Narratives of the New Green Revolution

The following story appears in AGRA’s “Transformed Livelihoods– AGRA’s impact in Africa”:

Savaio found herself closing the business periodically, due to the ebb and flow of the

agricultural cycle. Her busiest time came during the planting season, when farmers were looking for inputs.

 “I was serving just a handful of farmers, not even close to a hundred,” she says. “I can’t be exact, but it was a small venture with dim prospects.”

Back then, an inventory valued at US$ 1,000 would last her into the new season, before having to restock. Her profit never reached US$ 200, and occasionally she would incur losses as some chemical inputs expired on her shelves. Being a resourceful woman, however, when the shop was not active she turned to producing crops of her own.

In 2010, Concern Universal, an international organization working with smallholder farmers in Chimoio, approached Savaio with a training invitation. Concern Universal had been funded by AGRA to help improve smallholder access to agricultural inputs. The training was aimed at equipping agrodealers with knowledge about modern farming

technologies that they could share with farmers who came to their shops. Savaio was one of 58 agrodealers that participated in the training program. They learned about improved soil fertility management, the use of chemical fertilizers at the right times and in the correct amounts, how to select appropriate seeds, and how to properly apply herbicides and pesticides. The agrodealers were also taught how to establish demonstration plots, and learned how to better manage the finances of their businesses.

After completing the training, Savaio received a US$ 10,000 loan from Opportunity Bank to expand her business. She put up a proper shop and increased her stock to about US$ 5,000. “I thought I should do something else to cushion my business during lower income periods, so I decided on seed multiplication.” She explains proudly.

Left with about US$ 2,000 from the loan, Savaio sought a government license to cultivate maize seed, sesame and cowpea seed on a 25-hectare plot.

Concern Universal had also negotiated with larger suppliers of agricultural inputs to assist small agrodealers like Savaio by transporting inputs to their shops, as well as supplying inputs on credit, with payments collected after stock was sold out.

With supplementary income from her seed multiplication efforts and relaxed business terms from input suppliers, Savaio’s overall business has been growing steadily. Using US$ 15,000 from her seed multiplication work, she built a warehouse for storing agro-inputs that are supplied to her in bulk.

Increased stock has also enabled her to serve a wider clientele with a more diverse range of agricultural products, and her shop is now active throughout the year. The business has grown from earning an annual profit of less than US$ 200 to producing an average monthly turnover of US$ 1,000.

Savaio also plays a key role in the local farming community. She shares cultivation and crop management knowledge with farmers around Sussundenge, guiding them on proper practices to help increase the yields obtained from their land.

During the harvest season, these farmers sell their produce to her at the best market prices that can be obtained with the help of Concern Universal. Her much improved income has enabled Savaio to continue diversifying and expanding her business by purchasing a small oil processing plant, which is now opening new opportunities

for adding value to the produce she buys from her neighbors.

Savaio’s story serves as an example of AGRA’s vision for the Green Revolution in Africa. The expansion of input-driven agriculture is meant to lift smallholder farmers out of poverty, as well as the “agrodealers” that support them.

The story shows a neoliberal strategy towards agricultural development. Savaio, already struggling purveying inputs to farmers in her community, attends a training, takes out a loan, and doubles down on her business. Large input dealers help facilitate Savaio’s expansion by selling her inputs on credit and delivering them to her door. The loan provides her with enough money to invest in seed multiplication as well, but it’s unclear in the story as to why her fortunes have suddenly changed. Has her customer base increased?

I’m not trying to doubt the veracity of this story or detract from AGRA’s excellent work in rural organizing and conflict mitigation. I only want to present this story through the lens of agroecological development. Agrochemical suppliers stand to make huge profits from implementing their ideologies of agricultural development and they expect people like Savaio to help them do it. The needs of the international market are being met through agrodealers, the products they sell to farmers are being used for commodity crops (maize, in this story) which will then move back towards international markets. Food sovereignty, security, and livelihoods are at stake as local economies are extracted of value.

What does Savaio’s business look like today? How has access to inputs assisted the farmers she work’s with? What mechanisms enable Savaio to aggregate smallholder produce at the best price? How does Savaio’s success translate to success in the agrochemical industry, who benefits the most? Development stories like these should give readers pause, they almost certainly provide more questions than answers.

Emilia Abibo Svaio, pictured in "Transformed Livlihoods, AGRA's impact in Africa", 2015