Lessons From Old Green Revolution

Progress in Development Studies 12, 2&3 (2012) pp. 213–229

© 2012 SAGE Publications 10.1177/146499341101200308

Lessons from the old Green Revolution for the new: Social, environmental and nutritional issues for agricultural change in Africa

Rachel Bezner Kerr

Department of Geography, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

Abstract: Recent efforts for an ‘Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa’ (AGRA) promote fertilizer, hybrid seeds, pesticides and biotechnology to increase agricultural production. This article examines the original Green Revolution to understand potential effects of a recent promotion of related technologies in Africa. Using a case study of Malawi, the implications of promoting high-input, intensive agriculture on food security, social relations and nutrition are considered. I argue that unless social inequalities and environmental concerns are taken into account, these technolo-gies will intensify inequalities, increase environmental degradation and exacerbate malnutrition for the rural majority, while benefi tting the urban poor, larger-scale farmers, agro-input dealers and transnational corporations involved in agribusiness.

Key words: Green Revolution, Africa, agriculture, Malawi, food security, gender

I IntroductionRecent calls for a Green Revolution (GR) in Africa by the Gates Foundation and others have included promises of millions of dollars to eliminate hunger and malnutrition by invest-ing in fertilizers, hybrid seeds, irrigation and biotechnology. Current debates about the implications of industrial models of agriculture for human nutrition do not seem to be well informed by lessons learned from the original GR. Given the paucity of research examining the GR through the lens of nutrition, and the persistence of high malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa, this article examines the GR effects on

food security, social relations and nutrition, and discusses the contemporary implications using a case study of Malawi. To draw on les-sons from the nutritional and social sciences, the conceptual framework used here inte-grates the immediate causes of malnutrition (UNICEF, 1990), the extended model of child-care (Engle et al., 1997) and political ecology (Bassett and Zimmerer, 2003). Starting with UNICEF’s model of the immediate causal mechanisms of malnutrition, direct child nutri-tion is linked to both adequate nutrient intake and lack of disease. These factors are in turn affected by a broad spectrum of care-giving

214 Lessons from the old Green Revolution


behaviours, including child feeding and food preparation that are found to be critical in child nutritional outcomes (Black et al., 2008; Engle et al., 1997). I also use a political ecological approach to consider the geographic, political and social contexts that infl uence food and economic resources that in turn affect nutri-tion and child care at the household level. Another critical social relation is gender, which intersects with access to resources (land, technology, labour and credit), knowledge and control over agricultural technology (Agarwal, 1997a, 1997b). In addition, political–economic processes and structures such as government policies and international trade regimes infl u-ence food and nutrition security (Adato and Meinzen-Dick, 2002; Bassett and Zimmerer, 2003). The critical component lacking from most models that examine the effect of an agricultural technology on food and nutritional outcomes is the political and social context, and the related control over resources that infl uence outcomes. This article will integrate social and political dimensions to foster new thinking about the implications of GR tech-nologies for food and nutritional security in the contemporary context.

II Green Revolution defi nedIn this article, the term Green Revolution refers to the particular historical events, social and political conditions, and technical changes, which led to the development and large-scale adoption of high-yielding maize, rice and wheat varieties, largely focused in Mexico, India and the Philippines (Conway, 1997; Perkins, 1997). Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa, henceforth AGRA, is used to refer to similar efforts underway in Africa. The origins of the original GR lay in a particular combination of business interests (that is, agro-chemical companies), philanthropic organ-izations, science and politics that originated primarily in the United States (Kloppenburg, 2004; Perkins, 1997). The institutional approach of the GR involved International Agricul-tural Research Centers, funded by govern-ments and philanthropic institutions, carrying

out research in collaboration with national governments. Political and economic interests had a major infl uence on the plant breeding approach (Kloppenburg, 2004; Perkins, 1997), specifi cally the dissemination of the hybrid seeds in combination with fertilizer, pesticides and often irrigation. The majority of hybrids were also screened for performance under herbicides, usually provided as a free service by herbicide manufacturers to the research institutions. Thus, alternative weeding control methods, including human labour, were usu-ally not considered by researchers (Lipton and Longhurst, 1989). That is, most governments and development planners encouraged farmers to use a ‘package’ of inputs, including ferti-lizer and pesticides, primarily utilized under irrigated or high rainfall conditions (Conway, 1997; Gupta, 1998). This issue of the ‘pack-age of inputs’ will be discussed in the light of implications for consumption and nutritional outcomes below.

Many government planners, who them-selves often had political connections with large landholders, felt that the GR technologies should initially be offered to large landholders, and the extension advice and credit opportuni-ties were made more available to these more politically powerful groups (Gupta, 1998). That is, the GR used the ideological approach of modernization theory, a class-based approach that substituted technology for land and social reform, in order to maintain stable power relations around food. Modernization theory posits that poor countries and regions need to make the transition from backward, traditional societies to modern, advanced industrial soci-eties through technological change (Peet and Hartwick, 1999).

