Dec. 82/Jan. 83 RAIN Page 12 USTAINABLE AGRICULTURE: A Tradition in West Africa An interview with David and Mark Freudenberger Agricultural sustainability is more than a new catchword, it is an objective for realizing a long-term coeuolutwnary relatwnship between humans and natural resources wherever one is throughout the world. Yet to many people in the drought-plagued countries of West Africa, sustainability is synonymous with day to day survival, a hope threaded intricately with each moment of living. nvo dedicated brothers are challenging us to think more clearly about the conditions for sustainable food production and self-reliant development. David and mark Freudenberger are of the soil. David was born in Zaire, and Mark has spent over half his life in Africa. Between them, they present their vision of sustainable farming systems which incorporate forestry and wildlife mangement strategies for West Africa. Mark recently served as a project agronomist .for Catholic Relief Services in Upper Volta. Previously, he worked with the Peace Corps in Togo, and Bread for the World in Washington. David has recently written a chapter on deer (arming and management in South Africa in David Yerex's book The Fanning of Deer: World Trends and Techniques (1982). In 1977, David attended the U.N. Conference on Desertification in Nairobi, Kenya. Both David and Mark provide us with a greater familiarity with the land and people ofWest Africa. They express a revrencefor the land and its natural rsources, as well as a deep respect for the people who create self-reliant development. Their message is clear. Sustainable and selfreliant developmen t can occu r ifwe take note ofwhere we have been and apply it to where we are going. - Jim and Rosalind Riker RAIN: Your work in West Africa has focused on sustainable food production systems of forest and grasslands and wildlife management. Yet this concept of permaculture doesn't seem to be getting the recognition it deserves. Hasn't the whole emphasis to date been instead on field crop production, such as millet? MARK: Yes, most of the research funds are channeled into field crop production and how to increase it. There is very little research on forestry and multiple use of trees, integrated with fuel crop production, animal husbandry, and conservation. When I presented a paper to the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) and other groups in integrated forestry, they thought it was a great idea but not practical and relevant. I think they are wrong. There are examples that have been tried all over the world which suggest that if you start first on integrating tree crop production into field crop production based on native practices you might be on the right track. Eventually this may supplement or even replace field crop production on poor soils entirely, and lead to a more sustainable system. RAIN: How do these concepts of integrated farming, forestry and wildlife management apply to local conditions? DAVID: Keep in mind that cropping has to be structured very much on a micro-regional basis. There is a whole western mentality that farms go from fence line to fence line, over hill and dale. But that just does not work in the African climates and soils. Development must occur on a local basis, recognizing ecological as well as social differences. There might be an incredible diversity within a very small area. You may see a rice paddy that is 3x10 meters and it may do very well though all around it is barren rock. MARK: I think the marginal lands have to be put into tree crop production and grasses. Then your best land with the deepest soils, the alluvial soils, can be very carefully used for particular types of field crop production, if you can maintain the soil fertility in the long-term. I am not sure that can be done, due to the soil erosion and I don't believe we can sit back and philosophize about whether or not there is hope. That is doomsday politics. We must get on with the work that needs to be done. nutrient depletion of current field crop production. RAIN: Given the current deterioration of the land, it seems that there is not much which can be based on the traditional agriq.Iitural system. Are we moving into a transitional system of agriculture based on the existing conditions? DAVID: It is transitional in the sense that we cannot go backwards, but I think there is a great deal of value in the traditional knowledge which should not be lost. For instance, western scientists can identify only 16 varieties of millet, while the local villager can identify 54 varieties. That kind of knowledge base, which includes the uses of
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