AFRICAN AGRICULTURE and RURAL DEVELOPMENT. ECON 3510, Carleton University May Arch Ritter Source: Text, Chapter 15 and Class Notes

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1 AFRICAN AGRICULTURE and RURAL DEVELOPMENT ECON 3510, Carleton University May Arch Ritter Source: Text, Chapter 15 and Class Notes

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3 Brooke Bond Tea Estate, Kenya

4 Coffee Gathering, Kenya

5 Agroforestry, Kenya

6 Kenya: Central Province

7 Kenya: Western Province

8 Agenda I. Importance of Agriculture and Rural Areas in Development II. Varying Agricultural Systems in Africa III. Africa s Recent Agricultural Record IV. Agriculture s Contributions to Development V. Small scale "Peasant" or Subsistence Agriculture VI. Revised Strategies: Main Elements VII. The Land Reform Issue in Africa

9 I. Importance of Agriculture and Rural Areas in Development Everybody has to eat : food is vital for human survival; The majorities of the population of African countries are mainly rural and in agriculture; Low income groups are disproportionately agricultural and rural; Foreign exchange earnings from the agricultural sector; Rural people are a market for urban economic activities; Rural people are entrepreneurs, savers and investors; Rural-urban economic interdependence re. input provision and output processing; Repositories of traditional cultures and klanguages

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13 III. Varying Agricultural Systems Africa General Features: a) Role of Women in farming b) Importance of non-agricultural rural activities c) "Home-based enterprise d) From "traditional" to "modern," Partial commercialization virtually everywhere e) Complex rural-urban interactions

14 III. Varying Agricultural Systems Africa f) Institutional Forms Small-scale family farming, communal property; Small-scale family farming with private ownership Some export-oriented commercial farms Corporate farms Occasionally some state farms: few now Foreign Sovereign Ownership (by governments or state enterprises)

15 IV. Africa s Agricultural Record: Some Recent Achievements Measure Food Production Index ( = 100.0) Crop Production Index ( = 100.0) Livestock Production Index ( = 100.0) Cereal Yield (kg. per hectare) Agricultural Productivity ( $ Value Added per Worker) $262 $278 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2009, p 144,

16 Some negatives: Longer term decline in food production per capita (see chart) From net agricultural exporter to net importer 1970 Net Exports: + $ 3.2 billion 1999 Net Importer - $ 3.8 billion General lag in improving agricultural productivity Continuing relative economic deprivation in rural areas Relative neglect by public policy and investment

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18 V. Agriculture s Contributions to Development A. Earlier Views in theorizing of 1950s and 1960s (e.g. Lewis; Dependency approach; Soviet model) Supplying foodstuffs to other sectors (the agricultural surplus ) Releasing surplus labour to the modern sector" Providing a surplus for investment (savings) to the modern sector Earning foreign exchange Providing a rural market for the urban industrial sector [Note: these functions were largely passive and extractive, with the main emphasis being focused on in the urban industrial modern sector.]

19 B. Policy Consequences of these earlier views: focus on modern industry in urban areas and ignore agriculture and rural areas use agriculture to service the modern sector with outflows of people, food and savings discriminate in favour of modern industrial sector and against agriculture and rural areas (i.e. "Urban Bias ) re. Taxation patterns Food pricing policy Infrastructure investment Tariff and non-tariff barriers Social expenditures Credit policies Exchange rate policies

20 More Contemporary Views Emphasizing Agriculture: Rural Development Agriculture should be emphasized for the following reasons: 1. To raise rural income, because poverty is over-represented in rural areas; 2. Rates of return are often higher in parts of agriculture than other sectors; 3. Rural entrepreneurship can serve as a strong foundation for economic improvement and pro-poor development;

21 4. Non-agricultural informal sector activities can also be valuable for income generation; 5. Increasing agricultural output can stimulate linked industrial and service sector activities; 6. Reinforcing the traditional cultures (language, arts, music, handicrafts, and "ways of life") which are often to be found in rural areas.

22 VI. Small scale "Peasant" or Subsistence Agriculture 1. Older views regarding peasant agriculture 2. The theory of the optimizing peasant (Michael Lipton) 3. Issues of Land Use and Tenure: Fragmentation of land holdings Population pressures, fragmentation and land degradation Gender and Tenure: Men Own the land; women work it! Insecurity of tenure and variable farm incomes obstruct access to credit;

23 Current Views Regarding Rural and Agricultural Development Policies: Farm people can be innovative in the right policy and institutional environment; Aim for broad-based rural development focusing on rural people; Design pro-poor rural development strategies

24 VII. Revised Strategies: Main Elements How can agriculture-for-development agendas best be implemented? By designing policies and decisionmaking processes suited to each country s economic and social conditions, mobilizing political support, and improving the governance of agriculture

25 VII. Revised Strategies: Main Elements cont d What are effective instruments in using agriculture for development? They include increasing the productive assets of poor households, making householders and agriculture in general more productive, creating opportunities in the rural nonfarm economy that the rural poor can seize.

