Calling for an 'old-fashioned' green revolution
Using "good old-fashioned" farming techniques will help deliver a
sustainable green revolution in Africa, says Tensie Whelan. In this week's Green
Room, she warns that failure to protect biodiversity, water supplies and forests
could spell disaster for the continent.
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I have seen many ways in which farmers in Africa have
increased quality and yield... through the implementation of better farm
management and farm husbandry
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The new green revolution that is needed on the continent of Africa has been
much discussed of late.
With pressing development needs in many parts of Africa, and with a growing
population, that revolution is desperately overdue.
But when it comes, it must be sustainable; socially, economically and
environmentally.
A green revolution created and developed at the expense of sustainable, clean
water supplies, good forestry protection and good soil management will not only
be a disaster for the people of Africa, it will be a disaster for its ecology as
well.
Yet so far, much of the debate has been on the technology of agricultural
inputs such as the role of fertilizers and genetically modified (GM) seeds.
Whether the stance taken in the debate around these often controversial
issues is pro- or anti-, my overriding conclusion is that those advocating for
or against are missing a fundamental issue.
Back to basics
The debate - dominated by the West - has become, like so many western debates
on big environmental questions, fixed on the technological solutions that will
magically create tomorrow's paradise.
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Africa's soils are being depleted of nutrients
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In doing so, it has largely ignored the role good farming and forestry
practices can play in mitigating food scarcity, protecting scarce water supplies
and soil productivity, addressing climate related issues and both preserving and
enhancing biodiversity across the continent.
Our experience at the Rainforest Alliance shows that by using "good old
fashioned" farming techniques, such as good land-use management and harvesting
practices, or reintroducing native tree cover to provide shade for the crops,
leads to an improvement in the productivity and quality of farmers' crops and
reduces susceptibility to pests and natural disasters.
This approach delivers clear economic, environmental and social benefits.
The Ethiopian coffee regions are biodiversity hotspots. Here, more than
anywhere else the work to combine sustainable coffee production, forest
conservation and biodiversity is vital.
Such an approach directly benefits Ethiopian small coffee farmers. It is also
in Ethiopia's best interest and in the collective interest of us all.
Sustainable farm management techniques also increase net farm income. In
studies of Rainforest Alliance cocoa farms in Cote D'Ivoire and Ghana,
researchers consistently find higher yields and higher net income for farmers
who have embraced these practices—without expensive new technologies.
Under pressure
Elsewhere, local populations have relied on Morocco's cork forests for
generations.
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One scheme hopes planting trees will help halt
desertification
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The forests provides vital resources and services including; timber, fuel
wood, honey, mushrooms, berries and watershed protection.
But illegal logging, over grazing, forest fires and the over-collection of
firewood are destroying these biodiversity rich forests.
By working with local people, providing the skills and incentives to maintain
their forests, we are laying the ground work for people to gain a sustainable
livelihood from the cork and argan oil found in these forests.
And sustainable forestry management and extraction is essential if we are to
preserve some of the most charismatic of African species, the great apes.
In the Congo basin - home to the chimpanzee, bonobo and gorilla - only 10-15%
of the forests are protected as either national parks or nature reserves.
Most of the Congo's great apes live outside these areas, in forest covered by
logging concessions.
Where these concessions are managed under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
certification schemes, these populations remain healthy.
There is currently 4.5 million hectares of FSC logging concessions housing
healthy populations of gorillas and chimpanzees.
While this sounds a big number, it is only a fraction of the total logging
concessions available.
By giving more political and financial support and priority to FSC
certification governments, communities and companies can help to meet their
commitments under the UN biodiversity conventions while ensuring a sustainable
economic use of this natural resource.
Returning to agriculture, I have seen many ways in which farmers in Africa
have increased quality and yield, as well as lowered production costs and
improved working conditions for themselves and their workers through the
implementation of better farm management and farm husbandry.
All of this results in better long-term management and stewardship of soil,
water, biodiversity and human resources.
It creates a balanced relationship whereby wildlife is both protected and
enhanced and farmers are able to compete in the global market which so many of
them supply.
Tensie Whelan is president of the Rainforest Alliance
The Green Room is a series of opinion articles on environmental topics
running weekly on the BBC News website
Do you agree with Tensie Whelan? Are "good old-fashioned" farming
techniques being overlooked in favour of hi-tech solutions? Are global demands
for resources plunging Africa into an ecological crisis? Is it possible to
balance the growing demand for crops with a sustainable future for all in
Africa?
Why do we always assume that Western technology is the answer to everything?
Technologies developed for temperate climates may not be suitable for
sub-Tropical and Tropical regions of Africa. Also the farmers cannot afford the
seeds and associated fertilisers and pesticides. There was a program years ago
about "front door farming" in southern Africa where starting with small plots,
no bigger than a front door, on a soil that was basically sand and by working in
small groups to save compostable material families were able to grow firstly
fresh veg to support themselves and then eventually a small surplus to sell. Not
a single GM seed or artificial fertiliser was used. The system was self
sustaining based on good old-fashioned care, and in this case creation of, a
fertile soil. Local food varieties have developed over millenia to cope with
local conditions and with a bit of support the knowledge of local people can be
used to improve the environment for themselves and the biodiversity. The
arrogance of the West that we have the answer to everything is extremely
worrying and often appears to be purely profit driven. We should be tapping into
and supporting the local knowledge before it is lost.
Jane,
Cardiff
The old fashioned farming is goood techniques,no model material.Becauce we
use simple material like cutless,hoe etc.
mohammed, chad