With announcements on agriculture expected from the G8 today, Farm-Africa’s new chairman, Martin Evans, tells Liz Ford what Africa’s subsistence farmers really need

Asked what he would like the G8 to do for African farmers this week, the new chairman of Farm-Africa, Martin Evans, doesn’t hesitate to offer a list. Top of that list is money for research into new disease-resistant seed varieties, improved animal healthcare, particularly in those areas vulnerable to climate change, and help for farmers to access new technology and markets.

“What we’d like to see is basically the same thing as African farmers. We need to look at what they want and how the G8 can help supply these things,” says the agricultural economist.

“Money from the G8 that is put into agriculture research systems can have huge benefits. Fund additional research into improved seeds and animal disease prevention and you will offer a safeguard for years ahead. If they [G8] are really paying for agriculture, let’s see some money go into research.”

Farm-Africa is working with the African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) on improving livelihoods in Katine, north-east Uganda, as part of the Guardian’s three-year development project in the region.

Working with 18 farmers groups in the rural sub-county, the project has seen the introduction of new disease-resistant, high-yielding cassava, which has just produced its first harvest, and plans are underway to build a storage centre for crops, which will allow farmers to sell in bulk and hopefully get a better deal. Mobile phones are increasingly being used by farmers to find the best place to sell their goods.

Crisis talks

After more than 20 years of neglect from the international community, the world food crisis has pushed agriculture if not to the top, then certainly high up on to the G8 agenda this year, which could mean real benefits for farmers. Today a new initiative to fund farming and to tackle global hunger are due to be announced by leaders meeting in Italy, which reportedly could entail an investment of $12bn over the next three years.

The UK’s Department for International Development (DfID) has already laid out its commitment to revitalising agriculture and improving food security in its white paper, published on Monday. What it promises is not dissimilar to Evans’ wishlist. The paper, Building our Common Future, talks about helping subsistence farmers to get seeds and fertilisers, credit and access to markets, and of supporting agricultural research. It mentions “doubling agricultural production in Africa over the next 20 years” and calls on the international community to deliver the $20bn of new funding for food and agriculture promised last year (perhaps an inauspicious sign for any further cash pledges).

“We are just waking up to the fact that agriculture has been neglected and we’re seeing the impact of that. It’s absolutely true that the volume of aid and financial flows going into agriculture has been in decline over the last two decades,” says Evans, who took over as chairman this week.

The wake up call was triggered by the spike in food prices in 2007-08. Although prices for staple crops have now stabilised, DfID is still predicting long-term problems in producing and procuring food for nearly 1 billion people. The alarming rise in food prices coincided with the publication of the World Bank’s World Development Report 2008, which for the first time in more than 25 years focused on agriculture. The report said agriculture was “a vital development tool” for achieving the Millennium Development Goal to halve poverty by 2015. “The World Development Report refocused everyone’s attention,” says Evans.

Of course, helping farmers involves more than handing out seeds and discussing how new technologies can increase yields – it’s about making farming viable. “Food security is more than growing more food in your own backyard, it’s more of everything. Food security is about making farming more productive and more profitable. You need to improve access to markets. [Subsistence farmers] really don’t have good access to markets. You need investment in roads and communication technology to ensure trading conditions are right. Some money can usefully and sensibly be put into basic things like that.”

He adds: “It’s very difficult for poor people to amass any savings, so we can help them a lot by giving a bit of capital. I’m not suggesting that things are handed out on a plate. But we need to help to create the conditions that make things accessible and ensure farmers are encouraged and convinced that benefits outweigh the risks, and to take an entrepreneurial approach to things. It’s not about us turning up in our 4x4s, dumping things and leaving, it’s about working with farmers to identify problems and come up with plans. It’s very much about people helping themselves.”

He adds that farmers, the majority of whom are women, need educating on new technologies, such as how to conserve water and better irrigate land. But they also need to be convinced these new ideas are going to work. In Katine demonstration farms were set up to allow villagers to do just that.

Passing on the benefits

But with any new money promised by the international community comes the question of how it will get to farmers. Evans admits implementation is the hard bit, but that’s where NGOs like Farm-Africa step in. Donors are increasingly channelling aid through governments, but there has also been an increase in cash filtered through NGOs in recent years. “Assuming money is allocated by the G8, we hope a lot of it will come the way of good NGOs. We can do things neither governments or the commercial sector can do. But we need both.”

Looking to the future, Evans, who has more than 35 years experience working in agriculture, rural development and agribusiness, would like Farm-Africa to explore how large-scale business can benefit smallholder farmers, with whom the charity works throughout east Africa. “There are good examples where large-scale business can connect with small farmers by buying their products under contract, processing them for them and providing advice and seeds and technical support,” he says. “We can’t do these for all crops in all places, but I would like to see Farm-Africa exploring more opportunities for merging large scale agriculture and business to benefit small groups.”

“Like it or not, large-scale business is a fact. It can be a threat, but can also be a great way to look to see how Farm-Africa can open up these opportunities for the benefit of small farmers.”