INVESTMENTS THAT MATTER
by Professor Filmore Buckets
Over at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, someone has suggested the radical idea that investing in small-scale agriculture may combat hunger in the developing world.
In an unusual move for a top UN official, the FAO’s Director General Jacques Diouf commenced a 24-hour hunger strike on the eve of the November World Summit on Food Security. Dressed in track suit and toque, Diouf announced that he was drawing attention to the plight of the one billion people that are going without sufficient food to meet their basic needs.
Small farms have been at the epicentre of global hunger for decades. Two-thirds of the world’s poorest people still rely on small plots of land for their livelihoods. However, placing these struggling farmers at the centre of food security policy and programs has not been an obvious step for many organizations.
Quoted in the Toronto Star, Faris Ahmed, director of Canadian programs for USC Canada says, "Everybody wants to help the small farmer now, but nobody is asking her what she needs. It has to be more than business as usual."
Well, asking the small farmer what she needs has been IDE’s usual business over the past 25 years. And what those farmers want is business: businesses that offer them affordable products and services, and businesses that will buy what they can produce on their small plots. That is what has driven IDE to become the world’s leading provider of affordable micro-irrigation equipment and a skilled matchmaker – linking small farmers to better market opportunities.
In this issue, you can read about IDE’s work with innovative irrigation in Nepal and our partnership with an amazing Zambian entrepreneur who is creating opportunities for thousands of small farmers.
In the words of the FAO, "Today, sustained investment in agriculture – especially smallholder agriculture – is acknowledged as the key to food security." Hopefully, they really mean business and not just business as usual.