Obstacles of Small Scale Farming in Africa

Name:
Institution:
Course code:
Date:
World Regional Geography.
Introduction.
Studying world regional Geography is an attempt to understand "the world discipline". Understanding natural complexities are crucial to understanding human behavior and relationships. Therefore, by using this bridge, it is possible to analyze communities, cultures, and economies of different regions. Therefore, this essay is focused on the following regions in the world; Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and South America. It will look at the region’s potential, struggles, and how they affect the livelihood of its citizens.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Many obstacles limit the success of small scale farming in Africa. CITATION Bir16 \l 1033 (Patel) The obstacles can be looked at different perspectives namely: climate, technology, financing, and infrastructure. African farmers are among the poorest in the world due to their circumstantial inability to maximize their potential. Climate change in Africa is unforgiving as showcased by the El Nino effects of 2015/16. The changes in the weather saw a reduction of cereal production in Sub-Saharan Africa by 201% CITATION Bir16 \l 1033 (Patel) With such events expected to double due to global warming, experts warn that Africa needs early system warnings and disaster funds to prepare.
The agricultural sector in Africa happens to be the least productive in the world. This has been attributed to the lack of education, innovation, and application of technology in farming skills. As a result, African governments require to create training initiatives that inspire farmers to become self-sufficient. Also, farmers need to be empowered and given access to quality inputs to increase crop yields. Poverty levels and lack of financing make it harder for the implementation of educational initiatives for small scale farmers. Most of them stick to traditional methods of farming due to the lack of finances, education, and lack of support from the government. Therefore, with limited financing, small scale farmers are only likely to use their land for sustaining their families.
Polices and infrastructure in these regions make it harder for small scale farmers to compete. Starting with outdated policies like high import duties and border bureaucracy, the burden falls on to the consumer meaning basic farm inputs will be expensive for the average farmer. The lack of quality infrastructure is also a major hindrance in transportation for small scale farmers most of who live and farm in the rural areas.
Pros
Despite the challenges, there is the existence of local, regional, and international agricultural policies that have brought about investments in trade and agricultural products. They are tailored to improving yields, food availability, and an emphasis on nutrition and public health. This makes sub-Saharan Africa and attractive proposition for anyone intending to venture into foreign agribusiness Increase in well-developed infrastructure among member states has helped facilitate access to local and international markets and allows labor mobility. Also, the creation of structures such as the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) by the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is attractive to investors. The initiatives look to focus on transforming and bring Agriculture to the top of the development agenda. CITATION Gas19 \l 1033 (Gashu, Demment and Stoecker)
Cons.
Climate change and scarcity is an issue that can is a hindrance to maximum production. However, there are numerous always to get around it such as irrigation o the use of greenhouses. The main issue for foreign agribusiness is the scarcity and decline in farm sizes. Development and improvement in infrastructure mean that viable land is becoming more scarce. Also, an increase in population density in these countries has facilitated the reduction. Despite efforts by governments, there is still a high risk of potential harvesting loss and low sanitary standards. Therefore, for maximum production, foreign agribusiness stakeholders might require huge capital to keep things running.
North Africa/Southwest Asia
The realm of North Africa and Southwest Asia is a region that extends from the Atlantic Ocean along the Moroccan coast to the western border of China. The climate and physical geography have shaped the population and cultural behavior of the region. Settlement patterns of ancient times are reflected in the large population density of regions with sparse water resources. Their buildings are designed with high roofs since hot air rises which allows living areas to be relatively cool. Due to the harsh and arid environment, only small stretches of river valleys and coastal areas can be considered fertile or having any agricultural potential. The absence of agricultural development the region needed to find other resources that could bring wealth. In the 20th century, the region did just that with oil being discovered in Saudi Arabia. The finding of this natural resource coincided with the industrial revolution meaning the oil demand was high. Saudi Arabia remains one of the leading oil exporters shipping over 7.3 million barrels per day as of 2015. CITATION Cai20 \l 1033 (Finlayson) Other countries in the region: Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates are also among the top oil exporters in the world. Oil revenue has been helpful in the development of these countries, financing industrialization and infrastructure and high incomes. For instance, Qatar had the highest GDP capita in terms of purchasing power parity of any country in the world as of 2018. CITATION Cai20 \l 1033 (Finlayson) Still heavily dependent on oil, the countries have started looking for ways to diversify their economy. Therefore, the presence and value of oil have largely helped the realm contain the impact of having no agricultural potential.
My opinion
The presence of oil has for the most part been a curse for the region. Despite major developments countries with oil resources have always been prone to authoritarian regimes. Unlike countries with an agricultural source of income which is open for everyone, the mining of oil is reserved for a selected few and the national government. This means that the countries are always in conflict within themselves due to corruption, slow growth, and unequal distribution of the nation’s wealth. The large revenue obtained from the sale of oil has been used to finance armies with corrupt governments directing it to implement the authoritarian rule over the people rather than investing in social programs. Economy wise, the area is weak due to its emphasis on exporting one resource like oil. This means that changes in global energy will always affect such economies making them fragile. However, the...