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Environment
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Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Coastal region and small island papers 12: papers
PROMOTING
THE DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL CROPS IN MAPUTALAND THROUGH CAPACITY BUILDING
by Gian Paolo Vannozzi, Mario Baldini
Introduction
Maputaland is the southern part of the southeast African coastal plain and is a world-renowned centre of endemism with high biodiversity. The coastal zones have been declared by the United Nations to be among the most interesting areas of our time in the world. The beaches, lagoons and estuaries of Maputaland have great biodiversity, with particularly rich fauna and vegetation. These zones are vulnerable to manipulation by human systems that have a strong influence on the ecology.
At the landscape level, the biodiversity is strongly controlled by physical and chemical characteristics of the environment. Climate plays a primary role, with an east-west change in rainfall superimposed on the north-south tropical-subtropical transition. This interplay, together with an intimate relationship between geology, geomorphology and soils, has resulted in six main terrestrial eco-zones being identified.
Description
of the conflict situation
The
ecosystems are suffering the consequences of an accelerated deterioration in
their ecological capital. Most of
the agriculture production systems show high degrees of environmental
degradation, as indicated by declines in soil fertility, vegetation cover,
biodiversity loss and increases in soil erosion.
These processes contribute to a reduction in ecosystem stability,
productivity and overall sustainability. One
of the major reasons for this is the use of technologies based on an intensive
use of inputs without considering socio-economic, environmental and production
factors of tropical agriculture systems. On
the other hand, monoculture and disciplinary research approaches to solving
problems without a previous systems analysis has resulted in low adoption rates
and lack of social and economic impact. Despite
being the most common systems in the tropics, integrated crop systems (rotation
or intercropping) or mixed production systems (crop-livestock) have received
less attention for technological development.
The new
vision of agriculture recognizes the complexity, specificities and peculiarities
of the tropical ecosystems, including biodiversity (genes, species and
ecosystems), structure, functions and dynamics, and their implication on the
development of new knowledge and technology.
Development of sustainable and competitive agricultural tropical
production systems implies the revision of the contributions of different
sciences and disciplines to the understanding and comprehension of biophysical,
socio-economic and environmental components of agricultural systems and their
interactions in specific regions and niches.
Among others, this will require a much closer interaction between
agriculture research and forestry research than what presently exists.
Problems due to excessive use of monoculture with low ‘money making’ cash crops like eucalyptus and sugarcane result in both low incomes for the small-scale farmers and environmental pollution and degradation. Soil fertility is reduced and large amounts of nitrogen fertilizers are required. This is also a result of the widespread use of fire to burn sugarcane before harvest, reduction of biodiversity, freshwater and marine water pollution, coastal degradation and pollution related to agricultural, urban and industrial activities.
In the study area, 30-40% of the people are employed in agriculture. As a result of the low income derived from the small farms with the present cropping systems, many farmers will probably move to the cities in the near future, so adding to urbanisation problems.
The integration of agriculture and
environmental protection is something that in many countries has added value to
the activity of the farmers. Special directives providing incentives for low
input farming, agro-tourism, park and nature reserve integration with human
activities, are all possibilities for maintaining the correct equilibrium
between man and nature. There is a strong need to study the importance of
agriculture in the coastal areas of Maputaland.
The main aim is to identify new sustainable cropping systems able to re-equilibrate the whole agro-ecosystem and to give to the small farms an economic income suitable to improve their life styles to acceptable levels. This will make it more attractive to remain in agriculture.
Conflict
resolution
The aim of the project is the planning of pilot farms having multiple purposes. As a general feature, three sets of objectives will be pursued.
The first set has a basic approach and includes:
Wildlife-biodiversity conservation: it should represent prototypes of medium sized farms integrated into an ecologically structured environment, respecting the original landscape and aimed at preserving the richness in natural wildlife and species differentiation.
Utilization of natural genetic resources for breeding purposes and evaluation of alternative use of native biota. Since a very small number of species are actually used for agricultural and non-agricultural purposes, the possibility of alternative utilizations and the integration of primary production with biotechnical processes adding value to the agricultural enterprise could be tested. This would include screening of plants used by local populations, and preliminary assessment of their suitability for cultivation, e.g. groundnut, sunflower and other oil crops; and screening of plant material for breeding purposes, e.g. resistance to biotic and abiotic stress.
