What is the future of agriculture in Africa?
The desired future of agriculture in our continent could come as early as tomorrow or as late as after a century or two. It will all depend on the small steps we are taking today to secure that future. From my observation, it seems that many countries are making one step forward and two steps backward.
Practically
speaking, the progression of the agriculture sector has been very slow or
regressive in the African continent. The challenges that the continent was
facing three decades ago still remain the same today, in addition to the
effects of climate change.
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During my
usual visits to smallholder farmers in rural areas, I have realized that very
little or no progress has been made in the farming systems. Most farmers, in my
own estimation, over 90% of smallholder farmers are practicing farming today
the same way it was done 30 years ago. Manual labor, low use of inputs, farming
for the daily meal, low agricultural knowledge levels, etc is what
characterizes farming in most parts of Kenya today. In as much as everyone is
speaking about improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, there is
little or no hope for a better future for small scale farmers.
Back in the
early 90, there were thousands of agricultural extension officers in Kenya.
They were quite many that I can vividly remember three officers who used to
visit my parents at least once a month. I knew them by name. They trained my
parents on how to set gabions to prevent soil erosion. They also did several
other trainings and usually advised farmers on the best crops to grow depending
on the market realities and land potential. For instance, they convinced my
grandparents to convert from maize to pyrethrum on their 5-hectare piece of
land. This was a good advice from the officers because pyrethrum turned out to
be a cash cow until the year 2000 when pyrethrum milling companies collapsed
and my grandparents reverted to growing maize. Currently, experts are
discussing how to de-maize Kenya, especially among smallholder farmers. They
have realized that maize is a poverty grass, especially when not done on a
large scale.
My
investigative research has revealed that since 1980, the government has never
employed any new agricultural extension officers and the old ones have
progressively retired from work. Today, there is no single government extension
officer in Kenya, which is a very big loss compared to back then when these
officers were educating farmers proactively.
When you
look at agricultural mechanization, Kenya and Africa in general had more
tractor in the 70s than we have today.
Irrigated
land in Kenya has continuously shrunk with the collapse of large-scale
government irrigated projects.
Tea and
coffee farming continues to face extinction, not because the weather does not
allow high productivity, but because farmers feel exploited and hence less
motivated to grow these crops. Many coffee and tea factories, and cooperatives
have shut down over the past few years leaving farmers without a market for
their produce. Where are we headed? Are we winning or losing?
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Regardless
of the progress made in the adoption of modern technologies of farming like
digital farming, greenhouses, vertical farms and kitchen garden, use of
fertilizer, and other agrochemicals, we should be keen no to lose the gains
that we had achieved after many decades of trial and error.
As a
country and a continent, our leaders must be committed to implementing
successful strategies consistently, and any new strategy should be well
assessed and proven to be of long-term benefits.
We should
not be taking one step forward and two steps backward, otherwise, the most
desired future of our African agriculture will move from a decade to a century
away.
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