III Lessons learned about Green Revolution effects on food security and nutritionProponents of the first GR argue that the hybrid varieties of the world’s major food sta-ples have led to an increase in total world food outputs, and a consequent decrease in world

Rachel Bezner Kerr 215


food prices, which has had a positive effect on food security (Conway, 1997). Certainly there is ample evidence that agricultural yields have increased for the major staples in many parts of the world following the onset of the GR, in part due to new varietal types, increased ferti-lizer application and irrigation (Conway, 1997; Lipton and Longhurst, 1989). This section addresses the following two related questions through an examination of several case studies: (a) has producing more grain improved overall food consumption? (b) has the GR improved nutrition?

How much increased grain production has led to improvements in food consump-tion, particularly for the poor, is a subject of intense and polarized debate. Proponents point to average per capita increases in food consumption globally and regionally except in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (Collier and Dercon, 2009; Conway, 1997). Increased food availability at the national scale is esti-mated by one meta-study of 63 countries to be responsible for approximately one-quarter of reductions in child malnutrition (Smith and Haddad, 2000). Critics argue that food consumption fi gures are infl ated by exces-sive consumption in the North, including live-stock feed (linked to nutritional problems such as diabetes and obesity), and that although the total food production per person has risen, the number of hungry people has not substantially reduced in many regions of the world, par-ticularly in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (Black et al., 2008; Kataki, 2002; Patel, 2007; von Grebmer et al., 2009; Weis, 2007). Most studies that have examined the causal linkages between agricultural technology and nutrition are small case studies (Lipton and Longhurst, 1989; von Braun and Kennedy, 1994). These studies focused on whether income increased for smallholder farmers and whether income changes affected nutrition or food security (von Braun and Kennedy, 1994). Much of the critiques surrounding the GR, however, focus on broader trends, including widening gaps in income and land distribution, reduced real

wages and environmental effects (Griffin, 1974; Patel, 2007; Spitz, 1987). Although the nutritional outcomes are usually not measured in these studies, changes in social and environ-mental factors affect nutritional outcomes, and hence will also be considered.

1 Case studies of the Green RevolutionA series of studies examined the effect of commercialization of cropping systems (using GR technologies) on income and nutrition (von Braun and Kennedy, 1986; von Braun, John and Puetz, 1994). Overall the studies found that in many cases the new agricultural technologies increased incomes and, to a small extent, caloric consumption of some mem-bers of a given community or region (von Braun and Kennedy, 1986; von Braun et al., 1989; von Braun, John and Puetz, 1994). Furthermore, women’s roles in terms of agricultural labour, childcare and control over income appeared to be crucial to obtain positive nutritional outcomes. There was no clear trend between increased use of GR technologies and nutri-tional outcomes; instead, it depended on the particular historical, social and political context under which the changes took place. Gender and class relations played a critical role in deter-mining who gained from these technologies, as case studies from south India and the Gambia discussed below will show.

Several studies examined the effects of irri-gated rice schemes in the Gambia introduced from the 1960s to the1980s by the government of the Gambia with support from the World Bank, Taiwanese and Chinese governments (Carney, 1993; Dey, 1981; von Braun, John and Puetz, 1994). A total of 4,500 hectares was converted from wetlands to irrigated rice plots in the Gambia over two decades (Carney, 1993). The projects provided pumps, fertilizers, hybrid seeds, threshing machines, fuel and ploughing services on a credit basis (Carney, 1993; von Braun, John and Puetz, 1994). Irrigation schemes in the 1960s and 1970s offered the irrigation technologies to men, thereby displacing women from their



traditional communal rice lands and ignoring their critical role in rice cultivation (Carney, 1993; Dey, 1981). A later irrigation scheme specifi cally tried to maintain what had been traditional use rights of women farmers for rice land, by prioritizing land rights for women during offi cial registration of plots (von Braun, John and Puetz, 1994).

Several studies were conducted on the effects of the irrigation projects (Carney, 1993; Dey, 1981; von Braun et al., 1989; Webb, 1989). The studies found that there was a loss of 531 calories in other crops for every 1,000 calories in rice production, leading to a net gain of 47 per cent in rice calories produced on-farm for rice producers. Rice production increased real incomes by 13 per cent per household, and an additional 10 per cent of income increase led to a 9.4 per cent increase in food expenditures, and a 4.8 per cent increase in calorie consumption. Overall it appears that the use of higher-yielding rice varieties led to considerable increases in food consumption. In addition, however, there was a much higher cost per hectare for irrigated rice, namely, 15 times the swamp rice, due to the costs of fer-tilizer, seeds, irrigation, hired labour, transport and threshing needs (von Braun et al., 1989). Thus, although some irrigation projects led to increased yields, the overall benefi t in terms of consumption and nutrition were limited due to the additional non-food expenditures (that is, fertilizer, pesticides) to the household. Furthermore, productivity and yields declined over time, in part due to household confl icts over labour, while the Gambia’s dependence on rice imports increased during this time period (Carney, 1993).

Several studies found that women’s labour was increased for irrigated rice, and extended throughout the year rather than seasonally (Carney, 1993; Dey, 1981; Webb, 1989). While income increased for men, women were economically marginalized by the irrigation projects, becoming wage labourers on rice plots and losing access to an important source of

communal land for food production (Carney, 1993). At the same time, women’s specialized agro-ecological knowledge of rice varieties and wetland agriculture was ignored, which decreased the availability of this knowledge over time (Carney, 1993). Upland cereals (that is, millet and sorghum) and groundnut production were reduced due to women’s reduced labour allocation to these crops, and the reduced control of women over the food crops was found to reduce overall consumption levels signifi cantly (2.2 per cent) during the wet season, the period of greatest food shortages in the Gambia. Thus, the issue of intra-household control of income was inextricably linked to consumption and nutritional outcomes, and in this case the ‘package’ of inputs led to negative consequences.

