Unheard Voices: Marginal farmers in Zambia’s Western Province M Lak we e ru
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This paper aims to provide donors and the Zambian national government with some examples of the challenges faced by marginal farmers in Zambia, where 64% of the population rely on agriculture for their survival. Effectively addressing the challenges that these rural households face is key to successful strategies to eradicate chronic levels of poverty and hunger. To ensure these constraints are genuinely understood and that the voices of the farmers themselves are heard, Concern worked with Zambian Research Institute, PELUM, which works with poor farmers groups, to examine the specific challenges faced by marginal farmers in three districts of Zambia’s Western Province: Mongu, Koama and Senanga. We examined the extent to which the Zambian government and donors are helping marginal farmers address these challenges as well as assessing the level of exclusion they experience in terms of the agriculture policy processes and programmes that affect them.
The agricultural economy in the Western Province Zambia’s Western Province is widely considered to be amongst the poorest and most neglected in the country with 72% of the population living on less than $1 per day. Mongu, Kaoma and Senanga are among the poorest districts in the province; some 80% of households depend on small farms and face increasing livelihood insecurity due to lack of access to household and community assets and provision of government extension services. Marginal farmers are particularly isolated because of their remote location, poor road networks and poor access to channels of communication. During the rainy season, which lasts for several months of the year, many communities cannot be reached by road and depend completely on the extensive canal system and floodplains for transport, which limits the flow of trade into the region. There is a lack of farm produce processing facilities, input and output markets, and credit facilities. Farmers are unable to access information about local markets. State actors such as the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) dominate the marketplace and there is low private sector involvement.
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Concern Worldwide’s Unheard Voices campaign has attempted to highlight the challenges faced by these ‘farming yet hungry’ families. The campaign urges national governments and donors alike to listen to the voices of these farmers, and urgently address their needs if they are to achieve their stated commitments of tackling poverty and hunger. As the food crisis of recent months and the current economic crisis escalates, this already vulnerable group is likely to face increased hardship. This, coupled with a decline in aid to agriculture over recent years, suggests it is now more urgent than ever that marginal farmers are finally acknowledged, that they have a say in decision-making processes and that they are supported in their efforts to become food secure.
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alf of the world’s undernourished people, three-quarters of Africa’s malnourished children, and the majority of people living in absolute poverty, live on small farms where they struggle to grow enough food to feed their families all year round. In theory these ’farming yet hungry’ farmers should be at the centre of efforts to defeat poverty and hunger, yet, distant from centres of power and influence, they have long suffered neglect by policy makers and their voices remain largely unheard.
“Over 90% of farmers in Kaoma district are marginalised and they just produce without planning... they just produce by chance…The farmers are insecure due to low or no income, and they are never sure where and when inputs will be secured and whether the inputs will come” Safiya Nalisa, Chairperson of the Nkenyema Information Centre, Kaoma district Mixed small holder farming and livestock are at the root of the Western Province economy. A wide variety of crops are grown, including maize, sorghum and cassava which are mainly grown for domestic consumption, and tobacco, rice and vegetables grown for sale. Livestock raised includes chickens, pigs and cattle: the latter are considered most important as an indicator of prestige and wealth. Intermittent outbreaks of livestock disease, particularly in recent years, have led to a reduction in the number of cattle, exacerbating levels of poverty in many households. Reductions in poverty in the late 1990s were attributed to the positive impacts of various government programmes – such as the Fertilizer Support Programme (FSP), the Livestock Development Programme and the Zambia Initiative Programme – the rehabilitation of roads and the provision of social and economic infrastructure through ministries, development agencies and civil society organisations. Currently 88% of formally-employed people in the province are in the agriculture sector. Due to the lack of industry in the province, there are few opportunities to add value to the many agricultural and aquaculture commodities the area produces. Opportunities to enhance incomes and livelihoods in the province are therefore limited.
“ Half the world’s undernourished people, three-quarters of Africa’s malnourished children, and most people living in absolute poverty, live on small farms”
“Despite producing the best rice in the country, we do not have a proper place to sell our rice. We do not have good packaging and labelling to ensure good prices. We sell at ‘give-away’ prices because the market is not organized. Since we have no stable markets, we are at the mercy of briefcase businessmen… transport is not there to take rice to the urban market… so we keep the harvested rice with us and wait for people to come and buy cheaply from us.” Mrs Etambuyu Mundia, Sefula farmers’ association
Challenges faced by marginal farmers The marginalisation of poor farmers in Zambia’s Western Province is the result of a complex cocktail of factors:
Remoteness restricts market activity in agricultural communities because of poor local infrastructure The cost of service delivery in the Western province is high due to the unfavourable terrain and poor roads. In Mongu the rainy season can be particularly difficult for farmers who can be cut off from main towns because of severe flooding, which has a negative effect on trade. Central government needs to take into account the impact of poor infrastructure when allocating funding for farming services.
