Towards a "Green Revolution" for Africa

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Towards a
“Green Revolution” for Africa

e-Discussion

Theme 1 – Making Farmers' Voices Heard October 13th – October 24th (Closed)

Inclusion is seen as crucial to the new agenda for African agriculture. Governments, donors, farmer organisations, and NGOs, must consider the particular issues surrounding small-scale farmer and issues of equity. An equitable Green Revolution requires an increased ability to facilitate inclusive approaches in which farmers, especially the small-holder, women and the poor, can access skills training in organisational, business management, policy, advocacy and impact monitoring.

Contributions on this theme should revolve around concrete actions – indicating who the key actors are - to address the following questions:

Which of the recommendations and actions set forth in the Conference Report best achieve the goal of amplifying farmers’ voices in policy debates and decision-making processes?
How can we ensure that measurable targets are set for gender and equity?
How can we build capacity of grassroots organisations for basic skills (e.g., organisations and business skills) and leadership (to influence policy and negotiations)?
How do we strengthen horizontal and vertical linkages and partnerships/networks with other organisations?
And how can we increase access to resources and services for small-scale farmers and marginalized groups?
What investments are needed in governance systems and accountability mechanisms to help farmers' organisations become more effective in informing and influencing public and private policy processes?

Send your submissions of no more than 500 words in length to AfricanAg@future-agricultures.org. Comments should be short, provocative and challenging.

Please focus your contribution on action-oriented approaches to address the “how” part of the African Green Revolution discussions.

Contributions

Göran Forssen, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU)

Being a representative of Farmers Organisations (FOs) in Southern Africa, I find the topic “Making the farmers voice heard” both interesting and challenging. My opinion is that the strengthening of the farmers’ voice is absolute necessary and fundamental for the achievement of agriculture development and a green revolution in Africa. It was therefore most encouraging that almost all working groups in the “Towards an African Green Revolution Conference and Seminar” made recommendations on the need for strengthening of the capacity of FOs.
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David Bonbright, Chief Executive, Keystone Accountability

If you think in terms of systems, or if you live long enough, you come to the view that structural incentives are very very important in shaping outcomes. Other factors -- like capacity, supply drivers, and values -- matter too, of course. But if these swim against the current of structural incentives, they will eventually be swept out to sea!
So I ask myself how we might create structural incentives to promote Smallholder Farmer Voice. Here is one answer that bears consideration. I call it the Feedback Principle:
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Ralph von Kaufmann, Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA)

I am in full accord with the advocates for enhancing the farmer’s voice. But I have to ask the question “And then what?” There will be little point in giving the farmers voice if there is no one ready to listen and respond. I agree with the argument that we must move from being technology driven and simply seeking uses for new information technology to becoming farmer centric. However, I am not convinced that we, including myself, fully understand what that implies.
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Amdissa Teshome, Chief Consultant, A-Z Consult

I am very pleased to make a contribution to this theme based on the experience of Future Agricultures work in Ethiopia over the last 2 years. It is well established that policy making in most African countries including Ethiopia has been and continue to be top down. The elite group (the researchers, the politicians) think they know what the farmers want and design policies and programmes with little or no consultation with farmers.
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Kwesi Atta-Krah, Deputy Director General, Bioversity International

The subject of making farmers’ voices heard should be central in the green revolution that we intend to create. The green revolution for Africa can only happen if farmers in different communities are able to take ownership and make contributions in decisions that influence their livelihoods and their agriculture. Often times the feeling is that we the scientists have all the answers and that the farmers only need to take what comes from us. This model has proven time and time again to be flawed and unworkable, I believe.
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Shellemiah O. Keya, Advisor to the Director General, Africa Rice Center (WARDA)

Here we are as scientists and others speaking on behalf of farmers – not an ideal situation. The range of these farmers includes fishers, rangers, foresters as well as full time to part time professionals who derive a proportion of income from farming. With urbanization the nature of small holder farmers is changing continuously. Understanding the typology of an African farmer in the context of the Green revolution is crucial in framing the discussion.
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Ricardo Ramirez, Communication Consulting (Adjunct Professor, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph)

Only the well organized, powerful farmers with good market linkages have thus far been able to make their voices heard to the extent that policies and programs are adapted to their needs. For the rest, intermediary individuals or organizations often provide the platform to enable their concerns to be heard.If these "mediating" organizations have status in policy or research circles, then the voices may have an impact in the form of redirected programs or policies.As others have already underlined, the active listening phase needs to be followed with action that is tangible in the eyes of farmers - not an easy task.
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Toyin Kolawole, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, Nigeria/Institute of Development Studies

Clearly, development is about people. All efforts geared towards realising the potential of human personality are, therefore, encapsulated in one word: Development. Not until knowledge producers/researchers begin to reflect upon what their intentions are, it might be difficult to achieve any meaningful human progress. The African Green Revolution initiative could prove to be a significant platform for this after all. Perhaps, we need to probe ourselves and ask what on earth has become of the sub-Saharan African smallholder farmer in spite of all the scientific breakthroughs [in
agricultural production] that have been achieved in the past by both international and national research centres.
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Steven Were Omamo, Deputy Director, Policy, Planning and Strategy Division, UN World Food Programme

While most of the recommendations and actions set forth could promote farmers’ voices in policy debate, the following recommendations are especially relevant:
* Making policy relevant and responsive to smallholder farmers’ needs;
* Enhancing accountability of state and non-state actors;
* Improving access to financial resources, especially micro-finance;
* Building capacity of farmer organizations; and
* “Taking the message to Africa,” with a focus on micro-finance organizations and extension service providers.
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Pedro Sanchez, Director, The Millennium Villages Project

The Millennium Villages Project (MVP) is a community-based approach to achieving the MDGs. Many rural development programs have hindered their potential for success because local stakeholders did not participate adequately in the development process. A community-based approach is therefore essential for the success and sustainability of the MVP. A community-based approach is embodied in the established and known principles of participation, social and gender inclusion, equity, and local stakeholders’ ownership of the decision-making and development process.
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