Poverty as you know is rampant in Uganda and indeed many other African countries. Numerous solutions are being proposed. In this article that follows, the UN Agricultural fund is focusing on promoting small holder farmers as a way of reducing poverty.
Over the years, in dealing with these matters, i have read beautiful articles and listened to beautiful voices talking about how poverty can be addressed. Unfortunately, the years of this talk and proposals continue to produce nothing. Yes it is true, we must support the small holder farmer but a realistic view about what is happening is that there has been no significant change in the lives of these farmers. if anything they become poorer. Take a case of coffee farmers in the Busoga area and i look at my village where i hail from. Coffee has traditionally been grown by small holders throughout Uganda. There are a few plantations in Uganda. What has happened to the small holder farmers? The decline in prices made the coffee farmer abandon the production of coffee. Coffee grows over years and will continue to yield fruit even if it is not well tended.
The decline in prices offered by the farmer is a reason why it was abandoned and yet the demand for coffee worldwide continues to grow. Who rips from the coffee sales? It is the big multinational companies. I saw reports that German exports coffee worth USD 9billion a year and yet it does not grow coffee. it is re-exporting processed coffee. What is the solution to improving the lives of the coffee farmers? It is all about fair trade, giving value to the people who grow coffee. It is not about giving them aid, it is not about extending credit to them, as long as they do not get value from what they produce, they will never take coffee farming a very serious business.
If somebody else is making the profit, it means therefore that the actual farmer will continue to be poor. I have argued that increasing production is one step but you have ti increase production when there is a proper market. Increasing productivity is the other however efficiently you produce, as long as you do not earn the value from it, you will continue to be poor.
Those who are interested in improving small holder farmers lives, let us review this a year from now to see what improvements there are if any.
Small holder farmers are the solution to poverty — UN
Supporting smallholder agriculture breaks the vicious cycle of poverty while preserving scarce natural resources
By Vision Reporter
The UN agricultural development fund has been asked to focus more on promoting small holder farmers to reduce poverty. The call was made during the 37th session of the Governing Counsel of IFAD in Rome.
Fabrizio Saccomanni, the Italian minister for economy and finance, asserted that ensuring small holder family farmers have adequate access to credit and investment is of paramount importance for poverty reduction.
The UN agricultural development fund has been asked to focus more on promoting small holder farmers to reduce poverty. The call was made during the 37th session of the Governing Counsel of IFAD in Rome.
Fabrizio Saccomanni, the Italian minister for economy and finance, asserted that ensuring small holder family farmers have adequate access to credit and investment is of paramount importance for poverty reduction.
Speaking to international policy makers, farmer leaders and private sector representatives, Saccomanni said that while some progress had been made, much remains to be done to eliminate hunger and poverty.
“The challenges ahead require a radical increase in agricultural productivity, but this has to be pursued in a sustainable way,” he said.
“Supporting smallholder agriculture is the way-out, as evidence and research show; it breaks the vicious cycle of poverty while preserving scarce natural resources.”
IFAD is a specialised UN agency and international financial institution that provides investment funding aimed at creating a route out of poverty for rural people in developing countries, most of which are involved in Agriculture.
Uganda is one of the developing countries where 67% of the population is said to be vulnerable to poverty with about a third of that number living under poverty line. The 2012 expenditure review said that 92% of the poor live in rural areas and overall 89% of the country’s estimated 36m people are classified as rural.
The country’s mainstay is agriculture, but most of the farmers are subsistence farmers, whose livelihoods are threatened by the changing climate and lack of assistance to mitigate increasing loss of soil fertility and droughts.
In his statement, Abdullah Jummah Al-Shibli, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) underscored that farming families are important for socio-economic development and stability.
Women have a particular role to play in food security and through their empowerment, poverty can be eradicated, he emphasized
IFAD President, Kanayo Nwanze, welcomed farmers’ representatives and delegates from IFAD’s 173 Member States, including its newest member, the Russian Federation, which announced its commitment to support the replenishment of IFAD’s resources.
In his speech, Nwanze stated that today agriculture has an unprecedented potential to drive economic development and inclusive growth.
“The challenges ahead require a radical increase in agricultural productivity, but this has to be pursued in a sustainable way,” he said.
“Supporting smallholder agriculture is the way-out, as evidence and research show; it breaks the vicious cycle of poverty while preserving scarce natural resources.”
IFAD is a specialised UN agency and international financial institution that provides investment funding aimed at creating a route out of poverty for rural people in developing countries, most of which are involved in Agriculture.
Uganda is one of the developing countries where 67% of the population is said to be vulnerable to poverty with about a third of that number living under poverty line. The 2012 expenditure review said that 92% of the poor live in rural areas and overall 89% of the country’s estimated 36m people are classified as rural.
The country’s mainstay is agriculture, but most of the farmers are subsistence farmers, whose livelihoods are threatened by the changing climate and lack of assistance to mitigate increasing loss of soil fertility and droughts.
In his statement, Abdullah Jummah Al-Shibli, Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) underscored that farming families are important for socio-economic development and stability.
Women have a particular role to play in food security and through their empowerment, poverty can be eradicated, he emphasized
IFAD President, Kanayo Nwanze, welcomed farmers’ representatives and delegates from IFAD’s 173 Member States, including its newest member, the Russian Federation, which announced its commitment to support the replenishment of IFAD’s resources.
In his speech, Nwanze stated that today agriculture has an unprecedented potential to drive economic development and inclusive growth.
Write things and post them no body reads meaning society does not grow. It's more true for Africans mbu!!!
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