Agriculture is defined by the Oxford dictionary as the “science and art of cultivating plants and livestock.” The agricultural industry is, in many ways, like the very living organisms it cultivates. It is constantly sensing and adapting to changes in its environment, mitigating risk, and evolving to maximise survival by eliminating what fails and reproducing what works. We have allocated copious resources into the growth and development of this industry, often focusing on the most organismic trait: energy processing. We have emphasised the input-output ratio in our research and production practices for years, developing a mindset focused on industrialising agriculture for maximum output. Our training institutions are quick to follow suit, often easily concluding that we are the “educated youth” ready to take the industry by storm without asking whether what we learned will actually help us survive. Perhaps comparing the industry to a living organism can provide helpful insight into understanding its survival and mastering both the science and art of agriculture.
Sensing and Adapting to Change
In the 2021 budget speech, Minister Tito Mboweni epitomised the government's focus on small-scale emerging farmers and land restitution, one of the paramount changes currently occurring in the sector. 10.1 billion Rand has been allocated to land restitution claims and post-settlement support. Land reform is supported by the notion that it will lead to economic growth, alleviate poverty, and achieve greater income equality. Land reform paves the way for thriving success or obliterating failure, and only the management of resources will determine the path. The increasing numbers of small-scale farmers, who are often new to farming, provide a rare “clean slate” which might be the extrication tool we have long been awaiting. These farmers are open to learning new techniques and approaching agricultural production in a new way, often relying solely on the practices they are taught. If ever there was an opportunity to revolutionise agriculture in South Africa, it is now.
Mitigating Risk by Eliminating What Failed
Small-scale farmers are infamous for often failing once they have acquired land. We fail to acknowledge that we have changed their environment without adapting their model for optimal survival. The industrial methods these farmers are expected to use are not suited to smaller farms. The conventional commercial model is successful on large commercial farms because large areas of cultivated land decrease fixed costs per hectare, and producing high volumes allows for the operation of profitable enterprises at comparatively low margins. Large farms have adapted to this model and its requirements of high investments in input costs allocated towards infrastructure, mechanisation, herbicides, and fertiliser, which are critical to the long-term survival of the farm.
Small-scale emerging farmers are exactly that—small-scale. The previous approaches have seldom been successful, as these farmers are expected to perform in an environment to which they have not been adapted. A new perspective and coinciding adaptation are long overdue. Allowing these farmers to evolve from conventional towards regenerative practices may minimise many of the typical challenges and risks associated with investment in small-scale emerging farmers.
Reproducing What Works
Regenerative agricultural practices have proven to be well-suited to smaller farms. These practices do not only increase farmers’ profitability but also aid the regeneration of land that has been degraded by previous conventional practices. The conventional industrial farming methods are harmful to the environment, depleting soil quality and biodiversity, and increasing input costs yearly to maintain yields in the deteriorating environment. Regenerative agriculture allows for lower input costs and lower mechanisation and infrastructure requirements while diversifying income sources, improving soil health, and recovering the damage inflicted by traditional farming practices. Regenerative agriculture is seen by many as the key to reducing and possibly reversing the effects of climate change by simply moving carbon dioxide from the air to the soil.
Evolving to Increase Chances of Survival
Land reform is aimed at restoring equity among farmers and citizens of South Africa. Introducing small-scale farmers into the industry provides ample opportunity for not only improving land equity but simultaneously evolving production methods that will benefit the environment, improve soil and water quality, promote long-term sustainability, increase the value and productivity of our agrarian land, all while improving sustainable profitability among South African farmers.
The agricultural sector of South Africa is in a labyrinth of challenges and obstacles, and regenerative agriculture offers many answers. Emerging farmers could be holding the key.
Michelle Marais
Footnote:
This article was written as an entry to the Junior Agri Writers Competition hosted by Hollard and Farming Portal in 2021. Michelle was the second runner up in this competition for the non-technical article category. The original publication can be viewed here:
