SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

Promote Sustainable Agriculture, Food Security and Local Business Development
 

Approximately 70-80 percent of the population in Eastern and Southern Africa lives in rural areas. The vast majority are poor – and most depend on agriculture for their livelihood.  Despite that agriculture is the backbone of these economies and crucial for sustainable economic growth, the sector is largely underdeveloped and inefficient in most countries.
 

Improved and market based production has potential to increase the incomes for large numbers of small holder farmers and other people in the rural areas. Agriculture is therefore the economic sector best positioned to uplift women and men from poverty on a mass scale.
To have enough food is a fundamental human right and a precondition for people to be able to participate in their own development. In order to improve sustainable economic growth and food security, a complex set of challenges need to be addressed from local to international level.
 

Viewing it from a farmer’s perspective, the main challenges are:
 

Legal frameworks

Insecure land tenure and poorly defined property rights, especially for rural women;
Finance: Limited access to low cost agricultural finance. High transaction costs due to poor infrastructure including roads, electricity and telecommunication;
  

Technology and information

Limited access to appropriate technolo