The benefi ts from the project were not experienced equally in this region, with the better-off, higher status households benefi ting more (von Braun et al., 1989). Irrigated rice plots were placed under the control of the male household head, undermining women’s pre-existing crop and land rights while increas-ing their labour and male control over labour, income and crops (Carney, 1993; Dey, 1981; Webb, 1989). Men had primary decision-mak-ing control over irrigated rice storage and use. Even in a project that prioritized women’s access to irrigation, only 10 per cent of pump irrigated plots were controlled by women (von Braun et al., 1989). This change in land alloca-tion and control of rice production meant that women spent more time on these irrigated rice plots, and less time on groundnuts, swamp rice and other cereals. At the same time, there was an increase in demand for imported technical inputs and assistance (Carney, 1993).

Several important nutritional outcomes were noted in one study (von Braun, John and Puetz, 1994). First of all, women’s weight-for-height, an indicator of seasonal low-energy intakes and high energy expenditures during the rainy season, fl uctuated less for women with the most access to the new rice technolo-gies: 1.1 kilograms, compared to 2.9 kilograms



for those with least access to the new technol-ogy. Less weight fl uctuation between the rainy and dry season, combined with an additional 500 calories, would likely lead to improvements in birth weights, as previous studies on dietary supplementation of pregnant women in the Gambia have indicated (Lawrence et al., 1987). Second, the increase in food energy consump-tion at the household level was signifi cantly associated with the weight-for-age of children aged 7 to 12 months. What is not known, how-ever, are the nutritional effects from a reduc-tion in groundnuts and other cereals to rice, for example, on intakes of micronutrients.

Thus, research in the Gambia indicates that families involved with irrigated rice production using hybrid rice varieties improved the con-sumption levels both at a general household level and for women and children. Although women’s control over rice land signifi cantly increased consumption and children’s weight-for-age (von Braun, John and Puetz, 1994; Webb, 1989), women’s control of rice land was generally less in spite of their attempts to main-tain control over such land (Carney, 1993; Dey, 1981). In addition, the effect of diarrhoea on child nutritional status continued to hold despite improved consumption levels. After 20 years of promoting irrigation as a key solution to malnutrition and food insecurity, the Gambia increased dependence on imported rice, and child nutritional status remained low, with 24 per cent of children under fi ve years stunted in 2000,1 while Gambian women increased low-wage labour, lost access to communal land and lost agro-ecological knowledge of rice production. The studies conclude that efforts to improve nutritional status with agricultural approaches need to consider what social rela-tions, agricultural and land tenure systems are already in place, and should focus on broad-based policies, such as rural infrastructure, agricultural input delivery systems, labour saving technologies and protecting women’s productive role in agriculture (Carney, 1993; Dey, 1981; von Braun et al., 1989). Some un-answered questions include what the effects

of irrigation were on landless families. It was noted that many women lost access to private crops as a result of the project, and became hired labourers, but the implications of this change for child nutritional status are not mea-sured. Current AGRA efforts to introduce a ‘package’ of inputs to African farmers should learn from these sobering results in the Gambia over two decades ago.

A study in South India examined the effects of the GR and found that increases in paddy rice production were offset by reduc-tions in groundnut production (Hazell et al., 1991). Labour and fertilizer costs increased, while net farm incomes decreased for both large and small farms, indicating the role of non-food expenditures, namely, fertilizer and labour costs partially offset any gains in income and rice yields. Total crop employ-ment decreased for small farms and increased for large farms, but there was no increase in farm employment because of mechanization, a fi nding consistent with other studies of the GR (Conway, 1997; Lipton and Longhurst, 1989). Herbicide spraying and mechanization has increased dramatically throughout the Global South (Conway, 1997). A study of northern Indian states estimated that harvesters led to a 95 per cent reduction in employment, particularly detrimental to seasonal migrants coming from poorer states (Conway, 1997). Although mechanization does not have to be associated with hybrid seeds, it often is in practice, because of the strong linkages between access to credit, scaling up farm sizes and the political strength of large landholders in many regions (Lipton and Longhurst, 1989). Hazell et al. (1991) note in the South India case study that net wage earnings declined for hired farm labour, and the distribution of land overall worsened. One study found a decline in the relative share of cultivation as an income source, and an increase in reliance on wage work (Harriss, 1991). Another study in South India found that the ratio of rent to wage doubled in the 1970s, meaning that real



wages declined, and population growth alone did not account for this decline (Lipton and Longhurst, 1989).

