CHAPTER 5: FOOD SECURITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND THE ROLE OF ORGANIC
5.3. A Partial Potential Solution to Sub-Saharan Africa ‟s Food Insecurity
5.3.1. Organic Agriculture and Food Security
5.3.1.2. Organic Agriculture‟s Potential Impact on Access to Food
Household incomes are further improved under organic methods because the prohibited use of external inputs makes organic farming a low-cost and low-input agricultural option (Sligh and Christman, 2007). This is particularly attractive to smallholder farmers, who comprise 50% of sub-Saharan Africa‟s food insecure population (Nair, 2008).
Smallholder farmers generally lack access to sufficient fertilizers, pesticides, up-to-date hybrid seeds and adequate financial resources to operate lucrative conventional farms and therefore battle to be food self-sufficient. As a result, many of these farmers practise traditional subsistence farming, using little or no synthetic inputs. While their methods mirror those of organic systems, they have poor yields to show for their efforts (Azadi and Ho, 2010).
Organic farming therefore presents smallholder farmers with an opportunity to successfully and cost effectively farm, despite a lack of access to synthetic inputs and financial resources. El-Hage Scialabba (2007) adds that input costs are inclined to decrease by up to 40% under organic systems. This lowers the cost of farming and increases the profit margin for farmers. The low-cost nature of organic farming also reduces the debt requirements of farmers, as fertilizers and pesticides are not required to optimise yields.
The crop rotation and multi-cropping methods of organic farming promote crop diversification, since a variety of crops is required to create a sustainable and a biologically diverse nutrient cycle (El-Hage Scialabba, 2002; Edwards, 2005). An organic farm also produces more crops than a conventional farm of the same size and in the same area (Kilcher, 2007). Using organic systems can therefore raise the nutritional intake among rural smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, as these households can easily farm more than one or two traditional staple food crops and benefit from increased yields.
Crop diversification also presents sub-Saharan Africa with the opportunity to break away from its heavy reliance on traditional agricultural crops and to move towards non- traditional crops. Breaking into non-traditional crops provides the region with prospects to enter profitable local and international markets through organic certification, which will further raise household income levels and create economic sustainability (Sligh and Christman, 2007; El-Hage Scialabba, 2007; Vaarst, 2010).
In addition to organic agriculture‟s potential to raise farmers‟ income, it has spillover effects in that it improves the incomes and livelihoods of those who depend on agriculture but who are not landowners or farmers (for instance, labourers). Organic farming is a labour-intensive agricultural approach that largely depends on human capital to carry out various tasks; for example, protecting the soil from erosion, controlling weeds, rotating crops, harvesting crops and applying nutrients to the soil. FAO (2007a) highlights that organic systems require approximately 30% more labour per hectare than conventional agricultural systems. This therefore presents sub-Saharan Africa with an opportunity to decrease unemployment and poverty levels and hence break free from poverty traps, which are common in countries or regions that are heavily dependent on primary commodities (Buntzel-Cano et al., 2005; Giovannucci, 2005).
Organic agriculture has the potential to reduce unemployment, specifically in sub- Saharan Africa, where 65% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector. The sector thus plays a central role in the livelihoods of the majority of the population, as it is their primary source of household income (Bach and Pinstrup-Andersen, 2008). The employment opportunities of organic agriculture for rural communities and landless people in sub-Saharan Africa strengthen food security, as improving farm labourers‟
incomes results in increased physical and economic access to food. In addition, organic agriculture requires labour all year round, whereas conventional farming typically requires seasonal labour due to the practise of mono-cropping. Thus, organic farming necessitates a constant demand for labour. This creates a stable income supply for labourers and reduces the migration of people to urban areas in search of employment opportunities (Wynen, 1998).
Organic farming‟s labour requirements are favourable towards women, as a number of organic crops (for instance tea and spices) require delicate care during the harvesting, cleaning and sorting phase. Women are naturally better suited to such activities; hence, there is high demand for women labourers, which results in a stable income supply for women. When provided with the chance to obtain knowledge and skills in organic methods, women have demonstrated great ability to efficiently utilise land and labour resources, which enhances the quantity and quality of food produced (Edwards, 2005;
Bolwig and Odeke, 2007; Sligh and Christman, 2007). When women‟s incomes improve, they experience improved access to food. This is particularly significant for women in
sub-Saharan African, as the distribution of income and food is more favourable towards men (Hine and Pretty, 2008).
The c ost of labour in or ganic systems may be higher than in c onventional fa rming because it is labour intensive. However, other inputs are minimal and yields are expected to increase, particularly in low-input areas such as sub-Saharan Africa. This means higher income levels are attained than with the traditional, low-input farming currently practised in the re gion. This increase in income of fsets the hi gh c ost of labour, m aking organic agriculture beneficial for both farmers and the surrounding community, provided that the marginal product of labour is higher than the opportunity cost of labour. Since organic systems are reliant on labour , investm ents in human capital are n ecessary. Such investments tend to have spil lover e ffects for of f-farm c ommunities in terms of improving incomes and bettering food security (Giovannucci, 2005).
Overall, the li terature sh ows that or ganic farming methods in sub-Saharan Africa h ave the potential to increase yields, lower the cost of farming, minimise debt requirements, reduce un employment a nd increase household income levels. This re sults in im proved access to food from economic, physical and socio-economic levels, while minimising any adverse effects on the environment. Edwards (2005) highlights a number of examples in various sub-Saharan African countries where o rganic agriculture has i mproved food security:
Environmental fa rming by small -scale fa rmers i n Tigray, Ethiopia, ha s improved food security in the area, as these farmers have secured increased yields by using compost, which enhanced the resilience of crops during droughts.
In U ganda, f armers have made use of green manur es, such as Canavalia, Crotalaria, Mucuna and Tephrosia (part of the legume family), to control banana root disease. This ensures fertility and stable yields of the organic banana crops and thus maintains food security. These leguminous plants also keep weeds at bay and are useful for animal fodder.
The South African „Fowls for Af rica‟ programme used fou r loc al chicken breeds renowned for their resilience and egg production. Under this programme, chickens were reared using a free range a pproach and or ganic f eed. The Fowls for Af rica programme succ eeded i n im proving food security in rural areas, as the c hickens provided both food and income (from selling the chickens and eggs).
A Ta nzanian farmer improved his household‟s food security and income through converting to organic cashew nut farming. His c rop increased fr om 1300kg per annum to 2600kg pe r annum after conversion. F urthermore, the price o f organic cashew nu ts is somewhat hig her than conventional c ashew nuts, with or ganic cashew nuts fetching 7 00 T anzanian shillings per kil ogram as opposed to 300 Tanzanian shillings per kilogram fo r conventional c ashew nuts. This r esults in a substantial increase in income.
Benin has developed and established its organic cotton industry. It has contributed to im proving food security, as less incom e i s spent on s ynthetic input s and chemicals. Further, soil fertility has been enhanced.