GASGA- the Group for Assistance on Systems Relating to Grain After Harvest- is a voluntary association of organizations primarily linked with donor operations.
These organizations all have major involvement in most, if not all, of the following:
The association is essentially technical; it is international in character, but informal and limited in membership so that its deliberations, aimed at the specific objectives indicated below, can take place readily.
GASGA consists of the following organizations:
GASGA aims to stimulate improvement in the technical help given to developing countries in the postharvest handling, processing, storage, and transport of grain, and to harmonize activities so that the most effective use is made of members' resources. GASGA seeks to identify and suggest ways of meeting needs for research, development, training, and information in this field, in light of existing or planned operations by GASGA members and other organizations.
The Group is also prepared to answer requests for technical advice from developing countries.
GASGA also seeks to facilitate the appropriate dissemination of information about technical developments and activities in the postharvest sector to donors, developing countries, and other interested organizations. The last group includes, for example, the International Agricultural Research Centres whose commodity-oriented preharvest programs must be linked with postharvest activities and requirements.
The GASGA executive meets annually to review progress in its activities and discuss proposals for future work.
Since the 19th executive meeting, held at Feldafing, Germany, a technical seminar has been held in association with the annual meeting and the papers presented at the seminar published in the GASGA Executive Seminar Series.
This volume, the fifth in the series, contains the papers presented at a seminar held during the 23rd GASGA executive meeting, hosted by IDRC, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, from 10 to 14 June 1991.
Edward J. Weber
Executive Chairman
GASGA
Sorghum, finger millet, and pearl millet have traditionally provided food, employment, and income for a substantial portion of the population, particularly smallholder producers, in the vast arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) of sub-Saharan Africa.
Historical trends, however, show that these grains are declining in absolute and relative importance in terms of production and consumption, and thus also in terms of income and employment in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa. Such a decline cannot be explained solely in terms of constraints imposed by climate, soil, and production technology. For example, farmers have been successful in increasing production of maize, a less well-adapted crop, in the ASALs.
This situation has not yet been well explained nor addressed in policy decisions and is producing unease in many areas of government, among researchers working in this subsector, and among donors concerned with food security, income, and employment issues.
Many explanations, and probably indications about what should be done next, lie with the relatively low productivity of these crops. However, postharvest constraints also contribute to the situation. GASGA members believe that the potential and position of these crops in ASAL food systems should receive comprehensive analysis from the various perspectives of producers, processors, marketers, and consumers. Therefore, they organized a consultation that would begin to provide the information required by policy makers and others to make enlightened, productive decisions and policies related to the future of the crops. The strategy proposed was a workshop that would:
Groups to be consulted included: those who make policies intended to benefit the inhabitants of the ASALs; those who allocate resources for research and development to the subsector and the ASALs; development and extension workers in the ASALs and the subsector; representatives of the food processing industry, marketing boards, etc.
The consultation was not meant to repeat the work of the technical and research workshops that have occurred at the country, regional, and international levels. Those workshops and symposia stressed the reporting of knowledge at the level of the component technology. The intention of this consultation was to consider the entire production-to-consumption system (PCS) for sorghum and millets in southern Africa. Treating the PCS as an integrated system and taking note of current research and practices, the consultation was to generate suggestions for improving the performance of the subsector in the region.
Objectively, the PCS comprises production, storage, processing, marketing, and utilization, as well as the policies that encourage or inhibit the subsector. The system also comprises the human beings who obtain a livelihood from sorghum and millets: farmers who produce and store the grain and make use of the stems and leaves; suppliers of inputs and technical advice to the farmers; processors, at home, in small enterprises, and in large industry; people who market the grain as private traders or as employees of a parastatal organization; and consumers who eat or drink products made from the grains.
The consultation was cosponsored by SMIP. We warmly acknowledge the leadership of Dr Leland House, director of SMIP, Dr David Rohrbach's key contribution to the consultation in the form of his challenge paper, and the participation of SMIP senior staff in the workshop.
The aim of the workshop was to contribute to the quality of life of dwellers in the semi-arid areas, with the following specific objectives:
The consultation began with a keynote address by Dr David Rohrbach of SMIP, Sorghum and millet food systems in southern Africa Several additional speakers were invited to elaborate on specific aspects of the paper in brief presentations, which are summarized in this report. These presentations became the inputs and set the stage for subsequent discussions by three groups, formed to consider the issues and perspectives. The workshop concluded with a plenary session that included presentations from the three groups and discussion of the conclusions and recommendations.
