Climate change challenges current practices and calls for innovative, efficient use of resources.
Considering the impact of rapid and wide-scale agricultural transformations on the Earth System, it is important to discuss the future of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which lags behind all other regions in agriculture; ''80% of production gains since 1980 have come from the expansion of cropped areas rather than from greater productivity of areas already cultivated'' (Rakotoarisoa et al., 2012). Furthermore, the IPCC clearly demonstrates that the region will experience major yield losses under climate change.
The FAO's 2016 and 2017 State of Food and Agriculture reports both include ''adopting varieties resistant to heat and drought'' under the Climate-Smart Agriculture section. Let's take a look at Water-Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA):
Considering the impact of rapid and wide-scale agricultural transformations on the Earth System, it is important to discuss the future of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which lags behind all other regions in agriculture; ''80% of production gains since 1980 have come from the expansion of cropped areas rather than from greater productivity of areas already cultivated'' (Rakotoarisoa et al., 2012). Furthermore, the IPCC clearly demonstrates that the region will experience major yield losses under climate change.
The FAO's 2016 and 2017 State of Food and Agriculture reports both include ''adopting varieties resistant to heat and drought'' under the Climate-Smart Agriculture section. Let's take a look at Water-Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA):
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| Major agribusiness companies such as Syngenta and Monsanto have been promoting hybrids to confront climate change |
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| Non-profit organizations engaged in agricultural development using hybrids |
WEMA is a project undertaken by Monsanto, using a patented maize (corn) hybrid aimed at resisting drought and insects, approved for commercial release in Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa. WEMA is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It is coordinated by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), which qualifies climate change as a major challenge to smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa who ''have little resources to effectively manage''. But what resources do farmers need to become self-sufficient and resilient?
For whom is it a ''smart'' solution?
The FAO's video campaign for Climate-Smart Agriculture
The FAO's youtube video campaign for CSA focuses on the importance of building the resilience of ''the men and women who produce our food’’. Perhaps smallholders are most vulnerable to climate-change and holistic, innovative farming techniques are required. However, the video does not mention agribusinesses and industrial agriculture (the main contributors to agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and therefore the main actors in mitigation) and focuses solely on small-holder farmers.
Denouncers of CSA (see BioWatch, ACBio, Green Social Thought) claim that with the pretext of helping smallholders combat climate change, ''under the guise of philanthropy'', TNCs such as Syngenta and Monsanto seek to establish a private sector-driven seed industry in Africa; ''hybrid seeds are capturing African markets at a rapid pace and represent an average of 57% of maize seed grown on the continent''.
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''Using the language and even some of the methods of ecological agriculture, climate-smart agriculture provides a veneer of sustainability for interventions that continue to promote industrial agribusiness products and technologies”- BioWatch South Africa
What do you think?
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