26 VII. Revised Strategies: Main Elements, cont d 1. Support Green Revolution types of innovations: Emphasize improved seed varieties for higher productivity; Adaptive biological research and agricultural extension [Note CGIAR] Emphasize agro-forestry in many places; Irrigation, maybe drainage;

27 VII. Revised Strategies: Main Elements, cont d 2. Emphasize complementary services: Micro-Credit Farm road systems, all-weather Marketing support; Relevant technical and agricultural education

28 VII. Revised Strategies: Main Elements, cont d 3. Emphasize employment creation and antipoverty types of investment in agriculture and related rural activities; Infrastructure investment in rural areas for job creation and public usage (roads, irrigation, drainage, dispensaries, water availability, social infrastructure) i.e. rural public works, employing rural people; But avoid large scale labour -displacing mechanization

29 VII. Revised Strategies: Main Elements, cont d 4. Don t discriminate against agriculture and rural areas in general public policies; Aim for a level playing field re specific policies; Taxation patterns; Food pricing policy; Tariff and non-tariff barriers; Exchange rate policies Social expenditures; Credit policies;

30 VII. Revised Strategies: Main Elements, cont d 5. Support rural non-agricultural and often informal sector economic activities in rural areas; 6. Agrarian and/or land reform where appropriate; 7. Supportive social institutions: schools, health centres, Farmers Co-operatives, 8. Emphasize also environmental sustainability in rural areas and agriculture

31 VIII. The Land Reform Issue in Africa 1. Land tenure and land reform: Definitions 2. Complexities of African land tenure structures 3. Varieties of Land reform Granting of title to land to traditional farmers Privatizing Communal Lands? Breaking up large estates? Consolidation of mini-farms? Other property arrangements: Co-operatives? 4. The politics of land reform 5. Some issues of dividing large scale agricultural properties

32 VIII. The Land Reform Issue in Africa, cont d A. Institutional Forms a) Small-scale family farming, communal property; b) Small-scale family farming with private ownership c) Some large commercial and/or exportoriented farms d) Corporate farms or Plantations e) Occasionally some state farms: few now f) Foreign Sovereign Ownership (by governments or state enterprises)

33 Note: None of the land tenure systems is perfect Strengths and weaknesses of each system: Small-scale family farming, communal property; Small-scale family farming with private ownership Some large commercial and/or exportoriented farms Corporate farms (e.g. plantations) Occasionally some state farms (Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia): few now Foreign Sovereign Ownership (China, Middle east)

34 B. Do communal land tenure systems need reform? Disadvantages of communal tenure: Reduces security of tenure, and therefore investment & productivity? Prevents land-based credits Reduces mobility of farmers; prevents strangers or newcomers obtaining land Men control the land, insecurity for women though women often do a disproportionate share of the farm work Innovative farmers access to additional land may be blocked Is tenure reform needed for communally-held lands?

35 Type of tenure change re communal lands: Land registration and Titling Aimed at increasing security of tenure or land rights Promoting marketization of land Access to credit Conclusion in text: The effect of land tenure reform on landuse patterns, control, and credit and investment has been. minimal. Institute land reform only if necessary due to the difficulty of implementation and uncertain results

36 C. Breaking up Large Estates, Latin American Style e.g. in Zimbabwe (in the 2000s) -or South Africa now Arguments in favour of land redistribution: Equity of income distribution Efficiency of land use: Are large farm units inefficient? Complexity of issue Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Implementation Difficulties Should the large units be broken up? Who should receive the small holdings? Complementary reforms are necessary (training, some infrastructure, marketing. Input provisioning..) Political Complexities

37 Two Cases: Kenya s million acre scheme Quite successful, re equity and production Zimbabwe, Major disaster; Politicized distribution Output volumes severely reduced Productive employment impaired From major exporter to food aid recipient Contributed to general economic collapse Conclusion

38 IX. The Six I s of Agricultural Development: 1. Incentives 2. Innovations 3. Infrastructure 4. Institutions 5. Initiative 6. Inputs