Modern ag has a role to play in the developing world
In March, I was privileged to join a tour of Canadian agriculture professionals to Ethiopia to look at the lives of small-scale farmers in that developing country. We were able to see the work of Canadian NGOs like our hosts, the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB), and see the efforts of local farmers to embrace modern agriculture, improve productivity, and improve their lives and families. What I saw was life changing and, in many ways, life affirming.
Most older Canadians will know Ethiopia from the images we saw on television in the 1980s during the debilitating famine that killed one million in that country. It is Africa’s oldest independent country, and To be sure, Ethiopia still faces a myriad of challenges – it is still a highly rural country (83% live in rural areas as compared to 19% in Canada), with 39% of its 99 million people facing food insecurity as compared to less than 5% in Canada. Still, we saw many signs of hope and progress that are well worth celebrating and sharing.
On our first full day, we saw a project supported by a CFGB member agency, World Relief Canada, promoting the use of conservation tillage. Soil degradation and erosion are significant problems in Ethiopia, and of course maximizing available rain is vital. By promoting conservation tillage, tremendous productivity gains are realized.
The next day we saw an irrigation project that had been completed on the basis of a food for work program, a project that was now supporting diverse agriculture in the region. CFGB member Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada provides ongoing support to this project. This may have been the most meaningful and poignant moment of the trip for me, as I was able to hear a local woman farmer tell us that as a result of this project and its increased yields, she had been able to put a tin roof on her home as opposed to a thatched roof. This is regarded as a sign of prosperity and progress in Ethiopia. She had also been able to send her eldest son to college. (She was a widow and a mother of six.) To further reinforce the point, I saw a hand painted sign on a rock at the beginning of the small dam that had been constructed. On it was written, “God bless the people of Canada.”
We also met with iDE (International Development Enterprises) visiting projects in the Soddo area in the south of Ethiopia. There we saw maize farmers benefiting from improved inputs, household asset building through small livestock, local youth who were engaged in income generating activities of poultry farming and nurseries for plants. There are a growing number of “landless youth”, young people who due to the growing population do not have land being passed on to them, and finding gainful employment for them will be an ongoing challenge. There was also a great deal of emphasis being placed on livestock breed improvement, trying to strengthen the weak genetic makeup of local cattle. In Ethiopia, cattle are viewed as a de facto bank account for local farmers, but improving their health and productivity is vital.
Finally, we met with government officials from the Ethiopian Agriculture Transformation Agency. They are well aware of the challenges their country faces on improving productivity and opening up their economy, but there are definite signs of success. Cereals production has doubled in the last ten years, and massive export growth is taking place on products such as coffee and hothouse flowers. While Ethiopia is not growing GM crops at present (they are still not signatories to UPOV ’91), that may change in the future as their growing textile industry will require access to more cotton. (Neighbouring South Sudan is now growing BT cotton, as is Burkina Faso.)
The sheer volume of people living in rural areas would be shocking to most Canadians, and for those not accustomed to it the extreme poverty seen in many places would be jarring. Upon closer examination, however, the signs of hope and progress are unmistakable. Access to education is improving, life expectancy is climbing, and the number of people in need of food assistance has been cut in half in recent years.
Equally as unmistakable is the warmth and resilience of the Ethiopian people, who greeted us so warmly everywhere we went. Canada is extremely well known and well regarded for the aid we have given to Ethiopia over the years, and the people could not have been more welcoming and more proud to show us what they are doing.
This success has been facilitated in no small measure by the amazing work being done by Canadian NGOs such as the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, World Vision, CARE, and many faith based charities. When Canadians give to organizations such as this, they can do so knowing that they are making a marked difference in the lives of many people. We are all connected globally, and both Canadian NGOs and modern agriculture are playing a role in helping our fellow global citizens in the developing world. I know, because thanks to the generosity of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and its supporters I was able to see it firsthand. እግዚአብሔር የኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ይባርክ (God bless the people of Ethiopia).
Dennis Prouse,
Vice-president, government affairs, CropLife Canada