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By Charles Dhewa
That food systems are more than agriculture is no longer debatable. However, what is worrying in most countries that depend on agriculture is the extent to which biodiversity and natural ecosystems are being destroyed in favor of agriculture. Conversely, the past few years have seen an increase in the volume of wild fruits and other natural foods flowing into African mass markets. This is an indication that, with increasing droughts and other natural disasters, conventional agriculture will not continue to be the main source of food but Mother Nature will provide a big morsel.
Beyond farmers’ rights or human rights
Farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, and other indigenous communities that depend on natural forests have rights but we need to also assign rights to forests, trees, birds, wild animals, mountains, soils, rivers, and other ecosystems that continue to be abused merely because they are assumed to have no rights. If the world continues to value farmers’ rights and human rights at the expense of natural or ecosystem rights, we will not be able to combat climate change.
In most countries that are practicing industrial agriculture, chemicals are being used to kill birds while fertilizers are being used to contaminate soils and water bodies with no regard to the fact that these natural resources have rights too. Who said human beings are superior to birds? In countries like Zimbabwe, quelea birds are being killed to protect wheat, yet they used to survive on natural forests that have, unfortunately, been cleared to plant wheat, maize, and many other imported foods.
Where does agriculture start and end?
Every African country has natural species like birds, squirrels, baboons, monkeys, Njiri, Sambani, and many others that cannot be practically locked in national parks. Given that conventional agriculture has invaded their habitats, these animals frequently interface with conventional agriculture where they also get their food. For some reason, African agricultural ministries have no program for these animals which are part of the local food systems. While there are some programs for promoting domesticated hybrids like broilers, there is no similar program for promoting guinea fowls, quelea birds, and other species on which local communities depend for food, fruits, honey, and well-being.
Quelea birds were available before the introduction of wheat and survived on wild grasses which were sadly destroyed to give way for wheat production and other monocultures. Indigenous farmers who produced small grains before the advent of maize and wheat would leave enough for quelea birds and other wild species. When small grains were threshed, the birds would feed on leftovers like husks called hundi in the Shona language of Zimbabwe. Following the intensive promotion of wheat by policymakers, quelea birds have considered wheat a substitute for their natural grasses and small grains which are no longer produced in abundance due to Western-oriented food policies.
A market for imported food and chemicals
By using imported chemicals to control quelea birds and other species, African governments do not realize they are creating a market for imported food and chemicals to protect western food systems in Africa. The same mindset has seen African governments importing tractors and other equipment destroying African natural habitats and food systems.
There is no doubt that chemicals used to spray crops and kill quelea birds have long-term effects on people and water systems. What kills a bird can also harm a human being. Where chemicals are being used to kill quelea birds as part of protecting wheat, very soon those birds will be extinct. Instead of spraying with chemicals, what prevents researchers from coming up with other ways of controlling the birds? Sorghum breeders in Southern Africa have come up with a variety called Shirikure which is not attacked by birds. What is preventing wheat breeders from coming up with varieties that are not easily attacked by birds rather than promoting the use of chemicals?
Need for food systems watchdogs
The fact that natural animal species like quelea birds are a source of income, nutrition, medicine, livelihood, and spiritual satisfaction for many African communities is totally ignored by policymakers obsessed with protecting elite crops like wheat. Like several animal species that are being ignored, quelea birds play a very important role in pollination and stepping up the production of crops, pastures, and other foods. That is why food systems watchdogs are urgently needed at the community and national levels in every African country.
The fact that natural animal species like quelea birds are a source of income, nutrition, medicine, livelihood, and spiritual satisfaction for many African communities is totally ignored by policymakers obsessed with protecting elite crops like wheat. Like several animal species that are being ignored, quelea birds play a very important role in pollination and stepping up the production of crops, pastures, and other foods. That is why food systems watchdogs are urgently needed at the community and national levels in every African country.
A critical role for the food systems watchdogs will be using evidence to challenge the way policymakers and consumers think about food systems. When people understand those food systems are more than agriculture, they will begin to empathize with the natural environment and biodiversity.
That is also how we can end up recognizing the fact that natural resources also have rights like human beings. In a changing climate, it is no longer enough to talk and think in terms of human rights, farmers’ rights, and other narrow perspectives on the notion of rights. We can only care for natural ecosystems if we recognize that they also have rights. Broadening and deepening the way we think about food systems and the environment can save the planet and humanity. Just like people, baboons, quelea birds, trees, rivers, mountains, and forests have the right to exist and not be abused. Some of these issues are ignored because there is often no complainant – it is like a crime without criminals.