A Green Revolution in southern Niassa, Mozambique? : A field study from a small farmer perspective about possibilities and obstacles for a Green Revolution.

• Main Authors: Rodman, Sofia, Gatu, Karin
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Växjö universitet, Institutionen för samhällsvetenskap 2008
• Subjects: Southern Niassa; Green Revolution; Small farmers; Agriculture.; Social Sciences Interdisciplinary; Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1996

The aim of this field study was to analyze, by taking into consideration the small farmers' perspective, the possibilities and obstacles for an implementation of a Green Revolution in southern Niassa, Northern Mozambique. We also highlighted the following question: In what sense are the findings in Asia, presented by Djurfeldt, relevant for the situation in southern Niassa? The analytical framework used is based on the scheme developed by Nitsch and Åkesson. This scheme has been used to understand the small farmer's relationship toward the technology linked to the Green Revolution. The Green Revolution is a result of an initiative to resolve the food crisis by increasing crop yields and augmenting aggregate food supplies. By the 1970s it become known as a 'package' consisting of improved seeds, farm technology, better irrigation, and chemical fertilizers. We have chosen to use Göran Djurfeldt's, a Swedish professor at the University of Lund, concept of the Green Revolution in Asia. Through his findings, he concludes that the success of the Green Revolution in this area is not only due to the technology but also that the strategy was a state-driven, small-farmer based, and market-mediated which arose due to particular domestic and geopolitical factors. By taking this in consideration we conclude that neither the state, market nor the geopolitical context are working in favor of a Green Revolution in Mozambique, however the factors are vital if a Green Revolution will succeed in Niassa. The small farmers have to deal with many obstacles if a Green Revolution will be possible. To summarize the small farmer’s attitude toward the Green Revolution we look at the individual circumstances, the direct surrounding and the society in general. We first concluded that the small farmer does not have much knowledge about the Green Revolution. This makes it hard for her or him to have an opinion neither about it nor about the techniques related to the Green Revolution. Secondly, the small farmer have several reason to why she or he do not want to implement the Green Revolution, due to risk taking, tradition, former bad experiences with new technique etc. Thirdly, there are also numerous obstacles that hinder the small farmer to implement the Green Revolution technology. Those are the small farmer's health and time, the lack of extension workers, the international and the domestic agricultural politics, and the lack of inputs and credits etc.