It is true to say that Agriculture has been a backbone for most economies of developing countries in the world. Without Agriculture, there could not have been rapid industrial development as we can witness today. For so long, Agriculture has been taken as a center of poverty eradication for poor and developing countries. It also a fact to say that a majority of world’s poor people reside in the rural areas because a research has shown that close to 1.2 billion of people live below a dollar in a day. Three-quarters of this population are people who either work or live in rural areas and are dependent on Agricultural for income and food. Due to these findings, there is a big reason for developing countries to support and invest more in Agriculture for the purpose of reducing poverty levels and also fostering economic growth. This can be done through the implementation of intensive agricultural growth strategies.
In countries where Agriculture Development has failed to materialize, the people dependent on it are likely living in absolute poverty. Eradication of poverty has been a global challenge for many years. In the pursuit of global sustainable development goals, Agriculture has been identified as one of the strategies that can be used to improve the standards of living of people especially those who reside in the rural areas. The international Sustainable Developments goal on poverty has resolved that by 2030, human beings should have been freed from the tyrannies of extreme poverty. To do so, many developing countries need to improve its agricultural developments in order to lift the rural populations out of poverty. This paper seeks to describe the ways in which Agriculture can be used as a way reducing or eradication the levels of poverty in the rural areas and in doing so, the historical developments that have led to the current trends in Agriculture among the developing countries will be discussed.
A number of organizations including International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and United Nations have been championing Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRS) (United Nations Sustainable Development, 2018 np.). The objectives of these organizations have been to assist poor and developing countries to cope up with extreme poverty levels by providing debt relief, offering development assistance and assisting in the planning of Agricultural development projects (Lloyd, 2017 pg. 124-125). A number of countries in Africa have benefited from the incentives of these organizations. This study will focus on the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategies employed by developing countries and ways in which those strategies can be used to eradicate poverty levels of people in rural areas. Before doing so, it would be important to explore the history of Agriculture.
History of Agriculture
The history of Agriculture can be traced back to the periods of Agrarian revolution in Germany before the 18th
century. It is in the 18th century that Agriculture saw a lot of revolution. This is the period that there was a lot of development which brought a massive and rapid increase in the productivity of Agriculture because of improvements in farm technology (Mordy, 2011pg. 592-595). Over the years, Agriculture has seen a number of gradual transformations from the traditional farming systems to modern methods of Agriculture. In countries such as Britain, Agriculture has revolutionized over time into complex forms. For instance, the idea of land ownership has been changed from communal to more compact individual ownership where actual farmers have adopted a number of technical improvements in Agriculture. Introduction of new machinery, new crops, scientific methods of breeding and use of irrigation are some of the most recent developments in the Agricultural sector.
In can be inferred that the adoption of modern methods of Agriculture has been necessitated by the ever-increasing world population. In order to meet increasing food demands a number of developing countries both in Africa and Europe have been adopting the use of modern farming methods such as the use of machinery rather than human labor. The invention of pesticides and insecticides has also assisted in the control of weeds, pest, and insects that invades and reduce the yields of crops. Despite these developments, it is surprising to still see some developing countries lagging behind in the adoption of modern Agricultural methods. This situation has had negative effects on the state of their economy as it is known that a country whose population is ‘‘hungry’’ cannot grow economically.
Major Developments that Saw the Revolutions in Agriculture in the Agrarian Period.
Introduction of drilling and planting equipment’s
The introduction of the Plow and Moldboard – a plow was a farming tool with blades that were used to break the soil and form a furrow. This tool was used to in digging small ditches that can be used to sow seeds. Moldboard was a curved steel wedge that was used to turn the furrows. Another development in agriculture was also seen in Britain where seed drills were invented. Before this invention, seeding used to be done by hand. These seed drills were largely sold in the United States before being manufactured there in 1840.
Introduction of harvesting machines
The first invention of the harvesting machine was the sickle curved machine. This machine was a handheld and was used to harvest grain crops such as corn. There was also the horse driven mechanical reapers which replaced the sickles during harvesting. After the reapers, the swather came in and it worked by cutting the grains and binding it in sheaves. The latest transformations when it comes to harvesting machines was the introduction of the combine harvester. Up to date, a combine harvester is used to pick, thresh and clean grains while it is moving in the farm field.
The rise of the textile industry
Another great development in the revolution of agriculture was the rise of cotton farming in the South. Despite the fact that the south was not dealing with the manufacture of cotton products, the cultivation assisted the growth of textile industries in North America. This was achieved through the adoption of the invented series of modernized machines in South America similar to those that were used in Great Britain. The American textile mills were able to pay more wages for the farmers than it was the case in Britain.
