No one left behind: Ensuring better rural futures through improved access to information

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” #InformationIsKey

According to World Bank statistics, agriculture remains the main source of livelihood for more than 70 per cent of poor people living in rural areas. The rural-poor also depend directly on the natural environment to support their day-to-day sustenance. Over the years, rural people have acquired valuable indigenous knowledge about their natural environment and have evolved means of natural resource use and management. However, with the impact of climate change, invasive alien species and environmental pollution becoming more evident in the past decade, rural farmers who lack information and skills to mitigate or adapt to these environmental concerns have been affected significantly.

With the world population expected to increase exponentially with an additional 1 billion people to feed by 2050, there is a need for agriculture to do more to sustainably provide food for the teeming population. Rural farmers are currently responsible for more than 70 per cent of the food consumed in developing countries. Ideally, it would be expected that producing more food to feed the increasing global population could potentially ensure increased rural incomes and expanded sources of livelihoods. However, this is not necessarily the case in reality as certain limiting factors constrain rural people, making them unable to take advantage of innovative agri-business opportunities. So, what has hampered rural development through agriculture and how can better rural futures be ensured?

First, there should be a more conscious move from aid-like relationships to trade-like relationships between developed and developing countries. More rural farmers need to be included in gainful agricultural value chains so that the can get more returns for their efforts. Selling their products at farm-gate price does not encourage sustainable development or business expansion. If rural farmers have the necessary skills to add value to their products, they can sell at higher prices and earn more from supply chains. Also, for farmers to engage more in these value chains, they need information on product demand and consumer preferences. This information would enable them respond strategically to market demands and make better product planning decisions.

Second, although agriculture is the major source of livelihood, financial returns from rural agriculture especially in sub-Saharan Africa are generally low. This is mainly because many farmers use saved seed with low output potential; they cultivate nutrient-poor soils, experience larger post-harvest losses, use poor storage and transportation facilities and are therefore disconnected farmers to viable markets. As a result of low agricultural returns, many rural youths migrate to urban areas in search for “greener pastures”, neglecting farming activities for the aged and weak. Agriculture needs to become more attractive to young people by encouraging aspects which youth would find interesting such as the use of mobile information technology for weather forecasting, creating mobile apps to link farmers to markets and the utilisation of social media platforms to share agricultural development information.

Third, while science and research have provided a wide range of innovation and information that could be valuable to rural farmers, there still exists a communication gap between research and farmers.  The Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) has been launched to improve access to relevant agriculture and nutrition data for worldwide use. The challenge however is communicating available information in forms that can be meaningful and easily adopted by rural farmers as well as communicating farmers’ needs to research and development practitioners. Agricultural research and development need to strengthen linkages between science and farmers to ensure there is a two-way flow of information between these stakeholders. This will also ensure that science provides bespoke solutions to the farming needs of rural people.

During the field work for my Master’s degree research project, I spent time with two indigenous farming groups in Nigeria. I was keen to understand how the relocation of the Federal Capital territory to Abuja had affected the traditional food culture and farming systems of indigenous groups in the area. One of the most important results I realised from my research was that these groups feel marginalised and underdeveloped because they lack information on how to improve their farming practices. They expressed that the rains came late last year (2015) affecting the sowing of their crops. If they had information on climate change or even a simple short text or voice message on their mobile phones giving them weather forecast in advance, they would have been in a better position to plan ahead, diversify their income streams and adapted strategically to climate change. This however is not the case for these groups; they are in desperate need for information. Although the focus of my research was not on climate change, I used my field visits as an opportunity to explain the meaning of climate change and how it could affect their farming systems if mitigation and adaptation measure were not put in place. This was a huge learning experience me, as well as the indigenous groups I communicated with.

Agriculture is no longer business as usual. We are moving past the hoe-cutlass-driven agriculture to information-driven agricultural systems that drive climate-smart farming practices. Consequently, rural farmers tend to be left behind as a result of the information gap that isolates them from the wealth of resources that could help build resilience into their farming systems. Youths, like me, in agriculture can contribute to bridging the information gap that has impeded rural development. On one hand, we can serve as information champions by taking advantage of the “open data revolution” and mentorship from the Global Conference on Agricultural Research and Development (GCARD3) to support research and development through data-based reporting and engaging with stakeholders in research and development. On the other hand, we can go back to our physical and virtual (online) communities to share information gained on agricultural research and innovations in forms that those in our sphere of influence can understand and apply.

As a Nigerian and a communications intern at the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI), I have been exposed to knowledge on some of the worst issues affecting rural farmers’ livelihoods. I have also come to understand the importance of timely and well-tailored information in bridging the knowledge gap that exists between rural famers and the rest of the world. Therefore, I believe that GCARD3 is an opportunity for me to engage with like-minded youths who share my passion for communicating agricultural development issues as well as an opportunity to be mentored by seasoned experts who can help hone my communications and reporting skills. Being mentored through the GCARD3 will not only avail me the opportunity to put my social media and writing skills into greater use, but also enable me engage confidently with other stakeholders and key decision makers on the subject of research and development in agriculture.

Going forward, knowledge gained and lessons learnt from the GCARD3 would give me the boost to improve my virtual presence through my blog and help me tailor my communications interest to focus on research and development outcomes from the GCARD3 conference. It is my goal to be an agriculture communications champion and radicalise youths in Nigeria and Africa to commit more of their time and energy to “agri-reporting” and communication. Working closely with my mentor after the conference, I would like to organise an online consultation that would involve both youths in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors to seek synergies between agriculture and other sectors for sustainable development. This will also give me the opportunity to communicate lessons learnt from the GCARD3 to a wider audience, collate opinions and communicate these to the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR). I am also very keen on using infographics as a means to communicate the links between agriculture, research, data and innovation as discussed at the GCARD3 to all stakeholders’ especially rural farmers.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires that no one is left behind. Providing information presents an effective means of carrying everyone along and youths could be efficient channels through which bespoke information can flow between stakeholders. Getting young people who have a passion for agriculture and innovation involved in the GCARD3 is a holistic effort in addressing issues concerning research and development for agriculture and also presents an opportunity to bridge the information gap that has become characteristic of underdevelopment in most rural regions of the world. 

This blog post is part of the GCARD3 Youth blogpost applications. The content, structure and grammar is at the discretion of the author only.

Picture credit: Bookie Ezeomah