Robert Paarlberg, an expert on agricultural policy, argues that the western world’s current focus on “organic, local, and slow” farming shouldn’t be extended to the developing world. “Poverty — caused by the low income productivity of farmers’ labor — is the primary source of hunger in Africa, and the problem is only getting worse,” he writes. Paarlberg explains the drawbacks of organic farming and calls for increased spending on agricultural technologies like modern seeds and better fertilizer. In his view, it’s a sound investment: “The?World Bank has documented average rates of return on investments in agricultural research in Africa of 35 percent a year, accompanied by significant reductions in poverty.”[%comments]
In Africa, Organic Farming Is Not the Answer
TAGS: environment, food
and 
. You can also watch it on 
Check out Anna Lappe’s rebuttal:
Don’t Panic, Go Organic: Be not troubled by Robert Paarlberg’s scaremongering. Organic practices can feed the world — better, in fact, than wasteful industrial farming.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/04/29/dont_panic_go_organic?page=0,0
In Africa, Organic Farming Is Not the Answer…
In Africa, maybe there is NO answer. Babies are nourished to grow up to overpopulate, driving animals to extinction. If w try to save the animals and they eat the farmers crops (and babies).
People donate for mosquito nets and the nets are used for fishing. Bugs and nasty diseases are rampant. Strongmen warlords form armies with our charitable contributions. Aids infects a quarter of the population. Diamonds are used to buy guns to fight the other tribes. Christian missionaries and Muslims are shooting at each other. Everyone shoots at the UN. National currencies are worthless. The smart and rich escape to Europe and the US. The Pope says not to use condoms.
Oh, I so want to believe it can get better, but close your eyes….this ain’t going to be pretty.
Corn farmers who use advanced hybrids do not save seeds anyway. Seeds from hybrid plants are inefficient (gmo or not). Our population can only increase as fast as our technology can keep up. So one of two things will need to happen in the next 50 years.
Message to “David B” – interesting points and would like to discuss/elaborate with you. Contacts at http://www.africanorganics.org.Tx Ged
Taking the conversation from the academic to the realities of Africa we are working with all this every day (www.africanorganics.org). While I’d love to say organics can feed Africa it can’t nor can it be, at this time, the single, dominant farming technology. Organic does hold up the example of an eco-efficient farming technology/agro-ecological approach and possibly the most sustainable form of agriculture (in the purest sense of the word “sustainable”). And, with the right market linkages there are many examples where it shows the way to maintaining, or bettering economic performance, while simultaneously delivering social and environmental benefits. However, as mentioned organic is dependent on composting which is dependent on biomass. So for example in the Southern African region small farmer in the miombo-msasa woodland belt (broadly the Mozambique through Zimbabwe through Angola region) to support one hectare of organic farming 8 hectares of miombo-msasa is needed to provide leaf biomass. BUT most of the trees have been chopped down. Another view is that there are 33 million 1,5 hectare small farms in Africa (DfID study) farming on marginal, infertile soils. To reinvigorate these soils needs compost applications at the 150-200 ton range per hectare. At a the 4:1 biomass dilution ratio (4 tons biomass yields 1 ton of compost) something in region of 60 billion tons of starter biomass is needed. Again where does this come from when the principal source are trees that as mentioned are being relentless chopped down for energy or firewood or charcoal sales. Expansion of organic in Africa is entirely possible but its not a quick fix. Organic presents a great opportunity to reframe agriculture not only for growth but also to manage the environment (carbon positive farming), to reduce food insecurity, and exposure to shocks. Longterm vision and agro-eco policy alignment is required to deal with constraints. Not to forget investment.
In Africa, Conventional Farming isn’t the Answer Either!
The general problem with conventional farming methods is that they are not based on an understanding of ecology. But neither are many organic practices.
Here are two examples of what I would call ecology farming. Both started on degraded ‘marginal’ land:
A fish farm in southern Spain in a natural wetland, previously drained for unsuccessful beef farming. It doesn’t feed the fish because it doesn’t have to – it is a true eco-system that produces its own food. This fish farm produces 1,200 tons of sea bass, bream, red mullet and shrimp each year – and has regenerated a degraded wetland habitat.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1902751,00.html
Michael Pollan in ‘the omnivore’s dilema’ wrote about a farm where cows graze intensively, optimised to maximise grass growth. Chickens come in 3 days later to eat grubs in cow pats and spread the manure. As a side effect of beef farming, the farm is generating better soil constantly.
This is the farm’s own website:
http://www.polyfacefarms.com/
One beef farm destroys a wetland, another improves an eroded hillside:
1. Farms can produce food from marginal land.
2. Farms can improve degraded land AND produce food.
Some things that may be not clear for urban readers:
1: famine in Africa is caused by an imbalance between production and demand of food, either because of the climate or because of lack of technology. Some areas are using techniques from the 1800′s;
2: in the 1800′s there was not such a split in “organic” and “conventional”, whatever this last one means. What they need is food, no matter if it’s organic certified, conventional or even genetically manipulated, and we are not talking about Big Mac’s with french fries, but about grains of maize, wheat and some animal protein;
3: soils in Africa are extremely poor, except in the Nile bank, where the river brings precious nutrients. In subsaaran Africa, few choices are left;
4: There is not enough cows, pigs or chicken to produce the riquered amount of manure to grow organically all of the food needed in Africa;
5: Using technology does not imply in using GMOs. Norman Borlaugh started working very long before they came to light. Fertilizers, better varieties and giving the soil better growth condition can increase yield ten fold, whilst GMOs are driven to high tech crops in order to gain competitiveness (and increase profit). It makes sense to use them in USA, but not in Nigeria.
In short: if organics can be grown succesfully in Africa: do it!
If conventionals are available: use it!