Advancement in the transportation sector
The introductions of the steam board and the railroad saw great changes in the revolution of Agriculture in West America. The steam boards were used to ferry agricultural inputs and products to and from the farms. The extension of the rail line to more than 30 thousand miles also made it easy for agricultural products to be transported into and out of industries. Before, the introduction of the locomotive engine, standardization of the American transport system was now paving way for passengers to travel easily within the state for farming purposes.
How Agriculture can be used to Alleviate Poverty and Promote Economic Development
Main Causes of High Levels of Poverty in the World
Globally, poverty levels of people are still very high. As described above, there close to 1.2 billion are currently living in poverty despite the fact that some of them are involved in farming as their economic activity. World Bank has identified many regions that have high poverty levels. The figure below shows some of the countries with the most prevalent poverty report cases.
Table 8.2: World Bank estimates and projections of poverty
1990
1999
2015
1990
1999
2015
Million persons
% of population
Developing countries
1269
1134
749
32.0
24.6
13.2
Sub-Saharan Africa
242
300
345
47.7
46.7
39.3
Near East/North Africa
6
7
6
2.4
2.3
1.5
Latin America and the Caribbean
74
77
60
16.8
15.1
9.7
South Asia
495
490
279
44.0
36.9
16.7
East Asia
452
260
59
27.6
14.2
2.8
Transition countries
7
17
4
1.6
3.6
0.8
Total
1276
1151
753
29.0
22.7
12.3
idem excl. China
916
936
700
28.1
24.5
14.8
Source: Adapted from World Bank (2001c), Table 1.8. The definition of regions is not always identical to that used in this study, e.g. Turkey is not included in the developing Near East/North Africa and South Africa is included in developing sub-Saharan Africa.
From the table above, the World Bank has identified that high level of poverty is being witnessed in developing countries mostly from Africa. Apart from Sub-Haran Africa where the poverty level is highest at 39% due to extreme drought and famine cases, other African countries who do not experience a lot of climatic problems can be seen to have also a high percentage of poor people. The role of Agriculture in alleviating poverty has attracted the attention of the international organization. Something surprising from research is that the world's poor people are from the rural areas and are farmers. The above table report shows how bad governance can bring about poverty to a country's citizens. Governance can largely be blamed for this because the failure of leaders to seek measures of using agricultural growth to reduce poverty is an example of bad governance.
There is a lot that needs to be done in order to promote the living standards of people in Developing Countries. According to African Development Bank, countries whose middle-income people depend on agriculture as a form of informal employment are the poorest than those with higher unemployment rates (Levokove, 2011 np.). The informal sector has largely been associated with increasing levels of poverty. The investment in informal sectors such as Agriculture has been believed to be the most preferred method of addressing poverty and improving peoples living standards despite ignorance by the leaders on the importance of this case.
In Africa for instance, the prevalence of the informal sector is large enough and this necessitates that the sector should be eyed more by the government since a large number of people are found in it. The most prevalent problem for people who practice agriculture is because of lack of access to capital to finance their farming (Ogemah, 2017 pg.11673-11690). Moreover, lack of education and skills, poor infrastructure and limited adoption of technology can also be the main contributing factors to poverty.
Ways of Improving Agriculture as a Strategy for Eradicating Poverty
Research has shown that the most developed countries today were largely stimulated by agriculture development coupled with industrial innovations in the pat. For instance, countries such as China, Taiwan, and India are known to have grown as a result of Agricultural based productivity development growth. In these countries, the main notable source of market demand was domestic. Before, there were substantially high levels of poverty in these countries because of the low level of incomes. This means that governments of developing countries need to put in place policies that can promote the interest of the local farmers (van Zyl, 1990 pg. 289-295). This can be done through the banning of importation of certain agricultural products that can be produced locally or those that are being produced domestically to avoid exploitation of the farmer's efforts by opening up cheap foreign markets. Instead of importing, developing countries should work on devising ways of producing locally.
Another strategy that can be used in promoting Agricultural development in developing countries is through the assistance of farmers in accessing good international market. Good governance practices should make leaders in developing countries to assist its farmers in looking for the market. In a case where Agricultural products can be consumed locally, the government should buy them from the farmers a ‘‘good'' price. By so doing, farmers can be motivated to do Agriculture and produce more products and at the end, there would be enough food in the country and the farmers will live more comfortable lives.
