Why do we need to transform the food production system?

By Michael Nkonu, Director of Fairtrade Africa

Today (Wednesday 14 December), I’ll be part of a keynote panel, opening the high level Chatham House conference: Transforming the Food Production System. Here’s a few of the thoughts I’ll be presenting to an influential audience of government, business and NGOs.

Why is it that we consider that we have a food crisis now?  After all, from an African perspective we’ve been experiencing low productivity resulting in food crisis for as long as we can remember.

The very way that the ‘food crisis’ has been framed raises some serious questions of whose voice is heard and whose voice matters. But clearly things are heading in the wrong direction so if rising costs of food in Europe, and concerns about sustainability helps to focus attention on problems that Africa has long experienced, then let us welcome that.

However, it would be comforting if, one or two years later, when such a conference is taking place, we can have more producer voices taking part in this critical dialogue and have some evidence of improved food security globally.

Recent initiatives

In recent years, we have seen efforts by developing countries and development partners to support African countries to transform their agriculture and improved productivity.

Intergovernmental programmes such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) or the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) efforts are examples of the urgency of the situation. 

Earlier this year we also saw the launch of the UK government’s Foresight report on ‘The future of food and farming’. The report builds on previous global reports such as the International assessment of agricultural knowledge, science and technology for development (IAASTD) and work by the International Fund for Agriculture and development, IFAD.

Since then we have also seen the launch of Oxfam’s ‘GROW’ campaign. Together these pieces of work build a strong case that we are indeed at a critical point in time and there seems to be consensus around some aspects of the problem:
 
•    That the low performance of Africa’s agriculture is at the heart of its food insecurity and slow economic growth. Reports indicate that yield levels of some crops are just a quarter of the global average.

•    All analysis indicates that, globally, demand for food is set to outstrip supply, fuelled by growing consumption in emerging economies.

•    We are fast approaching (if not already gone beyond) some key environmental limits (examples from experience e.g. soil degradation, water)

Other issues such as volatility caused by speculation, the impact of biofuels on food security may be more contested, but certainly need to be part of discussions. While there may be consensus on some aspects of the problems there seems to be less consensus about solutions.

Responding to the challenges

It is clear that there are many different options and many proposals as to how we respond to the challenges. We may need to decide how we balance different challenges against each other. We have choices about how we wish to build a food system. And my question to you all is this: Will we build a system that works for all, or just the few?

We believe that small scale farmers need to be put at the heart of any response to the food crisis in Africa and that Fairtrade has some important lessons for policy makers. For instance:

1.    The power of farmer organisation. Co-operatives and other democratic institutions are the base on which so much positive change can be built

2.    The need to work coherently  across  all parts of supply chains – aligning production of sustainable and ethical products with creation of demand

3.    To not forget that Africans are consumers, not just producers.

4.    That Fairtrade is not enough! Regulation, more effective aid and better private investments, steered towards small scale farmers, are all critical.

Fairtrade can lead the way, but it will require brave decisions if we are going to create the food system that the world needs

Ultimately the food system has been created by people, and people will decide its future. Let us hope we decide wisely.