Small-scale farmers in Africa , an answer to sustainable food systems

I met Chipo, a small scale farmer in Zimbabwe, she grows vegetables that support her family and business

There is easily enough food in the world to feed everyone.  But unequal market systems, market supply chain slowdowns and shrinking purchasing power continue to choke access, production, and distribution. Food insecurity is not simply caused by people lacking food, but by them not having the power to produce, and the lack of income to purchase the food which is produced.

Climate change and rural infrastructure have exacerbated concerns about poverty and food insecurity. Then most recently, the equation of COVID 19 Pandemic has diced an already complicated scenario.

The situation seems to repeat itself year in, year out in many countries in Sub Sahara Africa.  With the reality of the COVID 19 pandemic, communities in the arid and those in agriculturally productive areas are now plagued by multiple challenges which hurt their ability to ensure food and nutrition security.

For many small-scale farmers, the recent pandemic and climate change shocks perhaps take the trophy as their biggest nightmare because of the unprecedented diverse effects.

Climate change is a big exclamation mark on the face of food security. This because the same smallholders who provide the bulk of the global food are in most cases the most vulnerable people who are the first and hardest hit by climate change.

The outcome is lowered poor household access to income and necessary farming inputs which then contributes to retarded food production

Smallholders are often sometimes simply neglected: Marginalization of small farms in economic and development policies threaten their contribution, leaving many smallholders vulnerable.

Smallholders remain integral in food production. Despite the constrained choices that Africa smallholders have, FAO reports that they contribute up to 70 per cent of the food supply. Food systems are very local and unique to different countries, but they are dogged by almost similar challenges: Those involved are poor are food insecure and have limited access to markets and services.

Amit Kalanatri, the Indian author famously said that “If the farmer is rich, then so is the nation.” Indeed, a measure of a country is in how it treats its farmers who toil the earth to feed its people.

The upcoming 2021 UN Food Systems summit this September, provides us with a  platform to have consensus to build the resilience of smallholders to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress. How we’ll “build better” from COVID 19 is by  first sustaining food systems that give smallholder opportunities to produce abundantly and have access to fair prices and market systems.

They’ll also need to be cushioned from climate change-related shocks. Governments must be deliberate in promoting ecosystems that set up robust small-scale production. These measures range from promotion of climate-smart agricultural practices; considering climate financing while integrating climate change issues into agricultural and food security planning

Even as the world grapples with the pandemic, its essential to reaffirm the critical status of smallholder by increasing investment support through affordable agricultural loans, subsidized inputs and organised sustainable markets systems. This will ultimately place the power in their hands to produce and will also place income in their pockets to support their families, their ventures will eventually replenish the local economies.

In 2015, the world committed to eradicating extreme poverty and hunger bringing it back to a sustainable path. Well, agriculture and particularly through smallholders remains the most effective way of driving inclusive growth and poverty reduction in Sub Sahara Africa.