Interrogating the technocratic (neoliberal) agenda for agricultural development and hunger alleviation in Africa

Abstract

This paper introduces a special issue that critically examines the dominant technocratic, neoliberal agenda for agricultural development and hunger alleviation in Africa. We briefly review the history of African agricultural and food security policy in the post-colonial period in order to contextualise the productionist approach embedded in the New Green Revolution for Africa, a strategy comprising the use of hybrid seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides to boost crop production. This approach is underpinned by a new and unprecedented level of public-private partnerships as donors actively work to promote the private sector and build links between African farmers, input suppliers, agro-dealers, agro-processors, and retailers. On the consumer end, increased supermarket penetration into poorer neighbourhoods is proffered as a solution to urban food insecurity. The papers in the special issue complicate understandings of this new approach and raise serious questions about its effectiveness as a strategy for increasing food production and alleviating hunger across the continent.

Roaming through the Maze of Maize in Northern Ghana. A Systems Approach to Explore the Long-Term Effects of a Food Security Intervention

“…To achieve this, it was believed, agricultural production needed to be spurred. Global support was given to African countries to heavily invest in agricultural extension, improved seeds and pesticides and fertilizers, the so called Green revolution packages [20]. Focus was on efficiency, productivity and rationality [21].…”

“…Not food availability, but access to food, was the issue. Sen's approach was adopted by an emergent neoliberalism [20,30]. The dominant idea was that access to food could be improved by higher incomes and better developed agri-business sectors.…”

Agriculture on the Brink: Climate Change, Labor and Smallholder Farming in Botswana

“…In the early 1980s, however, Botswana transitioned from a policy of food self-sufficiency to one of food security [21]. This shift, from trying to produce as much food as possible, to importing increasing quantities of food, was consistent with neoliberal economic reforms of the era which emphasized specializing in one's comparative advantage and trade for other goods [45,46]. …”

“…While agriculture was once Botswana's most important sector, accounting for 40 percent of GDP at independence, it now accounts for only 1.8 percent of GDP [44]. Not unlike many African countries [45], Botswana adhered to a policy of food self-sufficiency in the first few decades following independence. In the early 1980s, however, Botswana transitioned from a policy of food self-sufficiency to one of food security [21].…”

Social Science Studies on European and African Agriculture Compared: Bringing Together Different Strands of Academic Debate on GM Crops

“…Although a neoliberal trend is definitely also apparent in African agricultural policy [114], it has taken a different form there, with the focus on raising agricultural production and achieving 'a new Green Revolution' [20]. The greater focus on farming rather than on consumers in the Africa literature may also reflect the importance of subsistence farming in many African countries and the relatively low commercial integration of farming into national and global value chains and markets.…”