At the beginning of the new millennium, rural livelihoods in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa are under considerable strain and, in many countries, poverty remains endemic. Agriculture lies at the core of rural livelihoods and has a major influence on the standard and quality of lives of millions of people. Farm power - or the availability of people, animals and machines to carry out work - is a crucial input in the agricultural production process. Although the lack of power affects almost all aspects of rural family life, the effect that a shortage has on a family’s ability to cultivate sufficient land has long been recognized as a major contributory factor to the increasing prevalence of poverty in the region. The viability of rural livelihoods is threatened by many factors that reduce the availability of farm power. Addressing these threats constitutes a major challenge for many parts of sub-Saharan Africa today.
For a number of years, the Farm Power and Mechanization Group of FAO has been investigating the problems of farm power and shortages thereof at global, regional, country and farmer levels. This report is the most detailed yet of the work being carried out on this issue and examines the farm-level development of the availability of human power, draught animals and motorized power. Although the availability of these sources of power affects almost all aspects of living, this report focuses on their availability and use for the cultivation of agricultural land. It examines the vulnerability of farm-power systems and the interrelations between farm-power options (hand labour, draught animals, and tractors) as well as the overall farm power and labour base. The funding for carrying out this study has come from the Regular Programme Budget of FAO through the programme entity "Enhancing Small Farmer Livelihoods".
This study is significant in that it may be the first to discuss specifically the farm-power theme through the livelihoods philosophy. In particular, it highlights the overall problem of the availability of farm power and its interrelationships with socioeconomic parameters of rural life. The report illustrates the complexity of farm-power interrelations and problem areas that are clustered around the farm-power theme. It makes very clear that farm-power availability is not solely a matter of promoting a certain technology or piece of equipment. It shows that all aspects of the livelihoods of a rural household are interconnected and affected by the available farm-power base.
We hope that this report will contribute to increasing the understanding of the role of farm power and appropriate mechanization for stabilizing the asset base and the source for living of many farming households in sub-Saharan Africa.
Finally, I should like to pay tribute to the author, Clare Bishop-Sambrook, for pioneering the methodology used in this study and for leading and motivating all the participants from the seven countries and FAO who were involved in carrying out the fieldwork and finalizing the study.
Lawrence Clarke
Senior Officer
Farm Power and
Mechanization Group
Agricultural and Food Engineering Technologies
Service
FAO
