Africa's smallholder farmers living on the brink...

Decades of under-investment in small-scale food production is being blamed for up to 100, 000 unnecessary deaths from starvation in the Horn of Africa, in 2011.  2.4 billion dollars is being spent on trying to mitigate the impacts of this disaster rather than on developing rural livelihoods during the period before the drought.


Thirty international relief agencies are now calling on richer nations to pledge their support for the Charter to End Extreme Hunger which, among other things, urges G8 nations to 'fulfill urgently and rapidly the pledges made to the l'Aquila Food Security Initiative' in 2009. This initiative commits USD20 billion over three years for sustainable development and safety nets for vulnerable populations.


But what will these billions be spent on?  High tech research in international institutions or funding local Extension Workers to promote the wide range of simple best practices that already exist, to all small-scale farmers?


Best practices to mitigate the impacts of climate change for Africa's farmers include;

• the provision of OPVs that have good pest resistance, drought tolerance and storage qualities
• training farmers in the selection and storage of good seed
• adjusting soil pH by adding lime where necessary
• water harvesting by building ridges, contour bunds, pot holes and small earth dams
• planting winter thorn trees, Faidherbia albida, within arable lands to increase organic matter, improve soil fertility and feed livestock
• alley cropping with Gliricidium sepium to increase organic matter, promote vegetable production and provide goat fodder
• planting pigeon pea as a climate change tolerant, nutritious food crop
• planting indigenous fruit trees
• training farmers in record-keeping and linking them with markets

While it is clear that the amount needed to bring about sustainable development in Africa's rural areas would be a fraction of the cost of disaster relief - the unglamorous nature of the above interventions mean that international donors may prefer to wait until the next disaster...