[MONTPELLIER, FRANCE] Smallholder farmers must become more entrepreneurial if food security is to be achieved, a key meeting on agricultural research heard yesterday (28 March).
Commercialisation of agriculture is not just about large international markets but also about vibrant and competitive local markets, according to Kanayo Nwanze, president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development and former director-general of the Africa Rice Center.
"Farming — irrespective of size and scale — must be considered as business," he told the first Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development in Montpellier, France (see Global summit seeks to transform agricultural research).
"We must think of the commercialisation of agriculture not just as the large commercial farms that feed the European Union and the United States but transforming smallholder farmers into commercial, local entrepreneurs that feed local demand. That is where you must stem cheap food coming into the country."
To read the full, original article click on this link: Turn peasant farmers into entrepreneurs, conference hears - SciDev.Net
Author: Naomi Antony
