Small farmers in developing countries must modernise their farming methods, but poorly understood reforms could exacerbate poverty instead of alleviating it.
Dr. Pedro Morazán, born in Honduras, is an economist who has been working as a research assistant at SÜDWIND since 1992. During this time he has been in charge of numerous evaluations and partner consultations. He has also published various studies and expert reports for different organisations, including GIZ/BMZ.
Because of low rates of industrialisation, particularly in Africa, the agricultural sector remains the most important employer in many regions. At the same time, it’s smallholder farming that provides the basis for food security in many countries. It produces more than 80 per cent of the food in developing countries, and so makes an important contribution to poverty alleviation. However, this contribution is under threat from the increasing fragmentation of small properties, the expansion of agribusiness, insufficient funding for investment, climate change and a disregard for international cooperation.
A further threat to small-scale agricultural production is the notion, currently prevalent even among some UN institutions, that food security is primarily a question of revenue and increased productivity. Funding for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation aims is to combat hunger and malnutrition primarily by fortifying foods with added nutrients. For this, private businesses and multinational companies are incorporated into public-private partnerships (PPP).
Only a few smallholder businesses can withstand the pressure of competition generated by agribusiness
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has also developed a strategy for cooperation with the private sector. Along with the European Investment Bank (EIB), it wants to promote investment in agriculture, in the development of the private sector, and in value-added chains. The extent to which the interests of European agricultural corporations will take priority in this remains to be seen. Representatives of civil society and small producers have been concerned on seeing how much power multinational companies in the UN system have gained in recent years. Many institutions in civil society are advocating an alternative approach, through which the role of national and international markets and the integration of smallholder businesses into the value-added chains can be better clarified. Only a few smallholder businesses can withstand the pressure of competition generated by agribusiness. So inclusion in local value-added chains is still very important, but all too often the farming practices of small producers undermine the ecological foundations of the global food system.
Kenya - GIZ project Green Innovation Center - milking with modern equipment
Malawi, GIZ Project Green Innovation Centers, hand tractor training for small-scale farmers at the NRC. (c) Jörg Böthling
Overuse and degradation of the soil are major contributors to this. In such cases an ecologically sustainable transformation of the agricultural sector can provide the answer. Small producers need support to help them cope with market pressure and overcome other obstacles to sustainable land use. Furthermore, the creation of jobs through the establishment of a local value-added chain in the agricultural sector is very important.
At the G8 summit in 2012 in the USA the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition was formed. The plan was to lift as many as 50 million people out of poverty by 2022 with the help of investment from agribusiness and with the support of governments and development cooperation. The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition was aimed at ten African countries willing to undertake reform: Benin, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania. Appropriate ‘reforms’ were to integrate agribusiness into agricultural production and thus modernise the agricultural sector.
However, a bias towards support for the industrial agricultural sector and the reforms that this entails also harbour a risk of exacerbating poverty.
The idea was to enable corporations to acquire land more easily in Africa – something that in the past had resulted in people being driven from their own land (land grabbing).
The practice of seed licensing can hinder farmers in the cultivation, storage and exchange of seeds.
Production relies on the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. For many smallholder families these are prohibitively expensive and also contribute to pollution and degradation of the soils.
Jobs that are created on the large plantations are often poorly paid and involve working in inhumane conditions that contravene labour laws.
Development cooperation also depends on companies, banks and financial investors to increase investment in the fight against poverty. Through the availability of public money from development cooperation, and special investment funds combining public and private money, it is anticipated that private sector investment will also be expanded through mega-projects in the agricultural sector. The responsibility for problematic investments is becoming increasingly unclear, due to complicated shareholdings, intricate financial influences, investor-focused monitoring mechanisms, and banking confidentiality or trade secrets. Profit-orientated institutions and companies are becoming key players in development policy, and the lines between government subsidies for one's own company and funding under development policy are becoming blurred.
In the unequal power relationship between developing countries and large corporations, there is a very real danger that the interests of poorer sections of the population will be traded off against the interests of making a profit.
In the unequal power relationship between developing countries and large corporations, there is a very real danger that the interests of poorer sections of the population will be traded off against the interests of making a profit.
In 2014 the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) introduced the special initiative, ‘ONE WORLD – No Hunger’, which makes additional financial resources available every year for global food security. Under this initiative, it is anticipated that cooperation with agriculture and the food industry in so-called green innovation centres in 14 countries will be stepped up. This initiative could increase the potential for the structural change that is required, as long as it actually supports the structures of smallholdings as specified, reinforces their land rights and promotes the creation of value locally and higher incomes in rural areas. Support for small family businesses should also include the development of higher-quality products – for example, from horticulture or livestock farming – while also forging a link with small and medium-sized businesses in local value-added chains. In this way, smallholding businesses would be able to contribute to food security and sovereignty, economic growth and employment, poverty alleviation and a reduction in geographical and socio-economic inequality. This kind of strategy supports the attainment of a whole range of sustainable development goals at the same time.
