farmers |
"There is
something that we are not doing properly, that is why we keep on falling
short of feeding the whole Africa," mutters Dr. Kodjo P. Abassa, trying
to get comfy on his chair. Dr. Abassa, former Adviser at the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa, has worked for more than 25
years in the field of sustainable agriculture and biotechnology.
"Actually, Ethiopia alone can feed the whole Africa," he declared. He
stated that Ethiopia possesses the largest livestock population in
Africa and the third in the world, yet the country is not benefiting
enough from this tremendous resource due to several reasons.
Off late, African
Conference on Sustainable Communities (ACOSC) was channeled by Dr.
Abassa and his colleagues with the aim of exchanging ideas on new trends
and technology assisted agriculture to eventually transform the sector
to ultimately ensure sustainable farming.
"We would like to
employ a strategy of 'one village at a time'. For a reason that
agriculture requires the collective action of all actors which actually
are equally important, the deployment of an integrated approach is very
important.
So, first we study
the profile of a village to identify the prevailing potential as well as
the problem. We will identify the technology they own and the
technology they need. If we want to fundamentally change the way
agriculture is being practiced, it is necessary to launch a sustainable
programme that is owned by the farmer and the community," he added.
He further pointed
out that it is very important to learn from other countries specially
when it comes to agriculture. According to him, diligence is very
important since it is the secret of the success of many countries in the
sector.
If agriculture
doesn't perform well in a given country, citizens don't eat well, where
as with about 70 pe rcent of African population living in the rural
area, the agricultural sector is crucial to the continent as portrayed
by participants in the conference. It is clearly explained that
agriculture is the main economic activity and if it fails everything
else is very likely to fail. Hence, adapting agricultural technologies
and considering the various notions of stakeholders in the issue can be
considered to be pivotal to bring real changes in the sector.
Accordingly, there
is a "3S" Strategic Framework that are considered to be used in bringing
change in the sector as discussed on the conference. The first is
strengthening the body. A poor village where the majority of men, women,
and children are in poor physical health caused by hunger, disease,
lack of shelter, unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation and fuel
shortage.
This part of the
strategy aims to help villagers restore their physical health, giving
them strong bodies so they can do the work of building a strong
community. This effort includes, providing food and nutritional
supplements as needed, helping all villagers to secure adequate shelter
and clothing, bringing health services including vaccines and medicine
to the village, assisting villagers in laying the groundwork for health,
promoting sanitation practices.
The other is
strengthening the mind. History has demonstrated that a nation's fate
hinges heavily upon the mentality of its people. With a view that the
mentality of the rural poor is a critically important factor to be
considered in the poverty and hunger debates. Indeed, poverty can
perpetuate itself over time by creating a mindset that is fed with
self-convincing beliefs about self and the world and that limits
perceptions, choices, motivations and behaviors.
This part of the
strategy aspires to create a mindset that prevents these people from
escaping their impoverished conditions and that leads them to the belief
that they are born poor, will eventually remain poor all their lives
and will die poor. The strategy eventually fights the self-defeating
mindset among rural communities.
With the view that
people are the most important resources in any development intervention
and that there is no any reason why a rural community should rely
eternally on aid rather than on its people to meet its basic needs.
Hence, the foundation believes that African villagers, if empowered,
will be capable to move successfully the agenda of their own sustainable
development and will do more than just satisfying their basic needs.
The last one,
according to the discussion, is strengthening the community which means,
engaging the rural communities in the formulation and implementation of
long-term integrated agricultural and rural transformation programmes
tailored to the specific needs of each community, ending the chronic and
recurrent inability of the village community to meet its basic need.
Here comes the full measure of effecting a sustainable modernization of
Agriculture and rural transformation for the betterment of the
livelihood of the rural communities and becoming a model and a partner
for hunger and poverty reduction.
A model presented
in the conference from Kenya depicted how primary school students who
continuously dropout from school due to food shortage in their village
were able to curb their problems to finally stay in school. The students
themselves were thought how to engage in productive agriculture and
livestock production to be self sufficient in food security.
Dr. Abassa and
other colleagues aim to do this through their foundation based in New
York and other partners in the sector focusing on the most vulnerable
communities in Africa. For instance, in Ethiopia most vulnerable
villages from all states would be targeted and the programmes will be
implemented along with agricultural extension professionals and local
governing bodies in agricultural and pastoral sectors.
"Addis Ababa is the
home to the African Union so we want to make our home here and operate
all over Africa," Dr. Nelson Sechere, Regional Director for Africa, told
to The Ethiopian Herald.
Since agriculture
cannot be isolated from rural development, it is imperative to adopt the
principles of 'sustainable agriculture and rural development (SARD)' if
agricultural sector is to be developed.
Tailored to the
specific needs of each community, SARD projects address needs in
infrastructure, water and sanitation, health, food and nutrition,
shelter, energy and education, explains Sechere. They also meet the
basic nutritional requirements of present and future generations while
producing surplus crops to process locally as a source of revenue.
Furthermore,
Sechere added that SARD projects sustain local workers with sufficient
income and decent living and working conditions for all those engaged in
agricultural production. Projects also maintain natural resources while
minimizing harm to the environment. Most importantly, SARD projects
strengthen national agricultural sectors while building villagers'
self-reliance, diligence, and cooperation by harnessing the already
available potential in the communities.
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