Another way in which Agriculture can be used to eradicate poverty s by sourcing external funds to be used in the improvement of farming techniques. Historical developments show that some of the developed countries depended on donor funding and grants to improve their economies. For instance, India and China which are currently developed countries used to seek grants and donor funding to promote its Agricultural sector (Bhattasali, 2004 pg 1-2). Advice from international research centers should also be used to improve the Agricultural sector. Since a large portion of the population in developing countries live in the rural areas, the cost of improving agricultural productivity would be relatively low. Ghana is also a developing country that can make use of Agriculture to promote the lives of the poor people living in the rural areas.
Agricultural Development Trends and Implications for Industrialisation in Ghana
Ghana is one of the developing countries in the world dependent on Agriculture. The main agricultural products being dealt with in Ghana include food crops such as maize, cassava, cocoyam and plantain, tree crops such as cocoa and oil palm. Agriculture has been one of the economically dominant sectors for Ghana in terms of its contributions to employment, revenue generation, foreign exchange earnings and contributions to the country's Gross Domestic Product. However, it is ironical to realize that like any other developing countries, the poorest people Ghana are farmers (Diao and Sarpong, 2011 np. 263-275). This is attributed to poor methods of farming that is practiced by small-scale farmers who often depend on rain and old methods of farming. These farmers are often faced with shock as they are faced with uncertainties when it comes to rain and inefficiency in methods of farming that they employ. Specific thematic issues of the economy in regard to Agriculture has not been addressed in Ghana. It has been established that Ghana has the potential of improving Agricultural productivity and therefore changing the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable groups such as the food crop farmers (Cook, 2006 pg. 51-80). There is a lot of impact that the Agricultural sector in Ghana can bring to the livelihoods of the small-scale farmers if wise and sustainable governance polices are going to be put in place. Despite the fact that variations in the climatic conditions coupled with adverse socio-economic conditions brought about by disadvantaged position of the country in regard to terms of trade, poor Agricultural infrastructure can be blamed for the poverty and low livelihood level standards for people in Ghana. The table below shows the main crops being cultivated in Ghana.
Possible recommendations to enhance agricultural productivity and reducing poverty Among Poor rural food farmers in Ghana.
Because a majority of Ghana’s population in dependent on Agriculture, there are number of strategies that has to be adapted by the Government in order to eradicate poverty levels in the country. It is estimated that about 55.6% of the total population is dependent on Agriculture both for labour and income. Agriculture in Ghana is divided into two main major types – that is the crop farming and the animal husbandry (Olayide, Tetteh and Popoola, 2015pg. 71). Many people do practise mixed farming. According to the ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in Ghana, a majority of famers are doing crop farming. The other about 5.9% are doing mixed farming. Considerations need to be taken to encourage farmers to practice mixed farming so that if the prevailing weather conditions leads one of the types of farming to fail, the other one will act as back up.
Another strategy that can also be used by the Ghanaian government, is giving farmers incentives to help them specialize in cash crops. Theses incentives can be in form of offering cheap farm inputs to the farmers so that they don’t experience a challenge in getting adverse climatic resistant crops. If farmers can be able to produce food crops enough for consumption and for sale, they can use the proceeds of the sales to improve their living standards. Pricing of Agricultural products is also very important. The farmers need to be educated on selling their products to the most favorable markets available (Peprah et al., 2018 pg.1-23). In the situation where international market is desired, the government should facilitate exports of farmer's products by removing tariffs and other trade restrictions on exports. In addition to pricing, farmers in Ghana also need to be provided with good processing and storage facilities to keep their products safe before being sold to the outside market.
The government of Ghana needs to consider promoting its informal sector through Agriculture. This can be done through recognition of this sector as an important economic sector that needs attention (Ghanaweb.com, 2018 np.) The informal sector should be educated on the importance of adopting new ways of farming and access to government's financing plans so that they can meet their basic needs and also as a way of increasing their incomes to strengthen their livelihoods. Raising awareness on the importance of Agriculture can give the poor people a chance to know that they can make use of farming to improve their living standards.
Conclusion
To sum up it is evident that Agriculture is a backbone economic sector for many countries in the world. As seen above, it is also worth noting that farmers face a lot of challenges while producing and marketing their produce a matter which has seen most of them remain poor. For Agriculture to be able to make an impact as a tool of eradication poverty, the governments in developing nations need to employ a number of strategies including marketing of farmer’s products and offering farm input incentives to the farmers. Despite the fact that it has been difficult for many nations to attain self-reliance in regard to food security, there is an increasing need for commercialization of cash crops so that farmers can be motivated to produce on large scale for sale and therefore improving their livelihoods.
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