Adding Value(s) to Agriculture
Last week the Asian Development Bank in Manila hosted the Investment Forum for Food Security in Asia and the Pacific " to showcase Asia and the Pacific as an attractive region for increased public and private sector investments on food security related initiatives." Co-sponsored with FAO and IFAD, the Forum's premise is that the very real challenges of food security can best be met through a much bigger role of the private sector, The Forum is the latest expression of agricultural dvelopment's dominant trend to promote an agribusiness culture fueled by private investments. Small farmers are being educated into adopting a new identity as entrepreneurs running small businesses. The Global Impact Investing Network, spearheaded by the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID, and JP Morgan, is coordinating investments into smallholder African agriculture under the Terragua Project aimed at "Improving food security and alleviating poverty among smallholder African farmers and their families."
Investments in the name of "food security" are aimed at cultural as well as economic transformation. Farmers are rewarded by investment finance if they embark on the development path laid out for them by well-meaning investors. But what is the deal those farmers are accepting? To repay their loans they will need to generate profits for the investors as well as for themselves. Their choice of crops will shift from traditional subsistence foods to cash crops of flowers and specialty foods for urban and foreign markets. Their market chain will favor the agribusinesses who are already linked in to those new opportunities.
Just as water management needs to reflect a larger canvas than just short-term financial gain, agriculture (which uses most of the water that gets managed) also needs to consider the total pool of values and services that it can generate. Ecoagriculture Partners is a global network of ecologists, agronomists, and social scientists that promotes valueing the ecosystem services of small farmers. The Compas Network for Endogenous Development is a Dutch-sponsored initiative to promote agricultural development that builds on local cultural values. These initiatives are important in rebalancing the dominant focus on private sector solutions to the challenge of food security. In Europe, Japan, and less-so in the US, the hot topics in agriculture are cultural heritage and identity, local food traditions, community empowerment, and the value of agricultural landscapes. But developing countries still rich in these natural and cultural traditions are being encouraged to de-value them in favor of monetary-based decisions.
Just as the environment vs development choice proved to be bogus, after the world decided that a sustainable environment is actually the foundation for sustainable development, we need to accord a similar recognition to community governance systems, social networks, and cultural values about traditional foods and farming practices. Sustainable food systems require sustainable communities, landscapes, and cultures. Let's not confront small farmers with the choice of becoming cogs in an agribusiness wheel or being condemned to a life of economic poverty. Let's find ways to address food security that builds on cultural resources and values about communities and ecosystems. For more details, see the Multifunctional Agriculture page of the WaterCulture website.
Irrigated field, Hyderabad, India
Investments in the name of "food security" are aimed at cultural as well as economic transformation. Farmers are rewarded by investment finance if they embark on the development path laid out for them by well-meaning investors. But what is the deal those farmers are accepting? To repay their loans they will need to generate profits for the investors as well as for themselves. Their choice of crops will shift from traditional subsistence foods to cash crops of flowers and specialty foods for urban and foreign markets. Their market chain will favor the agribusinesses who are already linked in to those new opportunities.
Just as water management needs to reflect a larger canvas than just short-term financial gain, agriculture (which uses most of the water that gets managed) also needs to consider the total pool of values and services that it can generate. Ecoagriculture Partners is a global network of ecologists, agronomists, and social scientists that promotes valueing the ecosystem services of small farmers. The Compas Network for Endogenous Development is a Dutch-sponsored initiative to promote agricultural development that builds on local cultural values. These initiatives are important in rebalancing the dominant focus on private sector solutions to the challenge of food security. In Europe, Japan, and less-so in the US, the hot topics in agriculture are cultural heritage and identity, local food traditions, community empowerment, and the value of agricultural landscapes. But developing countries still rich in these natural and cultural traditions are being encouraged to de-value them in favor of monetary-based decisions.
Just as the environment vs development choice proved to be bogus, after the world decided that a sustainable environment is actually the foundation for sustainable development, we need to accord a similar recognition to community governance systems, social networks, and cultural values about traditional foods and farming practices. Sustainable food systems require sustainable communities, landscapes, and cultures. Let's not confront small farmers with the choice of becoming cogs in an agribusiness wheel or being condemned to a life of economic poverty. Let's find ways to address food security that builds on cultural resources and values about communities and ecosystems. For more details, see the Multifunctional Agriculture page of the WaterCulture website.
Irrigated field, Hyderabad, India
Posted by Dave Groenfeldt at 11 Jul 2010, 8:29 AM 
Categories: Water Ethics, Agriculture
Tags: Food Security IFAD Impact Investing ADB agricultural values multifunctional agriculture Ecoagriculture Compas Network FAO
Categories: Water Ethics, Agriculture
Tags: Food Security IFAD Impact Investing ADB agricultural values multifunctional agriculture Ecoagriculture Compas Network FAO
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