With elderly farmers, COVID-19 is a double tragedy for Africa's Agriculture!
What is the average age of farmers in Africa? Which
age group is highly predisposed to COVID-19 coronavirus?
If you
have the answer to the questions above, then I presume that you would agree
with my opinion that Africa’s
agriculture is currently staring at a big crisis.
A lot
of research about Africa’s agriculture has been conducted by academicians,
governments, development partners among other agents during the past decades.
Some of the most consistent findings is that a huge majority of elderly
workforce in Africa is employed in the agriculture sector. The average age of
farmers in Africa according to these researches ranges between 55-60 years
against a life expectancy of up to 65 years.
Other
researches have come up with differing conclusions, arguing that African
farmers could be way younger than the reported figures which have been used as
the official reference for the past decade. This school of researchers contends
that the average age varies between 35-50 years depending on the country.
The
source of difference between the two conclusions is based on the definition of
who a farmer is. The former defines a farmer as anyone who spends 80% of their
work time on the farm. It excludes family laborers and daily wage earners and
centers its focus on farm owners. The latter defines a farmer as anyone who has
a stream of revenue from farming activities, be it a wage earner, family
member, telephone farmers etc. which gives a wider scope to the definition.
Conservatively, professionals and organizations across the world
seem to agree with the first definition that a farmer is an individual who exercises
a high level of control on decision making and spends most of his time on the farm
business activities. Following this accord, we can, therefore, conclude that
African farmers are indeed old, with an estimated average age of around 60
years.
Several reasons explain why the elderly population
engages in farming while the youths disengage. Some of the reasons include:
1. Scarcity of land
Land is a rare resource and most youth do not have proprietary rights. Normally, titles deeds are under the traditional owners of the land who are the elderly (parents and grandparents). This means that most youth work on their parent’s farms with very little or no control over decision making. Most families exhibit the “sticky baton” syndrome where the older generation hands over land use to young people in theory, but in practice retain full control over everything that matters.2. Widespread perception that farming is for the elderly
Very few youths aspire to become farmers in their later years. It is casually said that venturing into farming should be a retirement plan. With this stereotype, youth dislike being associated with farming.3. Lack of financial resources
The rate of youth unemployment in Africa is alarming. On average, 40% of youth in any African country are without any source of income. Investing in (modern) farming is capital intensive which distances the jobless youths.
Along
With the struggling elderly farming population and the exclusion of youth from
agriculture, a global pandemic, COVID-19 has erupted.
The elderly are the main source of agricultural labor in Africa.
The
outbreak of coronavirus could have severe long-term effect on Africa’s farming
population than in the short-term. This is because the virus is not going to
disappear anytime soon, hence people must adapt and learn to live with it. The
unfortunate thing for Africa is that COVID-19 seems to have a soaring appetite
for anyone aged around 60 years, which coincidentally is our farmers.
As
coronavirus continues to ravage, we cannot wait and stall anymore. Economies
are starting to reopen after failure to completely curb the spread of the virus
and due to the ensuing uncertainty vis-Ã -vis how long it would take to get a
cure or a vaccine. However, governments are giving guidelines to ensure the
safety of lives as people go back to their daily businesses. Among other
measures, the elderly and patients with underlying health conditions are
advised to completely stay at home to minimize the risk of exposure. We cannot
talk of the elderly without thinking of our farmers. How are they going to
protect themselves? Can they work efficiently when confined inside their homes?
I do not think so.
It is against
this backdrop of aging farmers and the coronavirus outbreak that I propose the below
strategy to enhance the sustainability of farm businesses in Africa.
In comparison
elsewhere, I have read that companies with elderly employees are already
designing strategies to ensure the safety of all workers amid the pandemic.
Some of the strategies include relieving the elderly from roles that require
high mobility or exposure to crowds.
In the
same direction, it is important to think of how to relieve our elderly farmers
from activities that would expose them to contracting the virus. Depending on
the nature of the farm business, every family should assess farm activities
that predispose the elderly to the virus. For example, activities such as
procurement of inputs and delivery of products to the market should become the
responsibility of the youths. And for this to happen, the youth must step in
with the passion to take over such roles, especially those whose parents or
grandparents are into farming business.
If this
transition is executed successfully, the continuity of farming activities will
not give in to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the safety of the
aging farmers would be assured.
This is the most appropriate time to discuss the succession plan
of the family farm businesses in Africa.
In Kenya for instance according to the latest survey by
Deloitte, many family-owned businesses lack any clear long-term succession plan.
In farm businesses, for instance, succession occurs in the form of inheritance
whereby the farmland is subdivided among siblings.
Succession in farm business management must be redefined to
circumvent land subdivision, and COVID-19 presents an opportunity for youth to
become the principal assistants and eventually managers of their parent’s
farms.
Joseph is a consultant in agribusiness,
Follow him on LinkedIn
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