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SUGGESTED DfID PROGRAMME ARISING FROM E CONSULTATION The following is the synthesis of one person who has taken part in the consultation and followed several, but not all, of the themes. The question is what should DfID do guided by the outputs from the consultation. There seems to be general agreement among the people who have taken part in the consultation that agriculture is the foundation of the economies of many developing countries and that improving the productivity and profitability of agriculture can be a successful mechanism for engendering sustained economic growth. It seems to be agreed that once the majority of the population achieve sustained food security that the capacity for diversified development with agriculture as a basis greatly increases. There was considerable discussion about the ways and means of enhancing the food security and productivity of agriculture. For some years agriculture has been less prominent in DfID programmes. The following are suggestions as to how the agricultural industry might be progressed through the actions and resources available to DfID in collaboration with stakeholders in developing countries. 1 Enter dialogue with the Governments (particularly but also include other stakeholders) of all recipients of DfID assistance perhaps using a considered compilation of the outputs of the consultation as a point of departure. 2 Seek agreement that agriculture, as the consultation has suggested that there is widespread agreement about, is the fundamental building block of the economies of most developing countries and that ensuring food security for the populace is a fundamental first step in securing the foundations for sustainable economic development. * Once food security is sustainably achieved additional income is effective demand for goods and services. * Once agriculture has developed sufficiently, resources such as capital, labour, management expertise and land start to be released to look for alternative, more profitable enterprises, as has happened historically elsewhere. 3 Seek agreement that improving the capacity of agricultural research and extension to deliver sound advice can materially and sustainably improve food security for the broad populace of the country and that there are short and longer term aspects to this process. * Put forward the points of view from Michael Lipton and others that substantial gains in sustainable productivity are possible mainly using locally available resources, although not to the exclusion of commercial, even imported, inputs when necessary. * Note that improvements in planting materials in terms of yield, quality, disease resistance and so on are achievable where they are not already available and make significant contributions to the productivity and profitability of enterprises. * Note that urban agriculture is also important as a means of enhancing food security and that if agriculture becomes a profitable occupation that it is possible, even likely, that people would migrate from unemployment in urban areas for profitable employment in rural areas. 4 Seek agreement that technical advice given to farmers can only be beneficial if the economic policy framework is suitably set up. The best advice in the world will not improve food security if the product finds unprofitable prices for example. 5 Seek agreement that the improved use of water for irrigation can substantially improve agricultural productivity and reduce its riskiness through climatic variation. Note that there are significant improvements available already in irrigation returns through drip and fertigation which use less water per unit area of crop (or allow more units of area of crop with the same water resource) and use considerably less energy while also allowing three set irrigation per 24 hours. 6 Seek agreement that improvements in the security of land tenure will assist the process of agricultural development making the points that land which farmers have a legal title to is more likely to be conserved, that having legal title facilitates lending for capital development of land (eg irrigation) and consider what forms the title might take for different countries and even different uses in different countries. Thus, for instance, arable land may be leasehold while grazing and other commons may benefit from some form of community land company arrangements. 7 Seek agreement to the deployment of a small team of DfID funded technical advisers (numbers depend obviously on the country, Nigeria I guess would need more than, say Lesotho mostly due not to size but diversity) to national research and extension organisations (ie could be Government and or NGO or private) to ascertain what further inputs would assist the provision of sound technical advice to farmers. Expect that this team would be in service, although with the likelihood that the particular staff would change periodically, for as many years as the Government want it, and be able to draw upon facilitators of targeted inputs from DfID. Thus, for instance, if it were found that a particular crop would benefit from selection and multiplication of elite lines to overcome, say a disease problem, this would be promoted and facilitated principally using the existing national resources, supplemented where necessary, say some equipment or training, and that resources may also be sought from, say EU programmes with DfID support. Make a clear commitment to testing the outputs of research and extension against realtime economics prevailing in the country before their promotion and use the economic analysis as a promotional mechanism. Do not expect instant results. 