By Susanna Thorp, WRENmedia
Many major changes are shaping the politics of African agriculture.
Food price volatility, large-scale deals by foreign countries and companies, a
growing urban population and demographic changes are all having an impact.
 |
In the abundance of maize stocks, Zambia is hit by a serious shortage of mealie meal in certain parts of the country Picture by Bill Owen Fine Art America |
Adebayo Olukoshi of the UN African Institute for
Economic Development and Planning in his opening keynote speech at a conference
on the political economy of agricultural policy in Africa (PEAPA), said despite the challenges, many on the
continent see a positive future. If Afro-pessimism was the mood 10 or 20 years
ago, could Afro-optimism - or even Afro-enthusiasm - be a better description of
the prevailing mood?
On a more cautious
note, Olukoshi warned that this enthusiasm may mask the challenges ahead. However,
he also argued that we should not think of smallholder farmers as being simply passive
recipients or victims of policy and political changes. Agricultural politics is
not just for high-level discussions, he stated, change often comes from below.
On day two of the PEAPA conference held between 18-20 March in
Pretoria, South Africa, a strong call for “donors to go home” was made in the
plenary session on CAADP (the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme).
“African economies are growing at 4-5% so they have plenty of fiscal resources.
If donors pulled out, African governments would have to respond by investing more
in agriculture,” said Hans Binswanger-Mkhize of the
University of Pretoria. However, echoing arguments made by Olukoshi in
his keynote, the CAADP plenary panel emphasised that even if more resources
become available, this would not necessarily lead to more investment in
agriculture.
“Agriculture is seen as a potential black-hole,” said Mandivamba
Rukuni, director of the Policy Development Trust in Zimbabwe. “We have to
convince banks and ministries of finance that their support will trigger more
wealth; that for every dollar invested, a return of two to three dollars will
be achieved.”
During the three days of the conference, organised by the Future
Agricultures Consortium and the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, politics and agriculture
were discussed and debated in sessions on food prices, seed systems, extension
and land, amongst many others.
Whilst progress has been observed in some
quarters, farmers are still faced with a structure of incentives loaded against
small-scale agriculture, inherited from colonial times and consolidated during
the post-colonial period.
But as stated by Olukoshi in the opening session, “It is a mistake to think that rural communities are voiceless or docile.”
However, for civil society organisations (CSOs) to be more successful
in engaging in agricultural policies in Africa, it was stated that CSOs need to
“get out of their comfort zone and must invest more in connecting to other
players in this process.” Greater successes would be achieved if diverse CSOs, including
NGOs, farmer organisations and social movements, worked together and with
academia to create a bigger space for engaging in policy processes.
In the closing session of the conference, Lindwe Sibanda of FANRPAN
(Food and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network) remarked that the time was
certainly right to discuss politics - but talk must also be translated into
action. Engagement of policymakers was required, perhaps by taking experiences
from countries to regional communities, as well as looking at ways to hold
politicians and others to account.
