Editorial

While the world and the Global South in particular struggle to come to grips with the ongoing effects of COVID-19, one area that will be affected is agriculture. While not specifically looking at COVID-19, this issue of DiP looks at agriculture in a range of global contexts from dairy, to forest management and forest products; the intersection of farmers’ interests with that of small-scale mining; extension (as the topic of two papers), as well as the politics of development work – all of which will be affected by the ongoing health effects of COVID-19. Agriculture will have to adapt to COVID in its many dimensions, and one paper here, by Madan, highlights its effects on extension training.

Anaya explores the role of universities in local development through dairy farms and how changes in informal knowledge exchange occur between farmers and the academy. In a similar vein, a Practice Note by Madan looks at how COVID-19 has affected the training of local extension officers at Michigan State University by bringing it online, and the challenges this move has created. With reference to a case study from Egypt, Daburon and colleagues also explore dairy farming, and how effective value chains are managed. The message here is the importance of coordination between dairy farmers and processors for the sustainability of the system, rather than a single business model.

Tarekegne explores the uptake of innovative agriculture in Ethiopia with a fairly common list of structural impediments, such as poor coordination, skill shortage, inadequate budgets, and poor infrastructure. While Omulo, Daum, Köller, and Birner, in a similar vein, argue in a Viewpoint that for conservation agriculture to succeed, larger farmers need to help smaller farmers with machines, and to make labour intensive systems more sustainable.

Melak, Dagnew, Yehuala, and Gelaw note that the input subsidy schemes, which are making a return to Malawi are important for poorer farmers and have positive welfare effects, but they also argue for some form of offset scheme for larger farmers, to avoid political tensions. Also in Malawi, Ricker-Gilbert, Jayne, and Chamberlin examine the power tenant farmers can have over landlords in the reverse of what is often a stereotypical view. They found that landlords often put their land out to tenancy when they are short of cash, and so can be in a dependent relationship with their own tenants.

Also being cognisant of political tensions, Chari, Novukela, and Ngcamu examine the intersection and, at times, the conflict between agriculture and artisanal miners, who damage land and increase costs to local communities as their very presence in large numbers can push up prices of food, etc. The solution the paper argues for is stronger environmental regulations for the exploitation of small-scale resources.

Also on a political theme, Wild, Kelly, and Roche examine the idea of thinking and working politically in the context of development projects in the Pacific through the Pacific Leadership programme. They found that it is important to know when to push on issues, and when to step back. Part of knowing this is through building effective relationships, both formal and informal. In Ghana, Busia argues that the traditional authorities can play an important role in times of COVID-19 and considers how they can use their roles and authority in driving community participation and depoliticising development projects.

Chowdhury looks at brood lac, a forest product under threat most commonly used to make lacquers such as shellac. Using a village case study in Uttar Pradesh in India, the paper explores the idea of brood lac banks to ensure and maintain the lac insects as part of biodiversity and forest-based livelihoods.

The issue concludes with a Book Review of Brockington and Noe’s edited open access volume Prosperity in Rural Africa? Insights into Wealth, Assets, and Poverty from Longitudinal Studies in Tanzania (OUP), which gives us a more nuanced understanding of rural poverty and prosperity.