2 Effect on food pricesOne of the major expected results of the GR is a fall in prices of staple foods, due to an increase in production (Conway, 1997). Lipton and Longhurst (1989) argue that these benefi ts have been largely passed on to employers, who have depressed real wages as food prices have been reduced. In addition, they suggest that the expected increase in employment opportunities due to an increase in yields has been largely offset by labour-displacing tech-nologies, such as herbicides and threshers. A recent study by the World Bank found that 1.4 billion people live on less than $1.25 a day; and half of the population of sub-Saharan Africa live at this level of extreme poverty (Chen and Ravallion, 2008). Wages have remained low, hovering at or below 1993 levels for the past 15 years in most Latin American and Asian countries (UNCTAD, 2008). The effects of the ‘old’ GR on wages or food prices is diffi cult to measure, given the limited ‘pre-GR’ studies, and few studies attempt to exam-ine nutritional effects from food prices. One study in Bangladesh examined the effects of a dramatic fall in rice prices (as a result of explicit government policy) on child nutritional status (HKI, 1996). The authors conclude that while food prices have some effect on nutrition, poor households need to see improvements in pur-chasing power (that is, wages) in order to be able to deal with fl uctuating food prices.

Another critique of the GR is that the prices of other food crops, particularly pulses, have risen as these crops have become scarcer. In South Asia, production of pulses has declined by approximately 20 per cent since 1970, lead-ing some authors to suggest that the decline may be a major cause of an increase in iron defi ciency in the region during the same period (Kataki, 2002; Welch and Graham, 2000). Although rice prices have declined by 40 per cent, the real prices of pulses, vegetables and

animal products have increased by 25–50 per cent in the last 25 years (Bouis et al., 2000). One study in India found that rice- and wheat-growing areas had declines in legume produc-tion, and that while severe child malnutrition had declined throughout India, levels of mild to moderate malnutrition had increased over the past 20 years due to micronutrient defi -ciencies (Kataki, 2002). While the GR has increased grain production, a reduction in pulses and vegetables means lower dietary diversity and micronutrient intake, both key aspects of healthy diets and improved nutrition (Underwood, 2000).

3 Environmental, health and social consequencesThere are a host of environmental, health and social consequences of GR technologies, widely documented, which have implications for food consumption and nutrition. Overuse of fertilizers, in combination with irrigation, has led to excessive nutrient loading in water systems, groundwater depletion, salinization and other environmental effects. The variet-ies promoted during the GR were bred to be more effi cient in nutrient uptake, and to convert more nutrients to grain, as opposed to stalks, leaves or roots. As a result, nutrient depletion of the soil has increased. In addition, a focus on yield and ‘modern farming’ in many cases encouraged farmers to abandon other cropping practices that maintain good soil structure, increase organic matter and reduce pests such as intercropping, crop rotation and manuring.

There is considerable evidence that soil fer-tility declined following the GR in many parts of the developing world where soils were often less fertile to begin with. One study in Java, Indonesia, estimated that rain-fed cropland had in excess of 50 tonnes per hectare of topsoil lost per year (Magrath and Arens, 1987). There is strong evidence of declines in crop productiv-ity, soil fertility and quality in the Punjab states in India and Pakistan, regions where the GR technologies have been widely implemented



(Government of India, 1998; Murgai et al., 2001; UNDP India, 2004).

One critical environmental effect of the industrial model of agriculture that resulted from the GR is the increased use of fossil fuels, as well as ammonia and nitrous oxide released from fertilizers (Conway, 1997; Weis, 2007). Fertilizer production and use require con-siderable inputs of natural gas, and tractors, harvesters and irrigation equipment all require high amounts of fossil fuel, which is closely linked to climate change. Water is another element affected by the GR approach to agri-culture. Increased irrigation in Punjab, for example, led to land and water degradation, including salinization, groundwater depletion and waterlogging, making agriculture less productive over time (Murgai et al., 2001). Hence Agarwal (1997b) argues that there has been considerable decline in the environment, particularly for the poor, in the last 30 years in India, while others note that the environmental consequences for this model of agriculture are very grave on a global scale (Conway, 1997; Weis, 2007).

Many of the critics of the GR have pointed to broader trends of increased concentration of power in a few large agribusinesses, as a result of an increased dependency on fertilizer, pes-ticides and other inputs (Patel, 2007; Rosset et al., 2000; Spitz, 1987; Weis, 2007). The industrial model promoted as part of the old GR is linked to a tremendous concentration of farms, agrochemical, pharmaceutical and food corporations in the United States and around the world (Lyson and Raymer, 2000; Patel, 2007; Weis, 2007). Agarwal (1994, 1997b) argues that the GR increased and entrenched social inequities in India, particularly along gen-der lines, by focusing on technical approaches to reducing hunger and poverty, and by linking the technology to purchased inputs and land.

4 Concluding lessons from the Green RevolutionThe discussion above suggests that while con-sumption levels may have increased globally, for many poor households the overall effect

has not been positive (Table 1). The case of the Gambia showed that those who did use GR technologies experienced yield gains, but these gains were at the expense of women’s labour, and led to decreases in other crops as well as agro-ecological knowledge. While there were initial improvements in nutrition linked to increased rice yields for those with the GR technologies, the increased rice yields were not sustainable: the Gambia has steadily increased their rice imports, and the propor-tion of the population that is undernourished has increased from 20 per cent to 30 per cent in the last decade (FAO, 2009; von Grebmer et al., 2009). In the case of India, the increase in rice and wheat has decreased severe mal-nutrition, but mild to moderate malnutrition has increased, and a recent report on global hunger reported little change in the propor-tion of undernourished in the population, hovering at 21–24 per cent for the last decade (von Grebmer et al., 2009). The limited effect on nutrition is linked to both gender and social inequalities (Smith and Haddad, 2000). Consumption levels of the urban poor and landless in areas such as south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have not improved due to a decrease in real wages and reduced purchas-ing power; in addition, there may have been a reduction in intake of pulses and vegetables due to price increases in these foods, which in many places is linked to the GR model being implemented. The GR has increased inequali-ties in communities due to increased mech-anization and decreased labour opportunities for the poor. There were severe environmental impacts from the GR, which have effects on consumption and nutrition for the poor. Increased concentration of power and control over the food system by transnational corpora-tions is one outcome that is also closely linked to the way in which the ‘old’ GR was carried out, and by whom.

IV A Green Revolution for Africa: Malawi case studyThe Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), largely funded by the Bill and Melinda

Tab

le 1

Su

mm

ary

of e

ffec

ts o

f Gre

en R

evol

utio

n te

chno

logi

es

Fact

ors A

ffec

ted

by

Agr

icul

tura

l Tec

hnol

ogy

The

Gam

bia

Stud

ySo

uth

Indi

a St

udy

Oth

er S

tudi

es

Lab

our

Incr

ease

in w

omen

’s a

gric

ultu

ral

labo

ur; d

ecre

ase

in m

en’s

ag

ricul

tura

l lab

our.

Les

s tim

e sp

ent

on g

roun

dnut

s.

Incr

ease

in la

bour

req

uire

men

ts

on-f

arm

but

tot

al fa

rm e

mpl

oym

ent

decr

ease

d du

e to

mec

hani

zatio

n.

Dec

lines

in la

bour

dem

and

and

empl

oym

ent

in n

orth

ern

Indi

a,

Phi

lippi

nes,

Indo

nesi

a.

Food

con

sum

ptio

nN

et g

ain

in r

ice

cons

umpt

ion.

Net

loss

in g

roun

dnut

con

sum

ptio

n.R

educ

ed c

onsu

mpt

ion

durin

g w

et

seas

on.

Incr

ease

in r

ice

prod

uctio

n,

redu

ctio

n in

gro

undn

ut p

rodu

ctio

n.R

egio

nal v

aria

tion.

Farm

inco

me

and

food

pr

ices

No

net

gain

in in

com

e du

e to

in

crea

se in

fert

ilize

r, ir

rigat

ion

and

pest

icid

es.

Net

farm

inco

mes

dec

reas

ed

and

net

wag

e ea

rnin

gs d

eclin

ed

for

hire

d fa

rm la

bour

.

Low

wag

es a

nd lo

w fa

rm in

com

es fo

r sm

allh

olde

rs.

Red

uctio

n in

food

pric

es g

loba

lly b

ut

incr

ease

in p

ulse

s an

d ve

geta

bles

.N

utrit

iona

l sta

tus

Impr

oved

wom

en w

eigh

t-fo

r-he

ight

an

d ch

ildre

n’s

wei

ght-

for-

age.

N

ot k

now

n.R

egio

nal v

aria

tion.

Chi

ld c

are

prac

tices

Not

kno

wn.

Not

kno

wn.

Not

kno

wn

Wom

en’s

con

trol

ove

r te

chno

logy

and

inco

me

Red

uced

con

trol

ove

r fo

od c

rops

an

d irr

igat

ed r

ice

plot

s.N

ot k

now

n.R

egio

nal v

aria

tion.

Lan

d di

strib

utio

nN

ot k

now

n.In

crea

sed

ineq

ualit

y in

land

di

strib

utio

n.In

crea

sed

ineq

ualit

y in

land

dis

trib

utio

n.

Soci

al c

ondi

tions

Bet

ter-

off h

ouse

hold

s be

nefi t

ted

mor

e fr

om ir

rigat

ion.

N

ot k

now

n.N

egat

ive

effe

cts

on s

easo

nal m

igra

nts

from

poo

rer

stat

es in

Indi

a.E

nviro

nmen

tal

cond

ition

sN

ot k

now

n.N

ot k

now

n.So

il, w

ater

and

ove

rall

land

deg

rada

tion.

Sour

ces:

Bou

is e

t al

., 2

000;

Con

way

, 199

7; G

over

nmen

t of

Indi

a, 1

998;

Haz

ell e

t al

., 1

991;

HK

I, 19

96; L

ipto

n an

d L

ongh

urst

, 198

9; M

urga

i et

al.,

20

01; U

ND

P In

dia,

200

4; v

on B

raun

et a

l., 1

989;

von

Bra

un, J

ohn

and

Pue

tz, 1

994;

Web

b, 1

989;

Wei

s, 2

007;

Wel

ch a

nd G

raha

m, 2

000.



Gates Foundation, has pledged to contribute US$3.2 billion to address hunger in Africa over 2006–11. Much of this funding is directed at agricultural biotechnology and other intensive technological solutions, involving corporations such as Monsanto. Another area of focus is the support of private agro-input dealers throughout Africa, to support fertilizer use. In the following section, I will use Malawi as a case study to consider the social, environ-mental and political implications of this new GR in Africa, drawing on our collaborative research conducted over the past 12 years in northern Malawi (Bezner Kerr, 2005a, 2005b, 2010; Bezner Kerr and Chirwa, 2004; Bezner et al., 2007a, 2007b, 2008; Bezner Kerr and Shumba, 2008; Satzinger et al., 2009), as well as other studies.

1 Background: Fertilizer subsidies in historical contextMalawi, a landlocked country in southern Africa, has moved to improve national food security in the last few years, by providing subsidies for fertilizer and hybrid maize seeds to the majority of the rural population (Denning et al., 2009). While not directly funded by AGRA, the input subsidies have provided powerful rhetoric for the promotion of an industrial model of agriculture. Following the re-election of President Bingu wa Mutharika, the government has pledged to promote intensive irrigated agricultural production in a ‘greenbelt’ beside Lake Malawi alongside more fertilizer and seed subsidies. The fertilizer sub-sidy has been a key source of national support for the government, as seen by billboards link-ing paying taxes to the subsidy (Figure 1).2

Agriculture is considered to be the key to improving livelihoods, food security and nutri-tion in rural areas in Malawi (Dorward and Kydd, 2004). Over 80 per cent of Malawi’s population of over 12 million people are small-holder farmers relying on rain-fed agriculture, growing maize as their primary crop on less than one hectare of land, with cassava, tobacco, sweet potatoes and groundnuts also

grown by smallholders, and tobacco, tea and sugar cane as important estate crops (FAO, 2009). Land is farmed intensively using manual labour, intercropping and sequential cropping to maximize land use (Peters, 2006). Maize yields have averaged 1.3 metric tonnes per hectare over the last 20 years, with national production levels at 1.7 million metric tonnes annually. Efforts to promote fertilizer, hybrid seed and irrigation thus have major implications for environmental conditions, social change, food and nutritional security. The level of poverty in Malawi, measured in terms of the number of people living on less than $1.25 per day, is estimated at 74 per cent (UNDP, 2009). During the last two decades, the majority of rural fam-ilies have experienced chronic, persistent food insecurity and high levels of child malnutrition, currently estimated at 49 per cent of under-fi ve children (Conroy and Blackie, 2005; NSO and ORC Macro, 2005).

Fertilizer subsidies are not new for Malawi. During the one-party dictatorship of Banda (1964–94), fertilizer and hybrid maize seed subsidies, along with agricultural credit, were a mainstay of the government (Dorward et al., 2008). These subsidies, however, worked within a dual agricultural system which largely benefi tted large-scale tobacco estate owners, while agricultural marketing prices set by the government ensured that small-holder farmers received inadequate prices for their crops (Kydd and Christiansen, 1982). Better-off male smallholder farmers also had consistently better access to credit, inputs and extension programmes compared to female and poor smallholder farmers (Riley, 1995).

A series of ‘exogenous shocks’ in the 1970s (that is, drought, the Mozambican civil war, rising oil prices) led to a fi nancial crisis in 1980, and consequent negotiations with the IMF and World Bank for structural adjustment loans. Structural adjustment policies included the partial removal of the fertilizer and seed subsi-dies, along with reduced access to agricultural credit, the partial dismantling of the parastatal



Figure 1 Billboard linking paying taxes to the government fertilizer subsidiesSource: Photograph taken by the author.

Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC) and devaluation of the kwacha (Harrigan, 2003). The consumer price of maize doubled between 1983 and 1988 (Sahn and Arulpragasam, 1991), and along with the closure of several ADMARC depots, led to a decline in maize availability per capita, a food crisis in 1987 and increasing inequality in the rural areas (Peters, 2006; Peters et al., 2008).

Subsidies were removed in 1994/95, which coincided with the collapse of the smallholder credit association, and combined with drought led to worsening inequality and livelihoods for rural farmers (Peters, 1999; Harrigan, 2008). A universal ‘starter pack’ programme was initiated in 1998 which provided small pack-ages of fertilizer, hybrid seed and legumes

to all smallholders (Cromwell et al., 2001). This was followed by the Targeted Inputs Programme, with a fertilizer and seed package adequate for 0.1 hectare of land (Harrigan, 2008). In 2001/02 there was another food crisis, this time attributed in part to the sale of strategic grain reserves on advice from the IMF (Devereux, 2002). It is in this con-text that the newly elected government of Bingu wa Mutharika introduced a large-scale agricultural input subsidy in 2005/06, and repeated in 2007/08 and 2008/09 (Table 2). Coupons were distributed to traditional au-thorities at the village level, who identifi ed recipients (Denning et al., 2009). Recipients redeemed coupons at agro-input dealers or ADMARC outlets, at approximately one-third of the regular price (Dorward et al., 2008).



Hybrid and open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) of maize seed were also available at a similarly subsidized rate. The total cost of the pro-gramme increased from an estimated US$58.6 million in 2005/06 to US$210 million in 2008/09, an increase of 6 per cent to 13.9 per cent of total government revenue (Table 2; Ellis, 2009).

