Africa has had many problems with its agriculture over the years. During colonial times farming changed dramatically from small scale subsistence farming to large scale production for export back to Europe. European markets were for luxury items like coffee, sugar, tea and cocoa. Governments pushed the farmers into changing their crops after realising that foreign exchange was vital for other developmental projects. Much of the good farming land was given over to production of these foodstuffs and the locals were left to try and subsist on the poorer land. Another problem was that local people became more westernised as they grew more successful and developed tastes for western foods like sugar and coffee that weren’t there before and which are far less nutritionally valuable than traditional locally grown foods which drove down demand and prices for more traditional crops.
Of course much of Africa does have extremely good agricultural practices and many countries are self-sustaining and exporting successfully. Much of Southern Africa and Western Africa have well developed agricultural businesses such as the vineyards and rooibos tea plantations of South Africa or the cocoa plantations of Ghana.
However the de-emphasizing of locally-grown, staple foods is seen as the basis of most of the problems with Africa and its inability to feed itself. Much of Africa has seen recurring cycles of drought and famine across the continent, especially in the Horn of Africa. Staple food farming was seen as unsustainable and young people moved away into the cities to look for more lucrative work. Agriculture was then left to the aged and women.
Africa is well endowed with arable land and water. So why has agricultural output declined while it is rising in the rest of the world though technological and scientific improvements? Why are 250 million African classed as malnourished ? What has happened and what can be done to change it?
Surprisingly Africa can produce enough food to sustain itself. It has several agricultural industries that are extremely successful – in Kenya this is coffee and cut flowers. In the period between 2000 and 2005 crop failure left Malawi struck down by famine. The country’s president however showed great foresight and committed his office and prestige to the improvement of the county’s food security. As a result, the farmers got access to fertilizers and higher grade seeds. By 2007, the small country of Malawi had more than enough to feed its people and a surplus to sell and donate to neighbours. This just goes to show what can be done under the right circumstances.
In 2007, former UN’s Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, established the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), based in Nairobi and Accra. This organisation’s objective is to enhance food security in Africa based on smallholder farming. Many academics now seriously believe that Africa can feed itself and become self sustaining within a decade with the right support and investment. Also by using new communication technologies to share information and support and build market places. This small scale, smallholder farming is the future and it is the women who are the driving force behind much of it.
