How Africa Might Feed Itself
`WHO says Africa can't feed itself?'' shouts Gus Nilsson as the 6 ft., 4 in. Swedish farmer strides through rows of lush fruits and vegetables on his five-hectare (12 1/2-acre) nursery in dry Botswana. Mr. Nilsson believes not only that Africa doesn't need industrialization and mechanization to succeed, but that those popular development strategies will only ensure its demise.Skip to next paragraph
Subscribe Today to the Monitor
``Rich countries want to mechanize Africa, but it's too expensive for these nations,'' he says. ``It has to be subsidized and the governments have to go begging to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Africa can never stand on its own feet if it mechanizes, because it will always be dependent on the outside. With my methods you can develop horticulture without imported machinery and then not have inflation.''
Nilsson is not just an idealist. E.F. Schumacher proposed 16 years ago in his book ``Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered'' that people of developing countries should not be put into factories but rather should work at home, grow their own food, and provide for their needs without disrupting their traditional life styles. Nilsson not only espouses the same philosophy but also has a detailed blueprint of how everyone in Africa can stay away from cities and assembly-line jobs.
It's called ``the productive homestead.''
``What I'm thinking of is not employment but self-employment, the system that Africa has had for thousands of years,'' he explains.
It all starts with 1,000 square meters (about a quarter acre) of land. The owner uses one-third of it to build his house and the rest for crops, fish ponds, poultry, small industry, or whatever combination that will enable him or her (women are commonly heads of households in Africa) to feed himself, earn an income, and contribute to the community. Even the house itself is productive, with all of the walls containing built-in planters in which Nilsson grows everything from decorative ferns to lush tomatoes.
Nilsson is not just talk. He has proven his point here in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, at his own homestead which is also a nationally known nursery called ``Sanitas: The Green Diamonds of Botswana.'' It offers produce, plants, and flowers.
He does not keep his success a secret. He writes to local leaders and international aid agencies about his idea. Even Soviet President Gorbachev can expect a letter any day now.
``If I could go to the farmers directly, I could do it tomorrow,'' he claims. ``But I have to convince the government, which has the capital.''
After 21 years in the country, his experiment is finally being repeated by Africans.
``Now it's coming, although slowly because of the government bureaucracy,'' he says confidently. ``Maybe in two or three years you will see a lot of this going on. Even other countries are becoming interested. The minister of agriculture from Zimbabwe was here and soon some people from Zambia will visit.''