The agricultural space in developing countries is already bedeviled with challenges such as high cost of inputs, inaccessible to premium markets, inadequate market information, poor extension service delivery, disruption of the food supply chain due to external shocks amongst others. These challenges and many more exposed the agricultural sector to many uncertainties and less productivity. With all these challenges, still, farmers are cultivating the land and raising livestock for food to ensure its availability with the hope that situation changes for better to earn more from these efforts. Sadly, the situation is becoming worse and more challenging than before.
This situation requires critical thinking and proactive actions especially for the policy makers to step in to cushion the effect. This is done by understanding the new trend of challenges being confronted by farmers through active monitoring and data gathering through consented efforts to build systems that ensure that relevant data needed are ascertained, reliable sources for data are developed or identified for improvement and actively monitored to ensure that new policies developed align with the interest and needs of all agricultural stakeholders or actors. This is because policies should be a guide that propels us to a prosperous future or desired destination and should never be a barrier to achieving our goals. For policies to achieve intended results in the agricultural sector, it must be data-driven (hinged on accurate data), inclusive, and there must be a strong political will to ensure that food security becomes a reality.
In this wake of our changing reality, there is a need for proactive efforts by the relevant agricultural stakeholders to be involved in policy processes through constant engagement with policy makers and advocacy calls at the various stages of its formulation. We need to be intentional and involved at all the stages as the eventual policy decision affects us all. Also, our farmers and other actors in the agricultural sector should not always be at the receiving end of sudden external shocks that have a lasting impact on their business and livelihoods, and left to suffer alone (even this is not possible as it has ripple effects on the food supply chain), but we need policies and plans that address the changing reality, cushioning the effects and as well give a genuine renewed hope. We need to be informed, we need to be involved and we need to be understood!