Exclusion from policy and decision-making processes leads to a lack of confidence in government
Incoherence in development actor strategies leads to multiple programme approaches in the province Development policy in the province lacks a unified strategy for action, meaning that the implementation of programme objectives on the ground can be disjointed and ineffective. There is no agreed mechanism that binds the strategies of different development agencies in the district which means that the strategic plans of both governmental and non-governmental actors are generally unknown to each other. This is exemplified by district development meetings, which are not used as opportunities for information sharing and attendance is not obligatory. In addition there are the informal and almost parallel policy and decision-making processes of donors, NGO country and program teams, and the Barotse Royal Establishment (BRE) – a royal institution in an influential position with regards to agriculture. Multiple structures and associated decision-making mechanisms carry important implications for the farmers, making a subtle contribution to farmer marginalisation. A limited degree of awareness does exist amongst donors and international NGOs about other organisations’ agendas, however this is overshadowed by prioritising individual activities. Moreover, formulation of agriculture policy and therefore decisionmaking, is not a linear, well-defined or predictable process. Instead, the policy process is a complex interface of a range of interventions that take place in both formal and informal spaces. Many policies originate at a global level are removed from the perspective of farmers and therefore are unable to take account of actual realities on the ground.
Farmers in the province are under represented in national bodies such as the Zambia National Farmers Union, (ZNFU), the Agricultural Consultative Forum and the local Parliament. The Provincial Agriculture and Cooperatives Officer’s (PACO) statement that farmers were fully engaged in policy processes was not corroborated by farmers in the study.
A case in point is the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) which is an overarching agricultural policy, in tune with all African national agricultural policies. However, none of the respondent farmer groups in the study was familiar with CAADP.
The FRA and the FSP are most familiar to the local community. However there were no formal channels for farmers to get directly involved in program design or implementation.
Poor agricultural extension services and a lack of regular training lead to inadequate input delivery, technical advice and information
One of the challenges that farmers highlighted was the complex language used in conveying agriculture messages and government policies. Often, when such messages are not correctly translated, they can have a negative impact on effective implementation. The district and provincial levels translate policies received from national government into local action. When extension services are effective they perform the crucial role of transmitting policies to communities. The lack of consultation with farmers can have a negative impact on policy outcomes. In Mongu district farmers pay grain and fish levies which are set and collected by the local government, who also dictate how revenue is subsequently spent. Farmers were aggrieved that the money was allocated to central government instead of being invested in the delivery of local services that would benefit farmers, such as abattoir meat inspection.
Farmers’ organisations often don’t represent the poorest The study found that farmers groups are supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MACO) which encourages the formation of farmer cooperatives. Additionally many NGOs also use a group-based approach in service delivery. Some farmers who do not belong to clubs noted that government and NGOs have policies that support farmers groups and not individual farmers. Therefore, farmers who do not yet belong to groups want to join or form associations in order to access external support. There is a danger that marginal farmers may be left out of these associations - it might be easier to reach them if they were encouraged to organise in their own specific interest groups. However, caution should be exercised as this approach may aggravate their marginalisation.
The low number of agriculture extension officers means that many farmers in remote rural areas are not reached. Respondents gave an example of one extension officer who was located so far away from the community he was responsible for he was unable to reach them. As a result farmers in Matongo decided to form training groups to make it easier for officers who would otherwise have to meet with many farmers individually. One member of Lui Lilela Farmers’ Association spoke of the problem of corruption as a factor in restricting farming knowledge: “Whenever we have a problem with our field crops or livestock, we have to walk several tens of kilometres to ask for technical advice but the extension officers ask us for a payment in order to assist us… but we fail to pay and therefore they also refuse to assist us… this is hampering our acquisition of farming knowledge.” Respondents recalled how, in the past, government extension staff used to visit farmers and discuss crop problems in the field. Now extension officers act as consultants. A farmer who needs assistance has to go to the extension officer’s office. Advice is given even without visiting the field to gain first hand knowledge of the farmer’s problem.
