Hi all,
aggregated input received on the two combined questions:
“3.1 Identify the three main challenges which small farms, in your region, have faced in the recent past."
“4.1 Within your region, what are the three main challenges that small farms face in the future? Why? Are these different from past challenges? If so, why?”
1/ From: winnona merritt <[log in to unmask]> (USA)
I am hosting Nigerians who report that for the past 1 1/2 years violence against farmers in the Middle Belt by armed herdsmen from the North has caused many deaths. Rapid population growth demands more food production from increasing farmland, obstructing old patterns of moving herds to markets, and climate change drives grazing herds south.
As increasing violence in other countries affects farmers as well, is there a place for this discussion?
(From the moderator: Winnona: by all means - all aspects that affect small farmers and their position in food production has a place in this forum. Physical insecurity, war or internal conflicts are, in many parts of the world, closely linked with food security and food production..)
2/ From Kapa sarjan reddy <[log in to unmask]> (India)
I am Prof (Dr) K Sarjan Rao, Professor in the Division of Livestock Production and Management, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Andhra Pradesh, India. I have been working for the constraints based on the perceptional studies of small holders in our region.
The three major challenges faced by the small farm holders are mainly;
1. Climate dependency: Small holders are not certain on the quantity and quality of the product due to vagaries and uncertainty in the climate in the recent past. Huge number of farmers at loss due to sudden change in climate affecting the pests to the horticultural products, damage to the crops and economic losses. In these cases, Climate or weather warning systems are of no much value. Occasionally, the government policies are a bit helpful in the form of compensatory waiver of crop loans due to nature calamities.
2. Pricing of the agriculture and livestock products: Most of small holders are facing this as a major problem of no minimum guaranteed price for the product. Most of the agriculture produce are perishable and no much facilities for storage. (Most of the storage godowns are in the hands of large farming sectors/commercials). Hence the small holders are forced to sell the products to the prices as dictated by the commercial agencies/middlemen. Government policies of fixing minimum guarantee price are not being implemented due to the non cooperation from the commercial vendors. This challenge existed earlier for many years and continues in future also unless policies and implementation part is strengthened. Minimum scope of value addition to the produce at small holders level.
3. Commercialization of input resources: In the past at the village scenario, the input resources available for cultivation at different farmers households are shared with lot of cooperation in Barter system. Nowadays, everything has been commercialized and cost involved. The input resources are shared on commercial lines, hence the agriculture and allied production systems have become more capitalistic for the small holders. The labour force availability in southern India to the small holders is difficult nowadays due to the secured employment with little work contribution from the Government policies and schemes, Hence, the small holders have to resort to the hiring of machines for harvesting of paddy, sugar cane etc on cooperative basis. All these rise in input costs are hampering the agricultural production at small holders
3/ From: seid muhie <[log in to unmask]> (Ethiopia)
My working region is a highland with altitude between 1500 to 4000 m above sea level, a drought prone (area), highly vulnerable to climate shocks and all farmers are 100% smallholders and practice mixed farming (crop production and animal husbandry).
In the recent past they have faced:
1. Frequent drought and loss of production for both crops and animal products.
2. Market: the smallholder farmers were advised to specialize in one type of crops through cluster farming (i.e. by sowing their consecutive lands with similar type of crop or vegetables, e.g. by sowing it with only wheat, teff or potato). In the most highland parts at and above 3000m altitude, the farmers have a unimodal cropping season (they produce once in a year). Through clustering, the farmers saw their land with potato (almost the first time to grow potato in most farms and in that scale) and they produced a large amount of produce above the local market can consume. At end they were obliged to sell it at the cheapest price or dump it away.
3. Input (fertilizer, pesticide, selected seed, technical support). The farmers do not receive the inputs in time, with the needed quality, quantity and types. The state-run cooperatives are the only one that supply these inputs (fertilizer, pesticide and selected seed). They are not pro-smallholder farmers but pro-state and making profits. Many of the farmers have suffered a lot as there are malfunctioning of these state-run corporations. I agree with the suggestions what a participant from Pakistan commented regarding these state-run cooperatives.
4. From Ghulam Qadir Arbab <[log in to unmask]> (Pakistan)
1. Lack of funds
2. Lack of cropping awareness
3. Disaster
1. Lack of Funds
This is top most problem of small farms. Government should intervene by provision of low markup interests or in kind loan through provision of inputs such as pesticides and fertilizer etc.
2. Awareness / Skills
Awareness plays important role in materializing the good agricultural practices. Small farm owners face multiple challenges. their land holding is small and have scarce resources to invest. Therefore, they cannot make experimental investments on new cropping activity either a new crop variety or mechanization etc. Because if their experience is fail, they have to suffer huge losses to recover in many years to come.
Mostly donors give catchy slogans of capacity building of small farmers to increase their crop yield and small farmers are provided training to improve their skills.
But unfortunately I have never seen result oriented trainings that have real effect on capacity of the small farms.
This is hidden discrimination by donors as they don't measure in true sens the real impact of their interventions rather just depend on paper reports of implementing partners.
In simple words - proper capacity building of small farms can play a big role in changing the lives of the small farms.
Why I am saying this because I have also seen some small farms performing great even better than large farms. For example - one of small farmer has been achieving more than double crop yield against the prevailing average per acre yield of that crop in the area.
3. Disaster
Small farms are not prepared to face any disaster and they loose whatever they have in emergencies. Therefore, there is need to focus more on preparing small farms in a way so they can face disasters.
5. From: E.S. Njieassam <[log in to unmask]> (Cameroon)
The main issues are:
1- Fluctuation in market: Fluctuation in market prices imposed by individual buyers
2- Governance mechanism: Unsatisfactory approach by local administrators and government officials during land conflicts, etc
3- Human and social capital: Inadequate access to informal education and training
6. From: Solomon Elorm Allavi <[log in to unmask]> (Ghana)
Small farm units in Ghana have struggled to maintain operational momentum due to the fact that their formation are usually external interest-driven:
1. A donor-funded project in agriculture aiming to engage small farm units is compelled to create and work with a cooperative.
2. Unavailable structural support for small farm co-operatives after donor-funded projects exit
3. A report on Agricinghana Media since 2001 still repeats the same old cyclical challenge facing small farms:
Limited access to credit/finance,
Lack of improved storage facilities, and
Limited access to markets.
It's 2018 and small farm units in Ghana continue to raise these same issues :-)
In exception of private-sector managed cooperatives such as Cocoa Abrabopa Association and Masara N'aZiki Maize Farmers Association as stated by Sylvester Of Wienco Ghana, which remain vibrant with self-sustaining initiatives, most small farm cooperatives set up by Government and Development Projects have not survived realities and remain dormant.
########################################################################
To unsubscribe from the SMALL-FARMS-L list, click the following link:
https://listserv.fao.org/scripts/wa-fao.exe?SUBED1=SMALL-FARMS-L&A=1
|