The second set of activities to be carried out is more related to the improvement of agricultural systems by on-farm testing of sustainable, profitable and evolutionary cropping systems. This kind of activity requires co-operation between farmers and researchers with the pilot units acting as prototypes and the farmers themselves as validation of the more promising solutions. This approach includes:
The continuous appraisal of the physical, meteorological and pedological condition of the area: this should give information on the biological and ecological constraints to the choice of crops and to their potential yield. It could also contribute to explain the advantages of traditional choices to be revisited and preserved.
The generation of a choice of cropping and farming systems: from these the most suitable should be selected and economically assessed. These tests could be performed in association with groups of farmers to verify problems arising from their specific local conditions.
Continuous assessment of new techniques: the farms should also provide a testing site for new promising cropping techniques and innovations coming from research carried out all over the world and particularly those typical of tropical agriculture.
As a third objective, the farms will serve as in-service training grounds for extension officers providing the link between research in agriculture (both public and private) and the farmers; and functioning as demonstration sites for farmers able to manage the new sustainable cropping systems
Capacity building
The production of food and environmental concerns has led to increased production of industrial crops in the world, aimed at providing the fibre, oil, starch and biomass raw materials for industry. As agricultural production expands in Europe and other parts of the world, so there will be a demand for people trained in the production, marketing and utilisation of crops for industrial use. A full-year course is run in Udine University and Zululand University and validated by the two universities involved. Over a period of two semesters students are introduced to the principles of modern agricultural sustainable production, including organic farming, crop protection, plant breeding, and seed technology, and are given a comprehensive knowledge of the primary production, processing, quality characteristics and development of industrial crops. At the same time, professional and computer skills are developed. The final part of the course, leading to the MSc, is a research-based project.
Teaching will be carried out by specialist staff at the Udine and Zululand Universities, the experimental farm of both universities will be utilised for field studies and practical exercises. Visiting specialists involved in the planning, production, processing and marketing of industrial crops will be invited to give presentations during the course
On completion of the course students will understand sustainable industrial crop production, the objectives of biodiversity conservation, they will know agronomy and methods of production of important industrial crops on large and small farm scale, and they will be familiar with the techniques for quality assessment and processing of industrial crops. In addition, they will be aware of the role that biotechnology can play in crop modification and improvement, the limits of biotechnology, and they will have a good understanding of experimental design and statistical analysis. During the course students will study the application of new technologies, including organic farming, to industrial crop production, and will consider marketing and economic aspects of industrial crops. Graduates will be qualified for posts in agricultural planning, extension services, consultancy, research and development, technical management, organic farming, and new product development. Training and experience in the use of information technology and communication skills are strongly featured so as to provide a springboard for more broadly based careers in the private and public sector.
Wise practices based on the conflict resolution
There is a growing awareness of the need to complement the traditional approach to agricultural research and development with a new approach based on the concept of ‘rural innovation systems’ in order to achieve the objectives of poverty reduction and sustainable development. The demand structure for agricultural products is rapidly changing for many reasons, evolving in the direction of processed foods of one type or another. This is leading to the increasing importance of the post-harvest phase and of agro-industries. Post-production operations account for more than 55% of the economic value of the agricultural sector in developing countries, and they represent up to 80% in developed countries. Agro-industries of different types are becoming the basis of socio-economic development in rural areas and they play a critical role in meeting the objectives of food security and poverty eradication, through the generation of employment and income in the rural sector. Other changes that are taking place are related the shift in emphasis from a predominantly quantitative concern, to a more qualitative approach, where the characteristics of the products, and thus quality control, are becoming very important; and to the increasing trade in specialized categories of high value agricultural products that require processing (i.e. cut flowers, organic products and medicinal plants).
In developing a new approach to the interaction between research, extension (technology transfer) and production, based on the development of innovation systems, the following key concepts play an important role:
importance of
agro-industries and the challenge to orientate them towards effective rural
development,
rural innovation,
rural
enterprises,
commodity-chain
approach,
empowering small producers.