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How can agriculture modernise Africa? And does the road to the cities really lead out of poverty? Dr. Reiner Klingholz from the Berlin Institute for Population and Development in conversation with Jan Rübel .
This is a benchmark for everybody: More rights for women are a very influencing solution in the struggle against extreme poverty and hunger worldwide, says Stephan Exo-Kreischer, Director of ONE Germany. The organisation specialises in political campaigning as a lever for sustainable change.
Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest growing population. For many young people, agriculture could offer a job perspective. But to improve the living conditions and job prospects of young people in rural areas, political reforms and investments are desperately needed, as these people will be at the centre of agriculture and agricultural development in the future.
A contribution by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Africa’s population is young and ready to take its destiny into its own hands. Agriculture offers amazing opportunities in this regard. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to support the next generation in this way.
Lack of seasonal workers and virus explosion in slaughterhouses, rising vegetable prices, climate crisis – all this demonstrates: Our food system is highly productive and (at least for the rich inhabitants of planet earth) guarantees an unprecedented rich and steady food supply - but it is not resilient.
Interview with Gnininkaboka Dabiré and Innocent Somé
Later on you want to become a farmer yourself, or would you prefer to take up another profession? Two young people from Burkina-Faso talked to representatives of the Dreyer Foundation about their parents' farms, the profession of farmer and their own plans for the future.
A contritbution by Essa Chanie Mussa (University of Gondar)
Rural youth need viable livelihood opportunities to escape out of poverty and realize their aspirations. How could they be helped to fully unleash their potential? This is an aloud call that needs novel strategies among governments, policy makers, and international development partners and donors.
Interview with Paul Newnham, Director of the SDG 2 Advocacy Hub.
The UN Food Systems pre-Summit in Rome dealt with transforming the ways of our nutrition. How do you bring that to a broad public? Questions to Paul Newnham, the Director of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 Advocacy Hub.
Interview with Martina Fleckenstein (WWF), Michael Kühn (WHH) and Christel Weller-Molongua (GIZ)
After the summit means pre-summit: It was the first time that the United Nations held a summit on food systems. Martina Fleckenstein, Michael Kühn and Christel Weller-Molongua reviewed the situation in this joint interview.
Genetically modified bacteria become edible proteins, cows graze on pasture, and no waste is produced in an industrial circular economy. Journalist Jan Grossarth sees a silver lining for the future of world nutrition
The world’s population keeps on growing; with this rise comes an increased need for food as well as productive employment opportunities. Offering young people in rural areas better employment prospects is one of the objectives of the sector project. The young population is the key to a modern and efficient agricultural economy.
At the ICTforAg conference in March 2022, the digital agriculture community exchanged on the challenges and opportunities associated with the next green revolution.
In the run-up to the G7 summit, experts from politics and civil society discussed sustainable and more effective options for action by the G7 states to combat hunger.
Why are short- and long-term responses important to address current and future global crises? Sebastian Lesch, Head of the Agriculture Division at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), provides answers to these and other questions in an interview with the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD) and explains how much Germany welcomes all donors pulling together and acting in concert.
A contribution by Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge
In the video format "#99SecondsWith" of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Prof. Dr Anna - Katharina Hornidge talks about the new Africa-Strategy of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Small farmers often have a hard time getting financing. An app in Nigeria wants to change that: Founder Blessing Mene about what his app offers - and about the opportunities and limitations of agricultural financing.
A Contribution by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
At the network meeting "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future", almost 250 participants from over 20 countries came together to exchange experiences and ideas on the transformation of agricultural and food systems. The final product, joint recommendations to transform agricultural and food systems, can now be read online.
It takes the joint efforts of diverse actors to achieve a transformative impact on the global food system. Barbara Rehbinder, Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN), discusses four people-centred principles to get closer to this goal.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, not all financial institutions (FIs) have access to knowledge about how to implement processes to enhance rural financial inclusion. The pan-African Community of Practice (CoP) plays a pivotal role in supporting these institutions along this transformative journey.
How can agriculture engage more young people in rural areas? Advocacy and education campaigns can play an important role here. Simeon Kambalame, Timveni Child and Youth Media Organisation, has launched such a campaign in Malawi.
Shu Wen Ng is a health economist. She knows what is best suited to go on a plate. But how can this be achieved on a mass scale in countries with lower incomes? "The solutions to gett there already exist," she says, "but what is often missing is courageous leadership to implement them."
At the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit (AFSH), organized by the African Union (AU) and the Government of Kenya in May, the Nairobi Declaration was adopted. It aims to triple domestic production of organic and inorganic fertilizers by 2034 and to improve access and affordability for smallholder farmers. GIZ reviews the Summit.
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