In print

Self-sufficient Agriculture: labour and knowledge in small-scale farming

By Robert Tripp
Published by Earthscan
Email: earthinfo@earthscan.co.uk
Website: www.earthscan.co.uk
2006, 256pp, ISBN 1 84407 297 5(Pb), £17.99

Low external input technologies (LEIT) have divided opinion in agricultural and rural development. To critics they are often seen as rudimentary and hopelessly labour demanding, while supporters believe they offer hope of improved productivity to the poorest, those least able to afford conventional farming inputs. In this important book, Robert Tripp offers a valuable review of how successful implementation of LEIT has been; do these technologies justify the funding they are getting in the context of improving the lives of the poorest?

In answering one point of criticism, Tripp shows that low external input techniques are far from rudimentary. Techniques for soil and water conservation, soil enrichment, crop establishment or pest control, which are briefly summarised in an early chapter, typically demand farmers to have a high level of information, and implementation generally requires adaptation and complex decision-making. Farmers may need to sacrifice crop land to conservation structures or green manures, for example, or redirect farm nutrients from fuel to soil enrichment.

But it is the extent of adoption, rather than success in terms of raised yields from particular technologies, that is Tripp's primary focus. And much of the evidence presented in this book suggests that the specific potential of LEITs to address the needs of the poorest is doubtful. Rather, patterns of adoption for low external input technologies are usually similar to those for conventional methods, with factors such as farmers' education and attitude to risk and their capacity to hire labour, among many others, being significant hurdles to adoption by the poorest. Case studies examining the long term impacts of three well-regarded LEIT projects in Honduras, Kenya and Sri Lanka, suggest that such impacts have been modest, with only a minority of farmers adopting these technologies. And a literature review bears out the conclusion that the impact of LEIT has been extremely uneven, and certainly not as high as many claim.

So do projects that seek to implement low external input technologies deserve the funding they receive in the context of poverty reduction? Broadly speaking, Tripp's answer appears to be negative, or at least that donors should not take a 'business as usual' approach. While donors are under pressure to produce attractive evidence of project impact, what is really needed, he argues, is behind the scenes, long term capacity building and institution strengthening. 'Project activity is an inefficient way of making up for differences in basic education, information, markets, and access to political power' he writes.

Thus ultimately, his criticism is not of the technologies themselves, which he believes do offer 'important contributions for making agriculture more productive, protecting the environment and empowering farmers.' But, Tripp believes, such technologies need to be part of a more general strengthening of smallholder farming, one based on strengthened institutions - including farmers' organisations, public education and research and extension - rather than isolated projects offering relatively small baskets of technology options. This timely and well-written book deserves consideration by proponents, critics and funders of LEIT, and will be of interest to many involved in agricultural and rural development.

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State of the World 2006

Published by The Worldwatch Institute
Website: www.worldwatch.org
2006, 272pp, ISBN 0 393 32771 X(Pb), $18.95

The economic rise of China and India, a special focus for this year's State of the World report, is described by the Worldwatch Institute as one of the gravest threats, and greatest opportunities facing the world today. The threat is perhaps more obvious. Rapid economic growth in two countries that are home to 40 per cent of the world's population is having enormous economic and environmental consequences. Soaring oil prices, continuing deforestation in South America, and loss of manufacturing jobs in Central America and South East Asia are some of the impacts of what this report describes as a 'tectonic shift' in global affairs. Supplying the increasing demands of a rapidly expanding middle class through the Western 'resource intensive' development model would, say the writers, be impossible: the planet simply does not have the resources. Sustaining Chinese and Indian development will therefore depend on an alternative model, and both finding and achieving it will require much more co-operation, and exchange of expertise, between the 'old' and 'new' world powers than currently exists.

Both China and India have, according to the report, already shown their willingness to commit to such a path. China, for example, has the biggest solar power industry in the world, and solar units currently heat 10 per cent of China's hot water. India is a world pioneer in rainwater harvesting. And recent commitments by both countries to developing wind and solar power industries are likely to make renewable energy technologies affordable for poor countries. This is one of the 'opportunities' that Chinese and Indian development offer, and the authors speculate that both countries are poised to leapfrog the industrialised world in their use of sustainable energy and agriculture. Whether such opportunities are realised will depend on which path these two countries take, and that will be decided over the next few years. This year's State of the World report offers an excellent, highly readable background to that decision-making process. There are also chapters covering nine other key trends, including cultivation of biofuels, an introduction to nanotechnology and turning disasters into peacemaking opportunities.

