Download Sustainable and Unsustainable Agriculture in Ghana and Nigeria

Is African Agriculture Sustainable
Enough to Support an Agro-Allied
Industrial Development Strategy?
Steve Onyeiwu, Eric Pallant, Meredith Hanlon
Departments of Economics, Environmental Science,
and Biology
Allegheny College, Meadville, PA 16335 USA
RATIONALE AND MOTIVATION
FOR PAPER
The last 50 years in West Africa:
Environmental Degradation +
Economic Decisions + Climate Change =
Unsustainable Farming Systems
CONCEPTUALIZING
SUSTAINABILITY
• Economists overlook the environment and
environmentalists, the economy
Environment
Sustainability
Equity
Economy
Environmental Transformation
• Precipitation changes
• Longer dry seasons, more intense rainfalls
Deforestation
Ghana
Mexico
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
20
00
-2
00
5
19
90
-2
00
0
Percent Change in Total Forest Area
Nigeria
Costa Rica
India
Brazil
Declining Soil Quality
• Low Fertilizer use
Fertilizer Use
140
Ghana
Nigeria
India
Mexico
Brazil
120
80
60
40
20
0
1962
1966
1970
1974
1978
1982
Year
1986
1990
1994
1998
2002
Kg/Hectare
100
Untreated Human Waste =
Nitrogen Loss, Nitrogen Cycle
• Facilitates the spread of disease
• Contaminates potable water
• Nitrogen-rich sewage could be used to
replenish soils
Short Crop Rotations
Shorter fallow periods lead to
nutrient depletion and the need
to burn and clear more land
Arable Land
As a Percent of Land Area
40
35
Percent
30
Ghana
Nigeria
Mexico
Costa Rica
Brazil
25
20
15
10
5
19
61
19
64
19
67
19
70
19
73
19
76
19
79
19
82
19
85
19
88
19
91
19
94
19
97
20
00
20
03
0
Time
Regardless of this increase, agricultural value added has
been decreasing rapidly in Nigeria and steadily in Ghana
7000
Ghana
Nigeria
6000
Brazil
Mexico
5000
Costa Rica
India
4000
3000
2000
1000
20
05
20
02
19
99
19
96
19
93
19
90
19
87
19
84
19
81
19
78
19
75
19
72
19
69
19
66
19
63
0
19
60
GDP per Capita
GDP Per Capita
Time
• Lack of growth in Ghana and Nigeria as compared to other
developing countries
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, 1960s – 1970s
• Urban investment and industrialization
• Fewer people needed to farm
– Rural to urban migration and overcrowding
• Government lowers prices of goods to be
competitive on international market
– Decrease in farmer’s profit
Structural Adjustment Programs
• SAP implemented to fix pricing problems
– Trade & Product Markets liberalization
– Removal of subsidies
– Devaluation
– Privatization
– Reduction or elimination of budget deficits
– Firms: reduce X-inefficiency, eliminate wastes, and
raise productivity
– All had a negative impact on rural development
•
CASE STUDY OF UNSUSTAINABILITY:
THE VILLAGE OF UMULUWE IN
SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA
• Population: 6500
• Average Income: $150
• Main Occupations: Subsistence Farming,
Petty Trading, Palm-Wine Tapping &
Palm-Oil Processing
POVERTY PROFILE OF UMULUWE
2007
2001
Women, <$2 per
day
Women, <$1 per
day
<$2 per day
<$1 per day
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Percent of Sample
70
80
90
100
Non-Income Measures of Poverty
0
Consumes Milk Weekly
Consumes Meat Weekly
Food As Most Important
Expense
Firewood as Main Fuel
Owes Money
Has Savings
Owns Land
Owns Goats
Owns Chickens
20
Percent of Sample
40
60
80
100
Men
Women
Similar rural poverty in Ghana
• Massive charcoal production to supply
urban areas is leading to deforestation and
land degradation
THE EBENEZER FARM: AN
ILLUSTRATION OF THE “AGROENTREPRENEURIAL” MODEL
Ebenezer Farms
Non-Traditional Animal Production
River Management and
Fish Production
Food Production and Nutrient
Recycling
“AGRO-ENTREPRENEURIAL” MODEL
Investors
Government
Donors
Venture Capitalists
Agro-Entrepreneurial Financial Institutions
Sustainable Farmers and Villages
Sustainable Extension
Officers
income
The Market
•Organic Market
•Restaurants
•Eco-Tourism
Green
Entrepreneurial
Volunteers or
Experts
CONCLUSION
• Agricultural Unsustainability Has Environmental,
Economic & Equity Dimensions
• Paper Proposes an “Agro-Entrepreneurial Model” of
Sustainability that Combines Sustainable Farming
Practices with Entrepreneurship.