“Critical
Issues Concerning the Future of Agriculture and Poverty in the Semi-Arid
Tropics: A Review”
Citation: Ganesh-Kumar, A. 2000. “Critical
Issues Concerning the Future of Agriculture and Poverty in the Semi-Arid
Tropics: A Review”. Report submitted to the International Crop Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Patancheru.
Abstract: The Semi-Arid Tropics (SAT) is a
vast stretch of land spread over four continents - Asia, Africa, Latin America
and Oceania covering all or parts of 52 countries. Approximately 850 million
people or one-sixth of the world’s population lives in the semi-arid regions of
these countries. The SAT countries are amongst the most poor and
under-developed countries in the world. Most of the people in these countries
live in rural areas and depend to a very large extent on agriculture for their
livelihood, an aspect that has undergone little change over time. In such a
situation, successful poverty eradication and overall economic development
depends upon how well agriculture sector performs.
The
physical environment of the SAT is characterised by hot and dry climate for a
good part of the year, with uncertain and limited rainfall occurring in a few
months. The soil and climatic conditions in the SAT imposes a severe
biophysical constraint on agriculture, which manifests as a scarcity of two
critical inputs for agriculture, viz., arable land and water. Few crops, viz.,
coarse cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cotton, are naturally suited for
cultivation in the SAT. International agricultural research effort has focussed
on the few traditionally most important food crops, viz., sorghum, millets,
chickpea, pigeon pea and groundnut. This research effort has lead to the development of improved seed varieties with
higher yield potential, besides a whole range of associated farming techniques.
Actual experience shows that these new seed varieties and technologies have not
resulted in significant improvement in agricultural productivity in the SAT.
Adoption rates are low in many of these countries, especially in
All
these raise the question of the future prospects of agriculture in the SAT and
its impact on poverty. How does agricultural performance affect poverty? What
are the emerging issues that affect agricultural performance in the SAT? What
should be the focus of agricultural research institutions such as the ICRISAT
so that agricultural performance and welfare of the population in the rural
areas of the SAT can be improved?
This
study addresses these questions with a view to initiate public discussion on
the future of agriculture in the SAT and the role of agricultural research in
that context, and provide a framework for deciding research priorities, both
within ICRISAT and perhaps also for the National Agricultural Research Systems
(NARS).
Towards
this, an analytical framework has been developed for understanding (a) the
factors that affect poverty and food security and its link with agricultural
performance, and (b) the factors that affect agricultural performance and the
channels through which their impacts are felt. Based on this framework five
sets of issues that are critical to agriculture in the SAT have been
identified. These are,
a) Crop-environmental / agricultural
research issues that fall basically in the domain of agricultural research.
These issues arise due to the harsh physical environment in the SAT, the ever
increasing pressure on land and other natural resources due to population
growth and the consequent environmental degradation, the rapid growth in the importance
of commercial crops and the livestock sector in the SAT, etc. These have
important implications for agricultural research relating to crop varieties,
environmental / natural resource management, farming systems research and
farming technologies research.
b) Agricultural input supply issues
pertaining to the pricing of inputs, access / availability of inputs, and other
specific aspects affecting the supply of certain inputs such as seeds, water,
credit, etc.
c) Economic / policy issues, relating
essentially to governmental policies on input and output pricing, public
investments in agricultural infrastructure, product markets and
commercialisation opportunities, etc., all of which essentially determine the
economic viability of farming as a source of livelihood.
d) Institutional issues, such as those
relating to agricultural market structures, institutions for natural resources
management such as water management, etc.
e) Labour productivity issues, arising
out of the various socio-economic developments including the general level of
education and health in farming communities and the demographic pressures they
face, all of which can affect their productivity.
The study
then reviews the critical developments in the SAT surrounding these issues and
explores their implications for the future of agriculture in the SAT, and for
agricultural research effort in that context. The study covers all the 52 SAT
countries in the world, while focusing mainly on the Asian and African SAT
countries.