Background
In recent times, the concept of sustainable agriculture has been at the top of the global agenda to address global food (in) security and harmful environmental impact of agricultural practices mainly adopted during the green revolution era – which led to increases in agricultural production in many parts of the world including some developing countries such as India, Mexico and China (Evenson and Gollin, 2003; Hazell 2009; Foley, 2011). Most sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries however failed to be counted among the success stories of this era and initiatives to promote an African green revolution following this era have resulted in proposals which in most cases fail to recognise the unique complexities of food production in this …show more content…
More specifically, regarding agricultural development, the concept of sustainable agricultural intensification is also being promoted as a key tool to address challenges associated with agricultural productivity and environmental conservation linked with farming on the continent (Reardon, et al., 1999; Foley, 2011). Though these remain laudable ‘external’ concepts, central questions arise as to how well they meet rural SSA smallholder farmers’ perspectives and aspirations for sustainability and food …show more content…
To achieve this, I sought to evaluate aspects of traditional farming practices and the social dimensions of smallholders’ livelihoods which have implications for food security and sustainability. I adopted an anthropological approach to this study with the objective to highlight key complexities associated with rural farming; to ask critical questions, to observe, document and to point out implications – both intended and unintended for food security and
In recent times, the concept of sustainable agriculture has been at the top of the global agenda to address global food (in) security and harmful environmental impact of agricultural practices mainly adopted during the green revolution era – which led to increases in agricultural production in many parts of the world including some developing countries such as India, Mexico and China (Evenson and Gollin, 2003; Hazell 2009; Foley, 2011). Most sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries however failed to be counted among the success stories of this era and initiatives to promote an African green revolution following this era have resulted in proposals which in most cases fail to recognise the unique complexities of food production in this …show more content…
More specifically, regarding agricultural development, the concept of sustainable agricultural intensification is also being promoted as a key tool to address challenges associated with agricultural productivity and environmental conservation linked with farming on the continent (Reardon, et al., 1999; Foley, 2011). Though these remain laudable ‘external’ concepts, central questions arise as to how well they meet rural SSA smallholder farmers’ perspectives and aspirations for sustainability and food …show more content…
To achieve this, I sought to evaluate aspects of traditional farming practices and the social dimensions of smallholders’ livelihoods which have implications for food security and sustainability. I adopted an anthropological approach to this study with the objective to highlight key complexities associated with rural farming; to ask critical questions, to observe, document and to point out implications – both intended and unintended for food security and