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Concrete action on sustainable agriculture
2006-07-18 09:11:04
By Keregero Keregero
Despite the fact that fact that agriculture is a backborne of the Tanzanian economy, the sector has remained stagnant for long.
It is said that at least 78 per cent of African population is engaged in agriculture and the great majority is living on subsistence farming.
But agricultural productivity has generally but steadily remained low not only because of even population in relation to available land, but also on account that agriculture in less developed countries has all along been characterised by primitive productive forces, technologies, poor organisation and limited physical and human capital inputs. That is on one hand.
On the other hand, the struggle for the provision of basic needs ranging from food,clothing and shelter as a priority in the scale of preference by farmers at low income levels accounts for the concentration of people and agricultural production.
It is no doubt that the unfavourable trend in agricultural development may have some socio-economic impact on society.
The International Food Policy and Research Institute (IFPRI) estimates that 40 million children in Africa will suffer from mulnutrition by the year 2020 if no starategic measures are taken to address agricultural output.
African agriculture is generally characterised by subsistence farming in village communities, existence of some land in excess of requirements, and the rights of each family in a village to have access to land and water in the immediate territorial environment.
But some catastrophies like droughts have also actively played a negative role against increased agricultural production in Africa, causing a big number of her people to lead a devastated type of life in dire need of food aid.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) authorities argue that poverty remains persistent in the rural areas despite the department’s relief and exposure to lucrative loan package provided by multilateral and bilateral partners.
Researchers show that over half of the worldwide population is unable to afford food and other basic needs.
It is envisaged that the number of people living in poverty is expected to rise dramatically in the next few years.
To overcome this catastrophe, governments should go beyond the mere statement of good intention and take concrete actions to guarantee food production in rural areas.
In Tanzania,EXIM Bank has started assisting Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies(SACCOs) and District Council in a strategy to enable inputs reach farmers in rural area.So far no bank is providing loan to subsistence farmers.
As matters stand, small farmers should be helped to benefit from globalisation by way of diversification into non-traditional crops for export purposes.
In the circumstances, poor farmers should settle down for capacity building with a view to processing their products in order to fetch higher prices.
However, the farmers would benefit more if they formed associations that would distribute fertilisers at a subsidised price.That could help to improve agricultural methods aimed at enabling the peasants to produce more quality food through improved technologies.
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