News Archive - 2008
Open Letter to Ban Ki Moon
6 June 2008
Dear Secretary General,
FARM-Africa is calling on you, the Secretary General of the United Nations, to work with and invest in existing small expert agricultural NGOs to deliver a long term and integrated solution to the current global food crisis.
The $30 billion dollars a year that has been requested by the FAO to improve global agriculture could be very effectively used to support those organisations that are already delivering agricultural development and have a track record of success. Setting up some new organisations might prove important for implementing some aspects of the new rural development agenda and for achieving scale but not to make use of existing successful organisations would just result in delay, inefficiency and duplication.
For example, FARM-Africa has been working at the grass roots with rural communities in eastern and South Africa for over twenty years providing long term science based solutions to poverty by improving agricultural production and natural resource management.
Our approach of listening to the needs of local farmers and finding practical solutions has been highly effective. Through the use of improved varieties and innovative farming techniques significant improvements can be made rapidly. Many successful project approaches that have already been tried and tested are available for scaling up.
A FARM-Africa project in Tanzania introducing high-yielding maize varieties with better farming and marketing techniques showed an increase in yield of 120% and an increase in income from less than 50p per day to an average of £2.50 a day - an effective and inexpensive improvement in livelihoods and a sustainable and local solution.
Working at the grass roots we strongly support your comments about the need for other resources and rural infrastructure to make interventions effective. There is a pressing need for small-scale irrigation, better drainage, improved storage facilities and decent roads giving access to markets. Combining this with modern inputs like fertilizer and seeds will ensure a lasting impact on the lives of the most vulnerable people.
FARM-Africa has been advocating increased investment in Africa’s smallholder farmers for many years. It is encouraging that world leaders are waking up to the potential of these farmers to be part of the long term solution to the world’s food security. FARM-Africa with its unique expertise is ready to play its part in this important and urgent endeavour.
Yours sincerely,
Lord De Ramsey DL FRAgS DSc – Chairman of Trustees, FARM-Africa
Professor Peter Hazell, Trustee of FARM-Africa and Member of FARM-Africa Programmes Advisory Committee
Dr Christie Peacock, Chief Executive Officer, FARM-Africa
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