Creating an organic culture could save Africa – September 2008
The survival of the African continent is in the balance. Record food and oil prices, political corruption, lack of services and climate change all add up to a perfect storm that could see the lives of 100 million Africans severely threatened.
According to the UN Food & Agricultural Organisation (UNFAO) Sub-Saharan Africa is the most threatened region in the world when it comes to food security and could see as many as 40 million people starve to death over the next 6 years.
Africa has two major threats – the “hand-out” mentality encouraged by the west and relief agencies and the global food grab led by China and India.
The huge food aid programmes are creating an African culture that lives on hand outs. It’s far easier to wait for free food than struggle to grow the produce themselves. Western governments and food aid agencies have, with the best intentions, created this very negative situation – and now ironically with worldwide food prices almost doubling they cannot afford the food and can only deliver 40% of the food urgently needed this year.
China and India’s 2, 4 billion population need food as well. They have the money and the political will to get it from all over the globe. China has lost 27% of their viable farmland over the past 24 months. This was caused by global warming, over cultivation and the increased use of harmful chemicals that have dried up their water reserves. China has 740 million farmers and almost 200 million of these will have to be relocated. China is building 10 cities the size of London to be completed in the next 8 years. They are planning, within this 12 month period, to relocate more than 500,000 contract farmers to Africa to grow food for the Chinese market.
Will China’s urgent need for food kill Africa’s soil as well?
What do Brazil and Kenya have in common? Both have used huge organic programmes to create millions of jobs. Both are not affected by the impending food crisis and both have built huge export earnings. More importantly – both recognise soil health and crop rotation to be key drivers for a sustainable farming culture.
Africa is naturally organic. Its people have, by default, farmed organically because the vast majority of small-scale farmers have never been able to afford the chemical agriculture inputs. Today’s big commercial farmers produce mono-crops. They buy large automated equipment and hire almost no one.
Organic farmers by contrast rotate crops, use no-till methods and rely heavily on lots of labour doing the work by hand. This environmentally friendly production method creates thousands of jobs that are so badly needed in Africa.
Why are we not looking at organic solutions to the food crisis?
Why aren’t the multi-national organisations talking to the Chinese, Indians and now the Middle Eastern countries about supplying organic growing programmes to African farmers? Instead of sending contract farmers, who have no love for this continent, why not send mentors and trainers to teach emerging farmers organic crop farming techniques?
This simple solution will provide millions of well-paid jobs throughout Africa. Managed properly, it will provide much needed high nutrient foods at very affordable prices (export the high grades and consume the low grades at home)
What will the result be after a few years – Africa with healthy soils, protected water supplies and skilled farmers producing food that will feed the continent and create wealth through the export growing programmes.
The dark alternative would be if Africa’s morally bankrupt leadership sit on their hands, accepts bribes and allow contract farmers to ship 100% of their production to their home markets. Every farm handed over will have almost no value after 5 years – remember these are the same farmers that killed the productivity of their own farms back home.
It’s time to make an organic statement. We need to pressure African governments, multi-national organisations and NGOs to go organic or go home!
Visit the largest organic exhibition and forum in Africa – The Natural & Organic Products Exhibition, 17-19 October 2008 at the Cape Town Convention Centre, South Africa
By David Wolstenholme - David Wolstenholme is the Exhibition Director