Why hasn the Green Revolution benefited small farmers?
In effect what it has done is to disrupt farming systems. It has disrupted [small farmers’] systems and their income. So it hasn’t really assisted small-scale farmers because of all the requirements and pre-conditions for the Green Revolution to work. Small farmers cannot afford them. It needs a continuous flow of income, of money. It requires you to have a continuous supply of improved seeds which small-scale farmers cannot afford to buy because their cash flow is erratic. It is dependent [solely] on the yield that they get from their investment in farming. If you don’t get good yields, then your flow of income is severed and in the next planting season you will not get anything because you do not have the money to buy seeds, you do not have the money to buy other chemical inputs. So for Africa, for small-scale farmers, it hasn’t worked. But it is not a new thing that is being brought to Africa. It has been tried here. IPS: The Green Revolution in Asia is credited with massive increas
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