HOW CAN WE COMBAT THE WEAK AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND THE PROBLEMS IT CAUSES?

Scott Hannah

FOR EXAMPLE, IN MANY AFRICAN COUNTRIES THERE IS LITTLE SUPPORT FROM NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS FOR SMALL FARMERS. THERE IS NO MONEY.

MORE SPECIFICALLY, IN COUNTRIES INCLUDING ETHIOPIA, GOVERNMENTS ARE ACTUALLY SELLING MASSIVE SWATHES OF LAND TO MULTNATIONAL CORPORATIONS, AT THE DETRIMENT OF LOCALS.

In the Gambela province of Ethiopia, the local government has sold off massive swathes of land (some individual ‘farms’ as big as Wales) to massive companies based in countries as far away as India and Argentina.

The land was given away without any thought to the locals, whose ancestors have lived there for hundreds and in some cases even thousands of years.

The land was burnt as a quick method of deforestation, and is being intensively farmed using old and cheap machinery.

This quick mechanisation has not provided employment for the misplaced locals, and where it has it pays them at less than $1 a day, well below the World Bank’s idea of ‘severely poor’.

This kind of ‘development’ by African governments is not sustainable and is not the solution to national poverty.

Furthermore, the rapid mechanisation and use of old machinery is not the right way for the third world to develop. If they do, they will end up with the same problems as we have now.

The governments of more developed countries must invest in sustainable development for these countries, in order to reap the benefits of a stronger African economy and more food security for the world’s burgeoning population.

Any solution must be fair to the local/indigenous population and benefit the environment as much as people.

Our solution to this problem is not a massive government initiative which will nationalise the farms or gift them to multinational corporations, but a modern and sustainable image to improve the environment and the lives of the people that live there.

It is essentially a union of local farms, and a framework in which they can communicate and share knowledge, co-educate and improve the sustainability and efficiency of their land.

The idea is to give them access to the internet through a specially designed product, which will work in the remote, rural areas in which they live and will be understandable to the farmers, who will not be accustomed to modern technology.

The product shown on the right will connect to the internet via satellite, and charge using a solar-powered battery pack.

It will connect the farmers to each other, allowing them to negotiate and share ideas, teaching each other efficient techniques such as crop rotation. However, it will also provide a connection to the wider world, allowing farmers to barter and trade their produce with traders from around the world.

The products will be given to the farmers free of charge, and the farmers will be educated on how to use them. They will function in the farmers’ native language and incorporate connections to interpreters and translators, so as to encourage inter-regional and international trade.

The basis of the idea is that it will provide a forum for famers to communicate with each other and band together in the face of threats, such as climatic problems or the threat of unfair governments or global companies. It is essentially the idea of

‘strength in numbers’.

But who will pay for such an expensive initiative?

Many African countries are in debt to the developed world. These loans were taken out in the 1970s in the face of extreme poverty and unstable governments in the wake of decolonisation.

If Western countries agreed to wipe off these loans in return for investment in the agricultural sector, everybody would reap the rewards in the future.

If there were stronger economies in Africa which could participate in the international market, there would be more trade partners for countries such as the UK.

Furthermore, with all predictions pointing towards world food shortages in the future, the world needs to put the massive landmass of Africa to good and efficient use.

There needs to be sustainable development.