8 Provide the inputs requested through development of local capacity over as many years as it takes by assigning DfID funded long term advisers to research and extension organisations and allocating the advisers with a pool of funds for the execution of research and extension work based upon the analysis undertaken in 7 above. 9 Seek agreement that outputs from work in each country of those to be supported will be freely available amongst the group of countries and that this will be facilitated through provision of communication mechanisms, e mail, web, report production, study tours, access to journals periodicals through a circulation of contents summaries, reciprocal attendance at field days, training sessions, exchanges of materials, attachments of staff cross border for specific purposes, rotation of DfID staff amongst collaborating countries, and an annual conference of all those in a particular region (say Sub Saharan Africa, or SADC, East Africa, South America, South Asia or...) with the purpose of exchanging information on ways and means of achieving the objectives. The annual conference for each region to be facilitated by DfID and to revolve through the collaborating countries with time, DfID to facilitate the production of the reports from each country and synthesise the combined report for each conference. 10 Seek within the UK and EU to promote policy changes which will enable developing countries to provide products for which they have a natural comparative advantage into the UK/EU. For instance sugar cane for ethanol manufacture as fuel could be promoted through the UK government/EU allowing a lower tax regime on ethanol compared with petrol creating very significant demand for the product, greater than can be produced by UK/EU supply. similarly with revisions to the CAP in the EU. 11 Seek to promote within the EU/UK measures to restore the linkage between world market prices and retail prices such that the signals between consumers and producers are clear. Consider a mechanism whereby failure of retail prices to follow world market prices results in a differential payment to the DfID assistance budget. 12 Offer to provide the technical support to agricultural research and extension on a sustained basis to assist in improving capacity to develop, generate and manage programmes suitable to addressing the dynamic needs of agricultural development, this to include staff, training (consider use of as much distance learning as possible, perhaps collaboration with the Open University and other UK providers), and financial support to the implementation of specific agreed programmes, (eg multiplication, demonstration and distribution of particular improved planting material) 13 Offer sustained technical support to a programme of improving security of land tenure, through assistance in enhancing capacity in the demarcation of plots using GIS, recording and issuing titles, perhaps conflict negotiation for where there are disputes about areas of land? 14 Offer support to the process of developing local resources through integrated alternative approaches to processing and recycling of wastes including sewage, for example for production of fertiliser, production of energy, and water supply on a similar basis to the support to agricultural research and extension, sustained technical inputs, availability of information and technologies across borders of the collaborating countries etc. Emphasise a preference for development and use of locally available materials, improved planting materials, alternative pest and disease mechanisms available locally, means of improving soil fertility available to farmers, cover crops, composted crop residues as these will be more economically accessible even if the results may not maximise yield, returns per Kwacha invested will be better. 15 Offer support to improving market mechanisms in collaborating developing countries through information access within and across borders of collaborating countries, also staff support to this function. 16 Offer support to staff training which assists staff in developing self directed learning skills and utilising them while not requiring them to be absent from their posts. Assist in developing self directed learning amongst farmers through providing extension staff with sources of information which farmers can draw upon freely and readily through radio, mobile phone where applicable, photonovelas, the postal system and newspapers. Encourage staff to operate as gatherers of informal information relating to agricultural conditions, performance of enterprises, incidence of pests and diseases, prices. Encourage staff and farmers to develop economic analysis of the various enterprises in their particular areas and to use this as the basis for judging which innovations to promote, their success or failure and which areas of the production function would benefit from further research work or other inputs SUMMARY The purpose of the suggestions sketched above is two fold, to stimulate some changes to the economic and structural policy framework within which agriculture works and, secondly, to provide a sustained stream of support to increasing the capacity of local research and extension organisations to serve the demands of their agricultural industry. That the suggestions include cross border collaboration, through DfID programmes in neighbouring countries, is designed to facilitate free exchange of information, experiences, ideas and materials between countries for the greater benefit of the whole. Thank you James Biscoe 25/5/04 0945hrs
Please visit dfid-agriculture-consultation.nri.org.