Technology And Agricultural Development

The poverty in the developing countries can be reducing through a proper agricultural technology. The proper agricultural technology is not only the machines but also biotechnology and other modern knowledge that are applicable to increase the agricultural productivity so as to reduce the poverty and starvation; so that “the assumption that agricultural technology automatically reduces poverty; antipoverty impacts have often been developed mostly for their adopters and focused exclusively on them”. (Omilola 2009).

On the other hand, (Kate Schneider and Gugerty 2011) clearly enlightens that there are

“Evidence suggests that there are multiple pathways through which increases in agricultural productivity can reduce poverty, including real income changes, employment generation, rural non-farm multiplier effects, and food prices effects. but the lack of proper investment in the agricultural sector may hinder og getting the seed, fertilizer technology and other necessary infrastructures such as the roads, for the food transport, therefore it is barriers to technology adoption, initial asset endowments, and constraints to market access may all inhibit the ability of the poorest to participate in the gains from agricultural productivity growths” (Kate Schneider and Gugerty 2011).

Most under-developing countries particularly, in those African continent, their land is very fertile and can produce enough food for their population and the rest of the others but there has been both financial and border barrier that hinders most African countries not acquire the technology they need according to the new World Bank report explains “that the Africa’s farmers can potentially grow enough food to feed the continent and avert future food crisis if the countries removes cross border restrictions on food trade with the regions”(Bank 2012).

On the other hand the developing countries cannot cope with their traditional knowledge this current climate changes while most of them struggling to maintain security issues as they are fighting among themselves. Therefore the developing countries need the means to sustain their food production through new innovative and technology support from the developed world; so that they can transfer their conventional knowledge and practices with more advanced technology of agricultural industry to them.

Such new advanced agricultural technology; most of the developing countries particularly African countries can reduce their food aid dependency as well poverty significantly because such agricultural technology can positive enhance the agricultural production because the “Sustainable intensification of smallholder production will require a shift to knowledge-intensive agriculture that combines local knowledge and the latest sustainability science to adapt practices to local ecosystems and increase resilience to climate change, price and other shocks. Poor farmers, often women, usually cultivate in more extreme environments in addition to being less connected to markets”(UN 2011)

The lack of the agricultural technology in the developing countries, the food production cannot be sustainable, because the growing number of population and less food production will cause huger, vast starvation among the poor communities, as they remain food dependency, therefore this is cannot be overcome unless the under-developing countries have enough financial support for reaching the advanced agricultural technology; so they can sustain their agricultural production and relief their food aid dependency.

On the other hand, active and proper agricultural in the under-developing countries contributes the local labor market and supplies the food within the communities, as this further increases the economic growth through production and consumption linkages.(Dethier and Effenberger 2012)

Food and agricultural production sustainability demands an effective intervention both in financial and proper planning in the areas of technology transfer and capacity building, therefore “It also requires a radical change in existing policies – a change that would result in a strengthening of currently fragmented systems of innovation, a redesign of the education system, and investment on agricultural development throughout the whole supply chain and in sustainable resource management through innovative partnerships with farmers” (UN 2011)

Similarly these agricultural (farms) locates demands to have proper infrastructure that can enhance the food production marketing, while the government encourages the local production such promotion gives hope that the farmers to produce more. Beside that the agriculture is not focusing the farmers but includes “growing crops, rearing livestock, producing fish and maintaining forests– in developing countries must undergo a significant transformation” (UN 2011) in order to supply the demanding food in the developing countries particularly the African continent .

Agricultural Technology

“The Green Revolution is very much a product of technological innovation in the international public domain where Western and Third World governments, public supported non-profit national and international agricultural research institutions, universities, multilateral aid agencies, and Western charitable organizations collectively worked together to increase agricultural productivity”.(Parayil 2003).

Therefore the historic agricultural development that has been achieved for the last two centuries were discussed many different agricultural books. The most important we can recall here is that the traditional or the shifting cultivation system into rotational fallow toward permanent cultivation; Green Revolution, Gene Technology.

