This text is part of the special section on International Cooperation
Many farmers in developing countries struggle to earn a decent income from their agricultural production. Experts and people on the ground are calling for more institutional policies from these states to rethink food systems.
Several factors explain the precariousness of these farmers, according to the secretary general of UPA International Development (UPA DI), Hugo Beauregard-Langelier. Unlike market gardeners in Western countries, those in developing countries are often not organized into networks intended to put pressure on governments to establish public policies.
They are less likely to benefit from crop insurance or technological equipment such as tractors. “One of the major points is the ability to have access to land. There are still a lot of uncertainties about landholdings. These producers have few guarantees to go see financial institutions and get credit to help them develop their businesses,” explains Mr. Beauregard-Langelier. And this would be an even greater obstacle for women, since several countries prohibit them from bank loans or limit their access to them.
Initiatives intended to ensure better food security for the women of these populations have, however, been set up by organizations in the field. This is the case of the project in Senegal carried out by the Listening and Coaching Center for Sustainable Development (CEEDD), in collaboration with the secular non-governmental organization in international cooperation in Canada SUCO. The project received $10,000 in funding from the federal government through the International Youth Internship Program (IYIP). “The objective is to fight against poverty and food insecurity”, summarizes Émilie Roy, collaborator specialized in monitoring, evaluation and learning for SUCO in Senegal.
In all, four gardens will be deployed in the Thiès region over the next few months. The program began last November and brings together 50 participants, who have been trained in agroecology, agri-food processing and communication and financial management. “The women we work with belong to fragile categories. Often they have no professional training. And therefore, problems to integrate into the labor market and to have a decent income”, observes Abacabar Sy, president of the CEEDD and in charge of the project in the field.
Eggplant, mint, lettuce, peppers are some of the organic agricultural products that will be grown. These spaces will allow women to generate up to 70% of their daily consumption, estimates Mr. Sy. The goal of empowering them to grow vegetables and earn income from them creates excitement among the participants, he adds.
Thereafter, they will be able to maintain these gardens and do agriculture there according to the harvest calendar, explains Ms.me Roy. “The whole neighborhood and all the people who are close to the garden will be able to benefit from it. It’s really to have a short distribution circuit, to ensure that these are quality products and that they come from the community, ”she summarizes.
Unity is strength
But how to become profitable in the era of globalization, when many international treaties govern imports and exports? According to Abacabar Sy, the key remains in establishing networks of actors in the agricultural industry, supported by local NGOs. “If we have a synergy with those who are in the field, and if we take collective action and with a sufficiently strong collaborative framework, then we have a chance of having a constructive result”, he hopes.
“Too often, because of structural problems, [ces producteurs] find themselves at the mercy of major buyers who are able to get the prices that suit them, and not necessarily those that suit farmers,” explains Hugo Beauregard-Langelier.
The secretary general of UPA DI is not one of those who believe in the abolition of current systems to reform them from the beginning. Instead, he believes, we need to rethink the way agricultural products are taken into account by governments. “It’s considered oil, like most goods and services in the markets,” he said. According to him, agriculture should benefit from separate agreements. “It is an essential good to which everyone must have access three times a day in sufficient quantity and quality. »