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Agricultural commodities, trade and sustainable development

Edited by Thomas Lines
Published by IIED,
Available from Earthprint
Email: iied@earthprint.com
Website: www.earthprint.com
2005, 264pp, ISBN 1 84369 573 1(Pb), US$36

In response to what is considered a "chronic crisis in trade in agricultural commodities", linked to issues of poverty and environmental degradation, this book presents a collection of edited essays to widen the debate. Written for two strategic dialogues on agriculture, 'trade negotiations and poverty' and 'commodities, trade and sustainable development', the book is complex in parts, but accessible to those outside the field. A central theme is that agriculture lies at the heart of sustainable development, yet exports from the developing world still fail to find access to developed country markets. Rich countries are accused of failing to deliver the reforms needed to make international trade a force of positive development. Developing countries are urged to put pressure on developed countries to improve markets, according to a better understanding of local producers.

International trade and export standards, including those imposed by supermarkets, are also criticised as becoming increasingly demanding: "even those small-holders that opt to concentrate on domestic markets are not safe from the onward march of the supermarkets." The authors argue that in the light of monopolistic behaviour and cartels, new ways of balancing and regulating market power must be found, to modify the current model of trade and development.

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HIV/AIDS and human development in sub-Saharan Africa

By Tanja R. Müller
Published by Wageningen Academic Publishers
Email: sales@WageningenAcademic.com
Website: www.WageningenAcademic.com
2005, 130pp, ISBN 9076998507(Pb), €25

This book is the last of a three part series produced by the African Women Leaders in Agriculture and the Environment (AWLAE), an organisation established to ensure greater participation of women in decision making. Aimed primarily at the research community, the series examines ways of improving food security and sustainable natural resource management by improving rural women's access to resources and technologies. The central message of this book is that to prevent a downward spiral into poverty, the spread of HIV/AIDS must be stopped. Endemic AIDS, according to the authors, is "bound to prove to be the single biggest obstacle in reaching the so-called Millennium Development Goal of cutting poverty by half by the year 2015." Yet up to now, they argue, understanding the profound links between poverty and HIV has been hampered by inconclusive research.

Improving employment opportunities in rural areas is seen as crucial, with mobility often blamed for hastening the spread of the virus. Labour-saving technologies are explored as a mitigating strategy for small-scale farmers, where agricultural production suffers through lack of labour. The major role that women play in agricultural production and in caring for the sick is discussed in the context of constraints that they face, such as an inability to access land. On the medical side, the importance of anti-retroviral treatments suggest that they should be a priority for public health policy, and deserving of more support not only from national governments and the medical community, but also from donor organisations and the pharmaceutical industry. The book includes a useful page of acronyms, and is packed with informative footnotes and sources throughout.

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Climate Change: Turning up the heat

By A. Barrie Pittock
Published by Earthscan
Email: earthinfo@earthscan.co.uk
Website: www.earthscan.co.uk
2005, 325pp, ISBN 1 84407 300 9(Pb), £19.99

Written by a leading researcher of worldwide acclaim, the author of this book is refreshing in his assertion that sometimes there is no such thing as facts in science, and that there is no certain way to measure future human behaviour, and the causes of climate change. Quoting the Swiss Reinsurance Company, the central tenet of the book is firmly that risk is inevitable: "Probability itself should not be the criterion for deciding whether or not to prepare ourselves for an event, but only for how we prepare ourselves."

The climate has changed greatly over a long geological timescale, but what is alarming is the almost unprecedented rate of global warming trend in the last few decades. Abrupt changes and climatic thresholds have already begun to take place and the author outlines how analysing past climate change events can help to determine future climate scenarios. Pittock emphasises that the impact of climate change will require costly adaptations, and the eventual phasing out of fossil fuels. To this end, climate change requires urgent action, compulsory government targets and political will. There are suggestions about which targets to set, and how they can be achieved. This is a valuable reference for policy makers and scientists, with useful diagrams and analogies for those with a more limited understanding of the issues.

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The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2005

Published by FAO
Email: publications-sales@fao.org
Website: www.fao.org/icatalog/inter-e.htm
2005, 36pp, ISBN 92 5 105384 7 (Pb), $15

What is most apparent from this FAO publication is that the reduction of hunger deserves to be at the centre of national and international efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In the forward to this report, Jacques Diouf, Director General of FAO, stresses that reducing hunger demands that priority be given to rural areas where the vast majority of the world's hungry people live. This is reinforced later in an analysis which argues that economic growth by itself is not enough to reduce hunger - that growth must occur in rural areas to have an impact. Subsequent sections set out the relationships between reducing hunger and achievement of the six other MDGs in concise, two-page overviews. These also provide an update on the degree of progress made so far in different regions and countries towards achieving the Goals.

