160 million children under five are malnourished, says IFPRI.

Agricultural productivity growth in developing countries, once rapid, is now decelerating. By 2020, there will be 1.5 billion more people on the planet, putting even more stress on limited resources, according to IFPRI.

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