Friday, January 21, 2011

Life after farmers. How will we manage without them?

Kerala farmer and son
An informal and unscientific poll of the farmers that I’ve met so far in Kerala confirm that within the next decade or two we may be moseying along into a huge farming crisis as  NONE of the farmers thought their children would take over the family business. 

Kerala is a bit of an exceptional place as they have universal access to education resulting in 100% literacy. The educated young people inevitably go abroad or to the city to earn better money in office jobs. However that aside we can see this scenario being reenacted across the rest of the globe, for example in the UK and the US the average age of a farmer is 58 and in Kenya it’s 60.

There are lots of reasons for this. In all countries, low prices and the constant uncertain fluctuating market have pushed people away from farming. In others farming is a low status occupation, so even if the returns are good, a job elsewhere is preferred.

Cadbury’s recognized the problem and the threat this insecure situation posed to the long term viability of their business and so decided to invest in the supply chain through the Fairtrade system and also their own cocoa programme. The move, amongst other things, resulted in the Dairy Milk bar achieving Fairtrade certification and meant cocoa farming being a more attractive proposition for workers and young people in the area.

Another difficult truth is that the practically universally agreed with right of access to education for young people (especially dear to Fair Trade supporters), has an unintended other consequence: the traditional skills which for centuries have been passed down from generation to generation are getting lost as people learn about computers instead of farming.

I’m not saying that we should reverse the situation and if I was offered a job as a farmer I would turn it down straight away (pros: nice views, driving a tractor and fresh food. Cons: early starts, bad pay, bad weather, no holidays and never ending long hours). But it does need serious thought and debate in the Fair Trade world and beyond.

What on earth are we going to do when there are no more farmers?
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8 comments:

  1. Very interesting Kate. Sad to think of farming as an increasingly lonely job. The Sepia image of farming where i was originally from in Kent farming is filled by Mass Human horse and family power - now farmers in the same area have many more machines than Animal or People to help. What farming equipment is commonly used in Kerala? Tim

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  2. Hi, it isn't mechanised at all. The coffee and spices are picked by hand. Cashews are picked by hand and then go through 16 separate processes to get the final nut (now I understand why they are expensive). The farmers are so small that they usually there will be only 1 or 2 people who work on the farm (then calling on casual labour when needed).

    The small Fair Trade farmers have a really low impact lifestyle. It's a very sustainable way of life.

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  3. 16 different processes i wouldn't have guessed! Would be nice to know what those are. Good to hear its low impact.

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  4. I'm glad that you have also recognised the problem in the UK.

    Poor salaries which have deterred the next generation are a problem for farmers everywhere. We do not have food security and an inevitable food crisis looms ahead.

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  5. Hi Tim, here is a link to a full explanation about cashew processing... http://practicalaction.org/docs/technical_information_service/cashew_nut_processing.pdf
    Enjoy!

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  6. It really does look like in the immediate future we will face a food/farming crisis, which makes me feel like we are operating in an insane way as a race if something as fundemental as the food we eat can be undermined. But in the longterm I think farming could become an attractive job again; surely developments in technology, job sharing and social proactivity could lead to farming being re-established as an attractive and respected career choice. I know I might sound idealistic but I think it is important to imagine how farming could work in the 21st Century- and make it happen!

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  7. Who knows..! I guess there will be some sort of tipping point where globally we look again at where are food comes from and then either the status and wages for farmers will change and people will be enticed back to the profession, or maybe we will go down the science farming route where things are grown in labs without soil etc. Lets hope for the first option, it sounds more healthy!

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  8. Interesting article on farming and farmers.

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