Some reviews of this input subsidy pro-gramme have suggested that food security has improved for the urban and rural poor in Malawi (Denning et al., 2009), but others have been more cautious (Dorward and Chirwa, 2009; Ellis, 2009; Jayne et al., 2008). Increasing national maize production, combined with improving the physical grain reserve system around the country, should allow the govern-ment to ensure timely availability of maize for the vast majority of households which pur-chase some maize for household consumption (Peters, 2006). This strategy is crucial to reduce maize price fl uctuations and shortages during drought years, which hit the poorer house-holds hardest (Harrigan, 2008; Peters, 2006). Increased maize supplies at the national level, however, does not ensure food security or adequate nutrition at the household level. Using longitudinal data of 200 households in

southern Malawi, Peters and others (2006, 2008) have provided compelling evidence that the poorest households sell more maize and rely on low-paying casual labour on other peoples’ farms during the peak agricultural season to provide maize during periods of food shortages, and that this trend and related inequalities have intensifi ed over the past two decades. Maize prices following the implementation of fertilizer subsidies initially declined in 2006, but in 2007 and 2008 rose sharply, along with unoffi cial infl ows of maize from neighbouring countries, suggesting that actual harvests were signifi -cantly lower than the offi cial estimates (Ellis, 2009; Jayne et al., 2008). Our own research in northern Malawi suggests that households that rely on fertilizer alone have lower levels of food security compared to those households relying on organic inputs as well as fertilizer (Bonatsos et al., 2009). Farmers indicate that the subsidy alone is inadequate to provide enough maize yields (Msachi et al., 2009). Smallholder farming households have and are struggling with additional challenges such as HIV/AIDS, poverty and gender inequalities unaddressed by the subsidy (Bezner Kerr, 2005a, 2005b; Bezner Kerr and Shumba, 2008; Bonatsos et al., 2009).

Table 2 Summary data on Malawi’s fertilizer subsidy and government expenditure, 2005–08

Fiscal Year

Households Reached

Subsidized Fertilizer Sales

Coupon Redemption

Price

Approximate Subsidy Rate of Coupon Market Value

Budget Cost b

Share of Government

Revenue

Number tonnes MKa/50 kg % US$ %

2005–06 1,370,060 131,388 985c 64 58.6 5.92006–07 1,772,280 174,688 950 72 64.8 6.12007–08 1,700,000d 216,553 900 79 107.3 8.52008–09 1,700,000d 170,000d 800 92 210.1 13.9

Sources: Tables 2 and 3 in Ellis (2009) which draws on Dorward and Chirwa (2009) and IMF (2008).Notes: a MK = Malawi kwacha. Exchange rate from 2006–07 is MK 140 = US$1.b Budget cost is based on the whole Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme (AISP); 2008–09 is an IMF estimate from January 2009.c In 2005–06, subsidized maize fertilizer was sold at MK 950 and tobacco at MK 1,450 per 50 kg bag, this fi gure represents a weighted average.d Planned fi gures for outreach.



One of the key fi ndings from the review of the GR studies above, as well as other studies examining links between agriculture and health outcomes, is that intra-household dynamics play a critical role in determining whether nutritional outcomes are positive from increases in crop production (Berti et al., 2004; World Bank, 2007). One study, which used data from 63 countries between 1970 and 1996, showed that improving women’s education and improving women’s status was responsible for 55 per cent of overall reduc-tions in child malnutrition (Smith and Haddad, 2000). In northern Malawi, women generally have higher workloads and less decision-making control over crops, particularly those linked to cash outlays (Bezner Kerr, 2005a; Engberg et al., 1988). There are also high levels of violence against women, particularly spousal violence, with one national survey reporting that one in three women experienced physi-cal violence in their lifetime, most often from their husband (NSO and ORC Macro, 2005). These dynamics work against women having control over fertilizer inputs or anticipated increased yields of maize, and also mean that many new technological inputs, such as irriga-tion, are more likely to be controlled by men unless explicit attempts made by communities change social relations at the household and community level. Further, there might be in-creased labour requirements as a result of fertilizer subsidies (for example, weeding) which could have negative implications for child care and feeding, shown to be crucial activities for ensuring long-term child health and nutritional outcomes (Engle et al., 1999). Gender, in other words, is a crucial dimension to addressing nutrition and hunger, in Malawi and elsewhere, and thus a focus on technolo-gies without addressing gender inequality will have limited effects on nutrition.

In our work in northern Malawi, we have instituted monthly farmer-led intergenerational discussion groups, have encouraged women’s leadership in farmer groups and raised gender issues at village and farmer meetings to address

sensitive gender and community inequalities (Bezner Kerr, 2008). There is some qualitative evidence that gender relations have improved, particularly in terms of household decision-making and labour and had positive outcomes on nutrition and food security (Bezner Kerr, 2008; Bezner Kerr et al., 2010; Bonatsos et al., 2009; Satzinger et al., 2009). We also found that harmful early child-care practices can offset any agricultural gains unless explicit nutritional educational activities are under-taken (Bezner Kerr et al., 2007a; Satzinger et al., 2009). The chances that agricultural productivity will have positive effects on nu-trition depends heavily on complementary investments in areas such as health, education, dietary diversity and gender equality (Bryce et al., 2008). Subsidizing fertilizer will not address household food security or nutrition, unless the subsidies effectively reach the poor, and unless they are accompanied by other policies which address the needs of the poor, such as adequate health care and education (Dorward and Kydd, 2004; Dorward et al., 2008; Kydd and Christiansen, 1982).