Where in the shifting cultivation was important to the rotational fallow that maintains the soil qualities and fertilities, while it preserves the environment and helps to control the weeds, and other diseases while “Many of the studies on the effects of agricultural technology on poverty tend to show that there are strong complementarities between physical infrastructure and human capital (see, for instance, Biswanger et al. 1993; Canning and Bennathan 2000; Datt and Ravallion 1997, 1998). (Cited in Omilola 2009).

There has been clear indication links that agricultural development reduces the poverty, such literatures that Babatunde Omilola discussed this quote of (Mellor 1976.; Mellor 2001) by arguing that “the predominant literatures on the poverty linkage effects of agricultural growth during the 1970s tend to show that technical change in agriculture leads to more production, which in turn leads to increased incomes for households with land The latter are believed to use most of the incomes they make from agricultural production in purchasing labor-intensive goods and services, thereby leading to second- and third-round effects of providing food security and more employment opportunities for the poor” (Omilola 2009).

Nevertheless, the agricultural technology is an integral part to develop agricultural sector particularly in the under-developing country, where there has been major food insecurity happens constantly; while the developed countries had achieved a tremendous agricultural and food production through agricultural technology; such agricultural technology are included the modern agricultural machinery, fertilizer and knowledge. Agriculture is an important sector in the developing countries makes agricultural growth an important instrument for decreasing poverty. (Dethier and Effenberger 2012)

Importance of the agricultural technology

The inadequacy of explicit agricultural technology-poverty linkages for several decades has not only complicated efforts to understand the relationship between agricultural technology and poverty reduction and to design ways to make agricultural technology more effective in lifting poor people out of poverty (Omilola 2009).

Importance of the agricultural technology has been felt wisely during the 1960s when “the green revolution comes to in use. The Agricultural technology was an exceptionally important determinant of farming’s contribution to rural development. As the discussions of agricultural technology policy frequently revolve around an extension of the green revolution model” (Tripp 2001).

It has been noted the importance of the technology transfer to adopt to the under developing countries to sustain their food production accordingly; this transfer is aim to develop the knowledge and research capacity, such agricultural technology is important for under developing countries (Parayil 2003); while the, agricultural technology is mean to reduce current poverty in the developing countries, it can positively effects on both the agricultural output, while it increases the level of rural employment, and secures the food and food prices, and the overall socio economic welfare.(Omilola 2009).

Potentially lower food prices increase the purchasing power of poor consumers. The magnitude of these effects for poverty reduction depends on the specific circumstances of an economy. For example, if technological progress in the agricultural sector is labor-saving, farm employment might not necessarily increase. (Cited in Dethier and Effenberger 2012)

Agricultural technology may reduces the widely the existing and prolonged poverty in under developed countries thorough direct effects on output levels, employment, food security, food price, income and overall socioeconomic welfare; The type of technology adopted tends to be responsible for the type of poverty-reducing impacts that can be expected from agricultural technology” (Cited in Omilola 2009);

The agricultural technology will certain and positively increase the agricultural food production, while it maximize the food production yields; and we claims that with the evidence that the north or the developed countries reached through the agricultural and food sustainability through agro-technology and is therefore agricultural technology answers the constant and wide hunger; starvation caused both the man made and the nature, such as the climate change.(Dethier and Effenberger 2012).

Most the donor countries felt the responsibility about the hunger and lack proper agricultural investment in the development countries and pledged sums for investing in the agriculture for instance the G8 countries promised $22 billion during their meeting in Aquila, Italy in 2009. (Dethier and Effenberger 2012).

Kind of Agricultural technology

The green Revolution

The Green Revolution is dated by in the mid of the 20th century, when Norman Borlaug invented the high yielding dwarf wheat in Mexico at what is known as the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center or CIMMYT,(Parayil 2003).

The myth of the green revolution was to relief the imminent hunger due to the increasing population in the world, and Green Revolution provides the capacity to cope with and produce enough food supplies through genetic food engineering and chemicals; furthermore the most literature reviewed, shows that the intention of the invention of Green Revolution during the 1940-60th was very promised to end the hunger through the “miracle seeds”; the miracle seeds “In contrast to the original green revolution strategy of providing widely adapted varieties that could be planted in a range of environments, many of these new varieties will have characteristics that address specific conditions (e.g. pest or disease resistance), environments (e.g. acid soils), or markets (e.g. high nutrient varieties).(Tripp 2001).