“Things are not well with farmers nowadays as government extension officers tend to discuss fields and crops that they have never seen – discussions are only held in the offices where there are no crops or livestock… yes, some limited number of extension staff are there but they choose to stay in offices all the time.” Farmer in Lukanda. The Senanga District Agricultural and Cooperative Officer recommended that farmers’ participation in policy formulation could be enhanced by improving direct meetings between farmers and extension officers through targeting specific farmer policy proposals and disseminating agricultural policy updates.
“ Sometimes rains start in November or later.When it comes, it rains and rains continuously for almost three days which is bad for our crops” Liberalisation had a negative impact on extension service recruitment: farmers in Kalundwana area spoke of how the vacancy for their own local extension officer had not been filled since the last officer was transferred almost eight years earlier. The extension gap has, however, been slowly filled by NGOs such as Women for Change, Young Women Christian Association, Concern Worldwide and Program Against Malnutrition who provide agriculture training and distribute farming inputs. The farmers of Lui Lilela noted that with the introduction of NGOs in the area, extension services have marginally improved as NGOs facilitate visits by government officials to explain and consult with farmers on agricultural policy. However, although NGOs are operating in the country, the majority are concentrated and more active in major towns and along key transport links, not predominantly in the rural areas where their services are critically needed.
Access to farming inputs and credit is poor, and private sector involvement in input markets is limited Poor access to farm inputs is also a major challenge. Apart from the FSP under MACO, there are no reliable agro-inputs suppliers to provide inputs to local farmers. This has meant access to such agro-inputs as seed, agro-chemicals and veterinary drugs is limited. Typically, critical inputs such as seed are supplied too late to be useful including when supplied by the FRA. Under the FSP the government subsidises the cost of fertilizer by about 50%. This means it is a challenge for the private sector to compete in the market. Private sector involvement in agro-inputs supply to farmers is also hampered by transport costs. In Mongu, the PACO noted “As a consequence of the FSP, the private sector focuses on doing business with profitable areas and not remote, inaccessible and unprofitable places.”
The absence of agro-storage and transport facilities inhibit competitive trading for isolated farming communities The absence of agro-storage facilities in the district makes it difficult to store and supply agro-produce and inputs. As there are hardly any commercial farming activities in the district, local agricultural systems are largely characterised by marginal farmers. In addition to the transport costs incurred to deliver produce to buying centres, usually located in towns, farmers also lamented the low prices dictated by the FRA and the length of time it takes for payment on produce delivered. Livestock diseases such as foot-and-mouth, anthrax and CBPP (a contagious bovine disease) have restricted farmers from hiring trucks and transporting live animals to urban centres. The government imposed a ban on transportation of un-slaughtered livestock, and slaughtered animals must be transported in refrigerated containers which are too expensive for poor farmers. Despite increasing demand for, and rising consumption of meat, big companies are the main beneficiaries and marginal farmers lose out. Farmers of Munkunye area in Kaoma district formed a group to deal with the problem of market access in 2006. Subsequently they opened an information centre with support from ZNFU. One member explains: “[We] wanted to have one big voice in agroproduction, marketing and so on… we initially lacked a voice which could be heard. We want everyone to find food and fight against poverty if possible.”
Increasing frequency and severity of floods and droughts cause environmental degradation, crop loss, damage to farms and displacement According to respondents to our research, climate change has dramatically altered weather systems in the province. Floods were reported to have been more severe in the last three years. Farmers of Lunde, Matongo, Namwendwa, Loo and Netondo in Senanga were forced away from farming and had to resort to trading in brooms and weaving mats from grass and reeds as an alternative source of income. As a flood coping strategy, extension staff pointed out they have been encouraging farmers to diversify their farming through inter cropping. In addition to early maturing maize, millet and sorghum, farmers are advised to include rice in their cropping patterns because it is less vulnerable to flooding.
“Farming now is different and difficult. Sometimes rains start in November or later. When it comes, it rains and rains continuously for almost three days which is bad for our crops. This time we had a mix of persistent droughts and floods. The weather patterns have gone completely mad. When we expect a drought, there is too much rain and vice versa. The rains destroy houses and wash away fields. It is getting even worse each year. There is also confusion in the weather information given by weathermen. Weather reports often mislead us. As far as I can remember the last three years have been un-surpassed in terms of the amount of rainfall.” 80 year-old Mr Silumezi of Lui Mwemba Droughts also continue to distort local farming patterns. During prolonged periods of drought most farmers rely on watering small areas manually, to produce limited amounts of vegetables, maize, sweet potatoes and tobacco. Irrigation is mainly done by those living near permanent water sources such as lagoons, dams and rivers. Man made canals are used which can also act as drains during periods of excess water.