Another issue is the promotion of hybrid maize seed, which must be purchased annually in order to maintain high yields. The current input subsidy programme has heavily empha-sized hybrid seeds, by funding their purchase as part of the input package. A recent study of the input subsidies concluded that farmers showed a ‘strong preference’ for hybrids over OPVs, since 76 per cent of farmers had pur-chased hybrid seeds using the coupon system (Denning et al., 2009). This fi nding, however, masks the fact that the private seed sector overwhelmingly produces hybrid maize seed, with OPVs only available through smallholder farmer organizations scattered throughout the country. Thus, the ‘choice’ available to farmers was likely to have been hybrid maize at most agro-input dealers. OPV seeds, while often having lower yields, are more stable and can maintain their characteristics over many seasons. OPVs in Malawi are also typically ‘fl int’ maize varieties, with a tighter husk and



grain, producing more fl our when pounded in a mortar and thus preferred as the staple maize by most rural households (Smale and Jayne, 2003). Women usually do seed selec-tion of local maize varieties (Bezner Kerr, 2010). In the past, the majority of hybrid seeds were sold by the National Seed Company of Malawi, but as part of structural adjustment, foreign companies entered the market. Local seed varieties are produced on-farm and sold by small-scale vendors at local markets, but all hybrid maize varieties in Malawi are currently sold by foreign companies in Malawi. The experience in Malawi with hybrid varieties, due to the cash requirements, unequal access to credit, storage problems, food processing, agricultural extension which focuses on the large landholders and other factors, have led to a skewed adoption rate of hybrid varieties. Large landholder farmers have adopted hybrid maize varieties at much higher rates than smallholder farmers (Smale, 1995; Smale and Phiri, 1998). Increasing dependence on hybrid seeds also means increasing reliance on fossil fuels, since the seeds are imported.

Even if a large number of poor farmers adopt hybrid and fertilizer as a ‘package’ input and it does increase maize yields at minimal cost to the household, what would be the nutritional outcomes? The fi rst would be an increase in maize consumption, which many nutritionists argue is too high a proportion of the Malawian diet (Ferguson and Gibson, 1993). An increase in maize alone does little to alleviate micronutrient defi ciencies such as zinc and iron, both highly prevalent in Malawi (Ferguson and Gibson, 1993). Social inequalities, which cause and exacerbate food insecurity and malnutrition, such as landlessness, gender inequality, poverty and HIV/AIDS, remain unaddressed by fertilizer subsidies (Bezner Kerr, 2005a; Ellis, 2009; Ellis et al., 2003; Peters et al., 2008). There is some evidence that better-off households generally benefi t from fertilizer subsidies, while poorer households continue to struggle with inadequate land availability, support and labour

(Ellis, 2009). Studies of food-based approaches to improving child nutrition indicate that nutri-tion education is essential if increases in food production are to translate into improvements in child growth (Greiner and Mitra, 1995; Hagenimana and Low, 2000; Ruel and Levin, 2000). These fi ndings relate back to the above discussion: without addressing the linkages between social inequalities, food production and care giving practices, child nutrition is unlikely to improve.

V ConclusionThe fi rst GR did not eliminate hunger, although it did result in an overall increase in per capita food production, estimated to lead to approximately 25 per cent of overall improve-ments in child nutrition (Smith and Haddad, 2000). Social inequalities persisted and were often exacerbated by the GR. The long-term environmental implications, including water pollution, groundwater depletion and carbon emissions from fertilizer production, are still being dealt with today. A truly GR for Africa that positively improves child nutrition and food security needs to include nutrition educa-tion, health and sanitation improvements, crop diversifi cation, social programmes to address gender inequalities, land reform that increases access for smallholders, access to effective agricultural extension, and a diversifi ed econ-omy that promotes local agri-food industries to improve employment and farm incomes (Smith and Haddad, 2000; McIntyre et al., 2009). Alternative agricultural technologies with demonstrated effects on yield and crop diver-sity that do not have the same environmental effects have been shown to be viable and feasible for smallholder farmers. A recent UN review of agricultural technologies found that agro-ecological approaches, combined with scientist–farmer collaborations, investments in education and attention to social inequalities showed greater promise for addressing hunger, livelihoods and human health than current conventional approaches (McIntyre et al., 2009). Another meta-review found evidence



that for over 8 million smallholders, the use of low-cost, locally available and environmentally sustainable technologies led to an average of 93 per cent increase in crop yields (Pretty et al., 2003). This new African GR shows no sign of having learnt lessons from the previous revolu-tion or current scientifi c evidence. Efforts to address hunger in Malawi in the long term will need to address social inequality, both at the household level and at the national level. The landless, women, AIDS-affected households and youth are all groups that have limited access to land, income, credit, agricultural inputs and education to address their long-term food security. The input subsidy is not a ‘revolution’ in the making, but rather further entrenches inequalities in Malawi.

Notes1. http://data.un.org (last accessed on 25 June 2010).2. President Mutharika passed away in April 2012, and

his successor is President Joyce Banda.

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Documents

Lessons From Old Green Revolution