Green Revolution
Management: Problems Should Not Scare Us from Adopting the Technology
I would like to thank Yemane for his response and sharing us his
concerns. The purpose of the article is to initiate discussion on already
existing practice and model for addressing food crisis caused by population
pressure and price hike. The concerns of Yemane are legitimate and absolutely
essential in understanding the management of green revolution. I am not sure
how my restricted definition of green revolution as technological packet has contributed
to conceptualization of the issue. I know green revolution is more than
technology and the model includes the state, the private sector and the
smallholder agriculture. I emphasized the technological aspect out of my
interest in labor productivity in Ethiopia. As I pointed out increasing land
and labor inputs to ensure food security in Ethiopia is leading to diminishing
returns. The country has reached stage necessitating the adoption of technology
to overcome the multi-dimension crisis of low agricultural labor productivity, rural
income stagnation, land degradation and climatic changes.
Green revolution has
been criticized for its impact on the environment as mentioned by Yemane and
its skewed socio-economic outcomes favoring certain farmer group and regions.
Mostly the criticism is forwarded by conservationists and protagonists of
smallholder agriculture. The criticisms were severe in the 1960s when the program
was new in number of Asia countries. As countries start to gain extensive
experience, green revolution started to move in a more environmentally friendly
direction and small holders began to benefit as much as large farmers. Over
time the environmental and economic consequences of the green revolution have been well understood and
taken into account in practice. Today there is no disagreement about the
significance of green revolution in solving food crisis. The USA, Mexico and
Asian Countries have proved that. For details on controversies and Asian experience please read SIDA (2006),
what can sub-Saharan Africa learn from Asian experiences in addressing its food
crisis?
(addressing food crisis in Africa)
Ethiopia itself has got
experiences of the green revolution technology since the 1970s through the Chilalo
Agricultural Development Unit (CADU-ARDU) program (see Cohen, J.M. (1987),
Integrated Rural Development: The Ethiopian Experiences and the Debate. Uppsala).
Someone who has got time can read this book and summarize why the program has
failed. Considering the time Ethiopia has gone through modern agricultural
technology experience, it is now clear that the country does not need to import
and introduce high yield varieties of wheat and rice. Ethiopia has got its
grain varieties such as teff, maize, sorghum and enst that fit well with its
ecology. The country has got extensive experience in irrigation even if it uses
only 8% of irrigable land. Much has been also done in areas of research and
agricultural manpower development in the country. At one time soil laboratories
were established at the regional levels to study the type of fertilizer that
suits the soil type. The government has extensive experience in providing
inputs on time. What is remaining now
is to create a purpose and system for green revolution based on the experiences
in Ethiopia and Asian countries. Green revolution is not something that starts by
directives emanating from the Minister of Agriculture. The government must declare
its intention on green revolution for the purpose of food-self sufficiency and
mobilize resources in the construction of irrigation facilities, development of
the technology, provision of inputs on time, creating conditions for the
involvement of private sector such as expanding road networks and studying the
conditions how smallholder farmers participate in the revolution. To operationalize
green revolution in Ethiopia it may be necessary to establish an expert group
which studies the context, mechanisms, intervening conditions and effects of
green revolution in the country.