food security concerns in acp countries: the role of acp-eu co … · 2020. 3. 29. · food...
TRANSCRIPT
Food security concernsin ACP countries:
The role of ACP-EUCo-operation
By Martin BertramPELUM Association
Research and Organization DevelopmentOfficer
What is PELUM?
Participatory Ecolocical Land-Use Managementfounded 1995, Secretariat of 10 national PELUM DesksKenyaTanzaniaUgandaRwanda 216 member organizationsMalawiZambiaZimbabweBotswanaLesothoSouth Africa
Who are we
Issuesfor Africa’s rural poor
• Knowledge and Skills• Agricultural policies and funding• Trade arrangements• Access to resources and infrastructure• Participation by marginalized groups• Promotion of appropriate technologies• Response to HIV /AIDS• Mitigating impact of climate changes
What are we doing
Socio-Economic Tendencies in Africa The poor and food production will suffer
Economic growth / new investments, employment
commercial farming
Livelihood of the poor, smallholder production / c
Population
employment through labor intensive production
tlow
higher
Marketreforms
transitionalproblems
Present tendency
Fears: What EU might cause
Food security is threatened
• Market opening will lead to• a collapse of existing, low developed production• raise un-employment and purchasing power for
food• temporary reduction of commercial farms• reduction of prices for smallholder produce• reduction of food production• more poverty, AIDS, births…
…. If smallholders are not supported via operational NGO-networks
Less foodLess income
“It’s only the poorwho suffer !”
• Who are those poor?70% of all Sub-Saharan Africans70% of the populationsThe 70% small-holder farmersThe producers of 85% of the food in Sub-S. AfricaThe producers of 50% of the GDPs
The back-bone of Africa’s economy based on small-scale farming and agro-services
Food insecurity for whom
They can’t afford anydeterioration of their livelihoods
• Because they are already in deep water
Why to consider“side-effects”
NB: even slight worsening of the situation• Causes hunger and death• Collapse of food production• Unemployment with hunger• Raising birth-rates• Destabilization
= a vicious circle of decline
Because here, un-equal to Asiathe MAJORITY is more vulnerable
The critical elementnot mere sufferingbut starvation
How to developand to mitigate problems?
• Concentrate on the economy of themajority and develop it into the market!
⇒ Develop small-scale farming
The poor are not the locomotives of development but in Africa nothing works
without them
What to do
How to do that?• Open the market for un-disputed activities• Do not confront African food- markets with subsidized
EU-produce• Source Food aid within the region without dumping• Respect reservations against irreversible damage by DDT and GMOs or provide
liability• Leave the EU market open for fair and organic produce • Provide ACP politicians training in clear holistic policy making• Supply infra-structure to rural centers• Include marginalized stakeholders into your consideration• Promote ranch-fencing and dipping not border fences against game
Support small-scale farmers by
• upgrading their skills,• their sustainable (!) access to water,• markets• land • group-credits• political representation and participation
recommendations
Do not just dump money mainly in governments
it has proved not to reach at therural poor*
• But make sure it reaches at the level of• the farms
*a Study to proveThe statement is available
There is a gapin development structures
• The flow of services and funds stops above the village level
$$$$$€€€€€ $€
Enough for planning
Nothing for the “objects” of planning in their
villages
How to get benefits to thevulnerable
EU-funds and ACP governmentimplementation
• Un-conditioned funds for rural poor via Agricultural ministries not reaching the poor
• Sophisticated, supply-dependent High Input agro-production
• Fertilizer subsidy programs creating dependence and reducing arable land
Present problems In agricultural policy
Green Revolution= more input than output
A small-scale farmer in Africa gets 10 times moreenergy out of her produce than she invests
A European farmer puts 8 times more inthan he receives in the produce
African small-scale farmerscan not afford
and handle High Input Methods
NOT a solution
Small-scale farmersneed special help
• The small-scale farmer is the critical element in African development
• She doesn’t need Workshops or subsidized input
• But skills for better production provided on the own farm
• And access to markets
Specialists neededTo get impact
In the farm
How to open the gapbetween development activities
and the farmer• qualify and multiply field-workers• train Trainer-trainers• train Village Promotion Farmers• train and support District Agricultural
Extension Officers= government structures on the lowest level• improve the co-operation between NGOs
and the states on district-level
SpecialTrainersneeded
The effect will be poverty reductionand development
Best practice is knownbut funds
for training and field-trainersare missing
The recipeexists
There are existing capacities to implement that
NGOs like the PELUM Network• of 200 small-holder supporting organizations• in 10 countries of South- and East Africa• translate aid-funds into rural development• Information sharing,• campaigns for the improvement of small-scale
farmers livelihoods through advocacy and lobbying and
• Empowers smallholders politically
Capacities toConvert fundsInto impact exist
Bridging the gap
• The NETWORK makes sure funds are serving the farmers organizations
• It co-ordinates 10 countries activities• And 216 member organizations
What the NGO-Network can do
Co-ordinationfor the benefit of the rural majority
• Adjustments of agro-policies • Adjustment of trade-policies• Political networking within SADC,
COMESA, EAC and AU• Exchange of best practice• Qualification of members to up-scale and
up-grade their capacities to create impact
services
To link forces
• As problems are global• international concepts, based on participatory
approach are required to solve some of them• The link development programs• The link expertise• The supply relevant information to politicians• NGOs, CBOs, Trainers and farmers• synergy with Government programs
mainly on District level
directing funds to receivers in need
accounting as a block
The partners
• Funding organizations• NGOs for smallholder-support• CBOs• Ministries of Agriculture• Farmer unions• Researchers
and farmers
The difficultyto reach the farmer
• Farmers are in remote places• They live under harsh conditions• They hesitant to change• They have very limited means• They need capacity builiding
• That is why few qualified trainers are available to work there
Why it didn’ workYet in sufficient scale
How to reach them
• Field activities are still limited locally and sectorally due to a lack of funds for field-work and the lack of funds for the co-ordination of field-work
• The ministerial extension officers lack proper training in sustainable small-holder farming and are not well equipped to reach all farmers
To develop the poor countrysidemeans to
qualify thousands ofLEISA on-farm trainers
and to give support to their organizations
Trainer training= missing key
Low External InputSustainable Agriculture
is what develops the rural poorinto subjects of the market
Training of LEISA on-farm Trainersis the tool to do it
Intensive, sustainable agriculturefor the poor
Avoid a catastrophe !ponder the transitional problems !
• Train farmers to survive• To develop into surplus food production• Into resource saving and using producers
Suggestion to takepreventive measures
Food security by skilled farmingenough and highly qualified
LEISA- trainers the key for rural development
PELUM offers LEISA trainer-training for improved rural livelihoods
Food security more land arable through soil-maintenance, productivity raisedland secured against climatic extrema and pests, mixed crop
HIV labor extensive farming, perma-culture, minimum tillage, biological weed-suppression, short ways to fire-wood, cattle and water
Climate extrema soil protection against drought, and flood-erosion, , basic supply self-sufficient
Cheap input farm produces fertilizer, pest-management, energy- and water-supply
Fair prices conjoined market-approach through co-ops, partnership with fair processors and exporters, excellent quality and yield
Water water-harvest on the soil through trenches, from the roof for people and livestock, communal water-supply
Group loans (communal) grameen-banks [email protected]
To solve the problem, we have to apply methods different from those
that caused the problem withfree cit.Einstein
Some services/training,management needed in rural development
honey/waxmarketing
rural income
bee keeping
perma-culture
agroforestryzero grazing
fodder cultivation
grass harvest
respect of other’sLand use
privateafforestation
soil/nutrient management
domestic energy
cheapwater cisterns
improved stoves
Spring buildingWater supply
Erosioncontrol
purification byreposition plants
sewageprocessing
water harvest
ecologic hydrofarming
ecologic forestmanagement
less bush fire
natural fertilizer
milk/meet/heiferstimber/fire woodfish/shrimpproduction
fruit/vegetablesnuts, plants
private nurseries
water for cattleAnd farm
mangrovemanagement
Looks quiteA bitComplicated ?
It is reallyNot just training
Start now !
• Decent on-farm trainer multiplication• Progresses in two-year steps• Empowerment of small-holder unions
Grows slowly• Lobbying with governments takes time
International activitiesneed international
partners
The PELUM NETWORKis one
to safeguard funds reaching the poorand to help to up-grade de-central
government structures
Summary• High impact rural development Aid is
needed to prevent “transitional” catastrophes through market reforms
• The finances should be channeled to NGO-Networks co-operating with government field-workers or visa versa
• The focus should be on LEISA on-farmtrainer-training and funding for training
ThankYou
Improves rural livelihood