In this series, we want to take you on a journey to show our growth as a foundation.
We discovered that empowering children through education is more effective when we support parents and families in overcoming poverty and hunger. Since 80% of the population is involved in agriculture, focusing on this area is the most productive way to help them.
In this first blog we will explain the rational behind the shift, discuss the role of agriculture, and how it can impact communities.
Background of our foundation
For eight years, Africa Another Way has been operating in West Africa, dedicated to fighting poverty and hunger through education and community projects. We have completed over 20 projects, including sponsoring poor children, equipping schools with books, computers, and internet, educating teachers, supported construction of a school building, providing sanitary facilities and equipping women in building up their own business.
More importantly, we have shifted the mentality from dependency to self-sufficiency, enabling communities to stand on their own feet. Despite difficult circumstances, we have empowered them with business skills to generate and scale income independently.
Transitioning to farming
While our work in schools and communities has been impactful, we've identified a new opportunity that may have a bigger impact: farming.
Here's why:
Economic Empowerment: Farming can create jobs and increase income for local communities, reducing poverty more effectively than educational programs alone. Farming has a significantly higher chance of lifting families and communities out of poverty and food insecurity than any other sector, given the right tools, knowledge, and capital (IFAD). A reliable source of nutrition and income can also enhance community resilience, helping communities better withstand economic and environmental challenges.
Food security : Sub-Saharan Africa is the world's most food-insecure region, with over 230 million people undernourished which will grow by 30% in 2050 as a result of population growth. Food security is about access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food all year round, while poverty requires access to education, basic services, and employment opportunities. Addressing food security and poverty requires different approaches, but farming can help tackle both by providing access to safe, nutritious food and economic opportunities.
Sustainable Development: Agriculture promotes sustainable land use and environmental conservation, aligning with long-term goals for regional growth. Sub-Saharan Africa has a quarter of the world's arable land but only produces 10% of global agricultural output. There is significant potential to enhance agricultural productivity and contribute to global food security through innovative farming techniques and sustainable practices.
Reality on the ground
Research has shown that Investing into farming and expecting poverty eradication for small farm holders in West-Africa by increasing the crop productivity is very limited.
Smallholders, especially in West Africa, typically operate on small plots of land. Globally, about 80% of farms are less than 2 hectares, and in Sub-Saharan Africa, farms under 2 hectares are common. However, there is some evidence that medium-sized farms are starting to appear.
Farming in West-Africa, as compared to other regions, is further challenged by being almost exclusively rain fed rather than under irrigation making agriculture a high-risk livelihoods’ strategy. As a result, not all farmers will put their eggs into agriculture but have to diversify and work other jobs to save guard income for education and other necessities. If farming is done with the right agriculture intervention it can generate income for the farmer and his family but not every farmer is in the same situation.
Research has shown that the economic potential of farms is not just determined by the size of the land or how suitable the environment is for farming. There are also significant differences between individual farming households in their ability to take advantage of technologies designed to increase farm productivity.
Therefore we distinguish three type of strategies with respect to agriculture :
Hanging in, which are households that essentially have no other livelihood opportunity other than agriculture and their main concern is simply to survive;
Stepping up, which are households that generate sufficient surplus from their farming activities to reinvest and expand in farming;
Stepping out, which are households that are successful in moving into higher paid, non-farm labour sectors, either by investing in children’s education or by reinvesting into non-farm businesses.
Why does this matter? Some households will be more eager than others to invest time and effort in learning and adopting new technology for their farm management.
Therefore, when designing our farming strategy, we need to ensure two key things:
We target farmers with strategies that effectively address their specific challenges.
We conduct research to understand their problems so we can develop interventions that they will willingly adopt.
As an organization, we will adopt the right approach by focusing on what the farmers truly need, rather than imposing our solutions. It's a partnership and not development aid.
In the next blog we will discuss the challenges farmers face. Stay tuned!
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