Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of soil erosion, as well as the lack of knowledge about potential solutions to ero-
sion problems; create regulations regarding access to and use of commons*; formu-
late tenure arrangements that provide land managers rights to the land they operate;
establish institutional structures that will elevate conservation initiatives to a much
higher level in the hierarchy of development priorities of the society; create fund-
ing systems to ensure that conservation institutions will be adequately financed and
staffed by capable agents for change; and create national conservation institutions
that will complement existing cultural traditions that are highly valued by potential
adopters.
Lovejoy and Sanders (1994) also submit that rejection of the use of agricultural
technologies is a poor strategy for agricultural development within many African
countries. Unlike other conservationists who advance more indigenous approaches
to conservation (Shaxson 1993; Shaxson et al. 1989), Lovejoy and Sanders argue that
increased productivity, which is essential to the development of African nations, is
only possible via adoption and effective use of more technology-intensive farming
systems. While these authors recognize the need to continue use of some indigenous
production practices, they also note that sole reliance on such approaches will not
produce greater output nor will use of such practices result in lower rates of erosion.
Unless higher levels of technologies are effectively employed, low levels of output
will mire farmers in poverty and degradation of soil resources will continue until the
land can no longer produce enough output to sustain resident populations.
Kraybill (2010) notes that sub-Saharan countries in Africa are primarily popu-
lated by subsistence farmers and that approximately 60% of the population within
sub-Saharan Africa depend on farming to survive. Unfortunately, agricultural pro-
duction is very low and it is highly unlikely that greater production will be achieved in
the future. Southgate and Graham (2010) observe that more than half of sub-Saharan
African land is not suitable for agricultural production, and rapidly increasing popu-
lations further increase the demand for food and fiber. Climatic conditions keep
agricultural production low. Drought combined with high temperatures destroys
soil organic matter, which adversely affects water retention in most sub-Saharan
countries.
Kraybill (2010) and Southgate and Graham (2010) have synthesized existing lit-
erature focused on the adoption of soil and water conservation production systems
within sub-Saharan Africa, and conclude that widespread adoption of conservation
production technologies and techniques will probably not occur within the region.
They note that the primary reasons adoption of conservation production systems
has not, and probably will not, occur within the region are due to socioeconomic
*
“Commons” means land that is collectively owned and/or managed by a specific group (Crowe 1969;
Hardin 1968). Access and use of common land are usually determined by rules established by the
group that owns/manages the land. Unless the commons are protected by explicit rules and the rules
strictly enforced, the commons will be degraded because there is no motivation to conserve any por-
tion of the commons by any individual user. Individual users will seldom invest in conservation efforts
because there is no means of securing benefit streams from investments made in the commons. Users
are often motivated to mine the commons. Individual users are aware that the commons can sus-
tain only a limited amount of use and if individual farmers do not maximize their use of common
resources, other users will do so. Individual farmers will maximize their short-term use of the com-
mons so that others will not have access to the resources within the commons to do so.