However, the links between hunger and the MDGs, such as reduction of child mortality, improvement of gender equality and maternal health, form a complex web of symptoms and causes. On the one hand reducing hunger is often presented as the best way to promote improvement towards other goals. For example, more than half of child deaths are caused directly or indirectly by hunger and malnutrition: improve children's diets and the child health situation is also improved. In other cases a reduction in hunger is the projected result of actions to address other MDG targets: better education and greater equality of women, for example, would dramatically improve household diets. Many and varied strategies will undoubtedly be needed if progress is to be accelerated, and these will differ between countries and regions. A final section offers a summary of what these strategies might be.

Agricultural Trade Reform and the Doha Development Agenda

Edited by Kym Anderson and Will Martin
Published by Palgrave Macmillan and The World Bank
Website: www.worldbank.org
Available in Europe and Japan from www.palgrave.com
2005, 444pp, ISBN 0 8213 6239 9(Pb), US$35

Aimed at policy makers, business people and academics, this book argues that removing agricultural protectionism makes sound economic sense. It analyses negotiations underway with the World Trade Organisation, and argues that agriculture is a contentious issue, despite its "small and declining importance in the global economy." But better access for their produce to the markets of richer countries is a high priority for developing regions.

The book is a collection of essays on agricultural subjects ranging from trade reform to tariff reductions and their consequences. It contains useful tables illustrating issues such as the relative importance of import barriers in different countries, and a page of abbreviations at the front. It points to politically sensitive issues, and frames the Doha work programme, proving a useful resource and reference for present and future Rounds.

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The Kuhls of Kangra: Community Managed Irrigation in the Western Himalaya

By Mark J Baker
Published by University of Washington Press
Website: www.washington.edu/uwpress
2005, 271pp, ISBN 0 295 98491 0(Hb), $40

The Kangra Valley in the north Indian state of Himalchal Pradesh is criss-crossed by a network of channels, known locally as kuhls, which for centuries have brought snowmelt and rainfall to the fields of rice and wheat. Maintenance of the kuhls is deeply entrenched in the culture and in community relations in the valley and, as a result, the system has survived despite repeated destruction by earthquakes and floods. In recent years, non-farm employment has drawn labour away from kuhl maintenance, and most theories of common property resource management would suggest that the kuhls should be falling into disrepair. In fact, they continue to be maintained, and the reasons for this durability are the subject of this book. Based on over two years of research, Baker offers a detailed description of water management in the Kangra valley, the role of the state in irrigation provision, and the networks of interdependence that keep the kuhls flowing.

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Valuing Crop Biodiversity: On-farm genetic resources and economic change

Edited by Melinda Smale
Published by CABI Publishing
Website: www.cabi-publishing.org
2005, 336pp, ISBN 0 85199 083 5(Hb), £60

A collection of essays, this book explores issues of crop diversity as essential to combat pests, disease and changes in climate, all risk factors in any agricultural system. Crop biodiversity also underpins a range of dietary needs and services that consumers may demand as economies change, within a rapidly changing global food system. But genetic resources are vulnerable assets, susceptible to disruptions caused by drought, floods and wars. Social and economic changes can also have negative consequences, leading to growing concern about the declining diversity of crop genetic resources.

This is one of the first books to assemble a set of empirical case studies conducted in the field. It addresses farmer preferences, farmer demand for biodiversity and social institutions and seed systems. Aimed primarily at researchers, the collection is intended to show the practical meaning of crop biodiversity, its value and how it might be supported by policy and development strategies. Key issues are well illustrated with tables or diagrams and useful headings define key issues and break down complex information.

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ICT in Agriculture: Perspectives of technological innovation

Edited by E Gelb and A Offer
Published by Center for Agricultural Economic Research at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Website : http://departments.agri.huji.ac.il/economics/gelb-main.html
Papers can be downloaded for free from the website

What is the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in improving the lives of rural communities in the developing world? Provision of information and training materials are obviously a key area, but there are many more, for example improving access to financial services and rural credit, and enabling more reliable systems of land registration. And by enabling two-way communication, ICTs have the potential to raise the voice of rural communities in the sphere of policy making and regulation. Many of the papers in this e-book focus on technologies that target specific sectors of agriculture: dairy farming, horticulture, precision agriculture and irrigation management. However, for most rural communities in the developing world it is the basic ICTs which are the priority.

In a paper entitled How Can Agricultural Extension Best Harness ICTs to Improve Rural Livelihood in Developing Countries, Don Richardson quotes a Panos report which suggests that in most of rural Africa there is only one payphone per thousand people, and the cost of a single call on a mobile phone may be half the daily wage of an agricultural worker. In such a situation, he argues, extension services have a new role to play, in acting as a broker between their rural clients and telecommunications providers. Organisations that represent rural and farming populations are also encouraged to find a place in national policy dialogues, in order that the needs of rural people for basic information and communication services are properly recognised.

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