Agricultural research alleviating poverty in Africa

Singh used part of his increased earnings to sink a new well, put an upper story on his home, purchase a used car, and launch a rice and wheat seed company - all steps in the impact chain, as each small success enables further farm and livelihood improvements.

"Previously we had no linkages with agencies or persons to obtain knowledge or information," he says. "We used to grow only the old varieties - we sowed the same seed for ten years. Now we are looking to diversify and intensify farming to get more cash."

An understanding of impact pathways like Anil Singh's, which improved crop varieties and systems, can help CIMMYT and its partners to create diverse, relevant solutions for farmers in varied settings of the developing world. This includes sub-Saharan Africa, home to some of the world’s worst rural poverty.

In harmony with markets

With proper assistance, Singh and his peers were able to save resources and boost productivity. But increasing productivity when there are no markets for what you produce is like singing to the wind. Well-functioning markets generate growth and provide opportunities for the poor.

Attractive prices for crops and livestock, for example, can enable and encourage rural development, thereby improving food security and household incomes. Good markets make it appealing to invest in land and relevant infrastructure. They also foster adoption of resource-conserving farm practices.

CIMMYT and its partners focus on improved germplasm and crop management practices, as well as resource conservation, but study and work in the context of value chains where smallholder farmers can improve their livelihoods. This is a particular concern in Africa, where markets and infrastructure are poorly developed.

Farmer participation in markets and adoption of new technologies involves a complex inter-locking system where they gain access to agricultural inputs, technical extension, packing, processing, and outlets. To participate fully in today’s changing markets farmers must innovate, intensify production, and invest.

Paradoxically, developing country farmers face these demands precisely at a time of structural adjustment and cuts in fiscal deficits. Access to credit is constrained. Subsidies have been removed and classical agricultural extension and research services are dismembered so that they no longer serve the needs of farmers in complex, diverse, risk-prone environments.

Furthermore, growing urban markets demand quality produce and of adequate quantities to interest buyers. Improved crop varieties and farming systems can supply both consistently but the key is making them available to the farmers who most need them.

The role of international agricultural research

To secure and improve their livelihoods, farmers need to build up four sets of assets. Natural capital includes land, water, and vegetation. Social capital includes systems of social organisation that facilitate co-operative enterprises, inter-household relationships, and networks. Human capital - levels of education, knowledge, and health - empower people to solve their problems and pursue gainful livelihoods. Physical capital comprises basic infrastructure - equipment, transportation, shelter, energy, and access to financial resources.

Clearly agricultural research alone does not address all of these areas. Organisations like CIMMYT work through partners, including governments in developing countries, to build on and take full advantage of research products.

None of this is easy. The playing field for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa is decidedly un-level and constantly shifting. They face ever-drier climates, inhospitable to older crop varieties, increasingly degraded soils, aggressive weeds, and crop diseases that evolve and defeat plants’ resistance mechanisms.