HIV and AIDS claims the lives of many able-bodied farm-based labourers presenting enormous challenges for vulnerable families Several respondents raised concern about the barriers that poor farmers living with HIV and AIDS face in accessing health services. Limited access to antiretroviral drugs is a key challenge. Drugs are only administered to patients at major health units such as Mongu. With poor transport links this means HIV and AIDS sufferers are forced to walk hours over long distances. Consequently, although such services are available in hospitals they are still physically unreachable for marginal farmers.
“As a remote rural community we are disadvantaged in terms of HIV and AIDS treatment… imagine someone who is seriously afflicted and devastated with HIV and AIDS walking for the whole day to Senanga to seek for medication at the hospital… thus, most people fail to access life prolonging drugs and just wait for death to take them slowly.” Widow from Lui Mwemba village
Low levels of literacy amongst farmers, particularly women Low literacy levels for farmers create obstacles to information sharing and understanding policy dissemination. One factor hindering higher levels of literacy is the distance of communities from schools. This is a leading cause of low levels of school enrolment in rural areas. Though literacy levels improved between 1990 and 2000, it was observed that rates for males are higher than those for females in both rural and urban areas. Gender disparities in enrolment are more significant at secondary level and in higher education institutions due to girls marrying early. Disadvantaged children are mostly females from rural areas, most of whom are not likely to enrol beyond basic primary education. This has a direct effect on land distribution where women are often unaware of their rights to land as a consequence of earlier disadvantages experienced in formal education.
Conclusion Despite the introduction of the decentralised policy in 2004, the participation and influence of the poorest farmers on local and central level decision-making is still very low. Lack of consultation in and inadequate implementation of agriculture sector policy is a key factor to the poverty of small scale farmers in Western Province: their exclusion from policy and decision making processes shows the extent to which farmer’s voices remain unheard. The majority of rural farmers are not aware of their right to participate or to be
adequately represented in consultative bodies which inform the national level policy development and implementation process.
“We don’t know about policy… we just hear about policies but don’t know how they are implemented. We are not asked about policies. We are not invited to talk about policies. We only hear about things during public announcements.” Mrs Margeret Mbelele Fwankila, Sefula farmers’ group
Recommendations To address the challenges faced by ‘farming yet hungry’ marginal farmers, development actors need to first and foremost understand the unique contexts within which they find themselves. Some of the constraints identified by marginal farmers that the Zambian government need to act upon include:
All development actors including government, donors, farmers’ organisations and NGOs should work towards:
Improve local infrastructure and services
Supporting establishment and strengthening of farmers associations, cooperative groups and self help groups.
• Prioritise rural infrastructure development especially feeder roads, health centres and schools. • Invest in agro-storage facilities, market places and irrigation projects. • Research investment opportunities for water transport.
Increase commitments to agricultural technology improvements and uptake
• Efforts must be made to discourage exclusive membership criteria that restrict the inclusion of the poorest farmers. • Improve approaches to the promotion of and engagement with farming groups to ensure the best interests of all farmers are served.
• Increase investments in agricultural research and strategies that target the needs of vulnerable and impoverished households.
• Promote farmer participation in policy formulation through including farmers in meetings and radio programmes according to proposals made by the National Consultation Commission (NCC).
• Improve the availability of adequate agricultural equipment to farmers to increase productivity.
• Promote partnership between MACO and individual farmer associations by harmonising regulatory requirements.
• Improve veterinary services to combat livestock disease.
Improving government transparency
• The systems that supply agricultural inputs should be improved so that seed and fertiliser is available on time and targetted appropriately.
• Efforts should be made to link representative democracy to the delivery of development goods and services as part of the policy process.
• Strengthen MACO and increase its staff base to address the needs of poor farmers.
• More creative approaches should be applied to ensure that policy development is fully driven by broad consultation and participation.
• Build farmer capacity to ensure effective restructuring and service delivery. • Improve quality of extension delivery including revival and support of the farmer to farmer extension strategy. • Improve extension services ensuring that NGOs and private sector contribute effectively and collaborate with the Government extension services.
Increase investment in risk reduction and build community resilience to tackle the impact of climate change
• Feedback mechanisms that raise the value of marginal farmers’ voices should be established to enable farmers to impact on policy outcomes and decisions. • Clarify tax and levies policies for farmers.
Making development strategies more cohesive • All major stakeholders, including private sector players and farmers, should be consulted during district and provincial level planning between development actors. • A new partnership framework on land allocation policies, between the BRE and central government should be considered.
• Provide greater support to canal clearing and flood mitigation • Increase peoples awareness of the negative consequences of climate change
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