Agriculture and politics in Africa

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.