Donors need to support small-scale farmers, new study says

Foundations and international donors should support small scale farmers boost their ventures. A report released by Greenpeace Africa titled Financing Ecological Farming in Africa — a Guide for International Donors — spells out the crucial financial, technical, capacity and network-building support that donors can provide.

Although, over recent years there has been an increase in investment in the agriculture sector in developing countries by various stakeholders, more needs to be done.

Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo says donor community must be more courageous in its support of Africa’s small-scale farmers.

“Foundations and donor organisations should seek out and invest in ecological farming initiatives that value the crucial role of farmers, promote food resilience in times of climate change and contribute to better rural livelihoods,” says Naidoo.

The Greenpeace guide builds upon the mounting body of evidence that achieving long-lasting improvements in the livelihoods of small-scale farmers in East Africa and the rest of the world requires building ecological farming systems that create new livelihood opportunities.

 The guide, which follows an earlier Greenpeace report entitled “Fostering Economic Resilience - The financial Benefits of Ecological Farming in Kenya and Malawi”, highlights that with successful donor innovations and interventions farmers can increase yields significantly, on average by 79 per cent across a wide variety of crops.