Not only that but also “the Green Revolution was responsible for a significant increase in crop production, contributed to rural employment, and lowered food prices” (Cited in Tripp 2001). On the other hand the GE had used excessive fertilizer and irrigation; which made the possibility of the mass production such as the grain and rice which have resistance to disease etc.

Positive and negative impact of green revolution

The Positives side of the green revolution is very wide, that are includes the increasing food production and sustainability of yielding in local farmers. Accordingly “over the last four decades, it is evident that chemical applications have revolutionized agricultures. On the positive side, the fertilizers and pesticides have increase crop production and the amount of organic matter returned to the soil. However, the soil and water contamination is very high in many place with increased agricultural intensification”(Ademola K Braimoh and Vlek 2008). On the other hand, in the positive perspective side of the GR have mentioned in numbers of other relevant studies, which have pointed out that the Indian agricultural production had increased; as the agriculture has made great substantial gain in highly yielding variety, these studies have been measured through index of total factor production, TFP. The measurements of agriculture production have shown that the gains in productivity had contributed about 1.1 per cent per annum since 1956. The TFP and conventional inputs contribute roughly 2.3 per cent growth rate per annum in total crop output (Cited in Praduman Kumar and Mittal 2006).

In addition to that the betterment of land usages through the multi cropping pattern, made that enough food is produced during the harvesting season; at the same time. According to (Evenson and Gollin 2003) clearly explains that “The Green Revolution has also facilitated significant expansion of irrigation and multiple cropping in many countries, thereby adding to the total acreage of these crops”. Due to fact that “the GR has enabled many developing countries to achieve impressive rates of growth in national food grain production since the mid-1960s”.(Evenson and Gollin 2003);

On the other hand, the GR has caused and sets very widely alarm depletion both in soil and water conservation system. In spite of the fact that these positive agricultural contributions from the GR have shown in the mass agricultural production that can help many poor nations to come over and control their inefficiency of agricultural sector; but negativity of the chemicals, pesticides goes along which affects both human and the environment negatively.

Since this ecological problem was not taken into consideration in the first time; but everyone was looking for to sustain food production and the negativity of environmental problem needs to be considered and studies with the best to retain the soil degradation because the “Farming in areas of fragile soils, poor management of crop, soil and water interaction, and unsustainable exploitation of soil nutrients are some of the major causes of land degradation”.(Cited in Hazell and Wood 2008).

Owing to that fact, to have a productive land that can cope, the need of the growing population in the world, particularly the under-developing countries, requires a friendly ecosystem GR that the chemical, pesticides and cannot harm further, so that current people should not be those pushing the environmental degradation to its last stages of thresholds that cannot restored both through nature and human conservation.

Conclusion

Due to lack of economic viability for the developing countries, particularly those in Africa who cannot invest properly their agricultural sector; will continue to be food dependency during the harsh and difficulty time, as nowadays the climate changes and prolonged conflicts has deeply affecting those sub-Saharan countries.

Accordingly the African leaders acknowledged about the economical dependency as they have argued that the “view with disquiet the overdependence of the economy of our continent…This phenomenon has made African economies highly susceptible to the external development and with detrimental effects on the interests of our continent”(Cited in Nana 2008).

Hence most under-developing countries particularly, in the African continent their land is very fertile and can produce enough food for their population and the rest of the others but there has been both financial and border barrier that hinders most African countries not acquire the technology they need according to the new World Bank report explains “that the Africa’s farmers can potentially grow enough food to feed the continent and avert future food crisis if the countries removes cross border restrictions on food trade with the regions”(Bank 2012).

Not only has that but the history of lack of African development perspectives touched upon many aspects that are included the industrial, social economic and education and reasoned is by the inequality of both economic and political power with the predominantly what the white man calls tribal an racial dimension (Nana 2008)