David D. Rohrbach
Principal Economist
SADCC/ICRISAT
Sorghum and millet were the dominant cereal grains in southern Africa as recently as 100 years ago. With the expansion of the colonial agroeconomy, however, maize production spread rapidly. By 1915, 60 000 ha of maize had already been planted in Zimbabwe, for example; this doubled over the next 15 years. The spread of mines, mills, and grain markets encouraged the expansion of maize cultivation in commercial and smallholder cropping systems throughout the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) region. Rapid growth in urban and industrial demand for maize stimulated the establishment of a framework of policy, institutions, and technology still guiding the cereal grain economies of these countries today.
Sorghum and millet are now generally viewed as secondary or traditional crops, although they are still grown on 25% of the coarse grain cropping areas of the SADCC region. However, most of these areas are in the outlying regions of the countries, where market infrastructure is limited and farm incomes remain low. The semi-arid agricultural systems are prone to mid-season dry spells and drought, production levels are highly variable, and most households suffer persistent food insecurity. Low productivity leads to a semisubsistence orientation in agricultural investment and reliance on nonfarm and off-farm sources of income.
Except for small areas of commercial production for the premium opaque beer market, sorghum and millet have been marginalized in the region's agroeconomies. Even in Botswana, where sorghum and millet account for 90% of the total crop area, larger quantities of maize and wheat are consumed.
The historical decline in the production and use of sorghum and millet has prompted questions about the future of these crops. National consumption trends suggest a broad preference for the taste of maize and wheat. The sorghum and millet purchased by several parastatal marketing boards in the region has proven difficult to sell. Industrial demand for these grains appears limited. Further, the long-term viability of agricultural investments in crop production in semi-arid regions is questionable. Returns to labour are much higher in other sectors of the economy. Declining yields suggest that crop production in many semi-arid regions may not be environmentally sustainable; these systems may be better suited to extensive livestock production.
Yet the future of sorghum and millet in the SADCC region cannot be judged solely on the basis of historical trends. Improvements in production technology can dramatically change the comparative advantage of small grains production. Rising productivity could improve the competitive position of sorghum and millet in both rural and industrial markets. Shifting market policies, changing regulations, and reducing subsidies favouring maize could also provide incentives to produce and consume these crops. The possibility of providing these incentives merits closer examination.
Reconsideration of the competitive position of sorghum and millet in southern Africa is also justified by the growing recognition of the need for new strategies for developing agriculture in semi-arid regions prone to drought. Budget deficits encourage efforts to reduce the fiscal demands of annual food distribution programs for drought relief. Foreign exchange constraints are stimulating a search for opportunities to reduce grain imports. Efforts to reduce the trade account deficits of marketing boards are resulting in the withdrawal of market support for sorghum and millet and a corresponding reduction in market services for outlying zones. Equity objectives necessitate new strategies to develop competitive private markets in these zones. Finally, public interest in the development of semi-arid regions is prompted by high unemployment and the need to stem the migration of farmers from rural to urban areas by increasing the productivity of many of the poorest rural households.
This paper provides a review of the structure of supply and demand for sorghum and millet in the SADCC region. The analysis highlights the determinants of the competitive position of these crops in the market. The paper begins with a review of the historical decline in sorghum and millet production and use with a summary of trends in their production in the SADCC region. The relative position of sorghum and millet within the framework of national coarse grains policies is then examined. A brief assessment of the justification for supporting development of the small grains subsector introduces an outline of the competitive position of sorghum and millet in the national food systems. The food systems perspective allows a clearer view of the linkages between production and consumption decisions. This highlights the key determinants of the competitive position of the small grains in alternative end uses and helps identify adjustments in grain policies, market infrastructure, and technologies necessary to exploit the competitive advantages of these crops.
The analysis refers to the introduction of structural adjustment and grain market liberalization policies in the SADCC region. These changes illustrate the recent interest of the governments in alternative development strategies. New policies are being formulated that shift the structure of investment incentives facing the agroeconomy. The adjustments offer new opportunities for exploiting the potential of the small grains subsector.
It is difficult to trace the timing of the decline in the importance of sorghum and millet in southern Africa. It began at least 100 years ago, and the largest transition seems to have occurred well before a consistent set of production estimates became available. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has maintained time-series production data since 1960. The dominance of maize in most agroeconomies in southern Africa evolved before this.
Table 1. Pattern of land allocation to coarse grains in SADCC, 1961-88.
| Average growth in coarse grains area, 1961-88 (%/year) | Proportion planted to sorghum and millet (%) | |||
| Country | Sorghum and millet |
Maize |
1961-65 |
1986-88 |
| Angola | 0.5 |
2.1 |
13.3 |
10.2 |
| Botswana |
|
3.6 |
94.9 |
87.0 |
| Lesotho | 0.2 |
0.4 |
32.5 |
31.6 |
| Malawi |
|
1.4 |
8.2 |
3.8 |
| Mozambique |
|
1.6 |
36.6 |
24.7 |
| Swaziland |
|
-0.6 |
17.1 |
3.0 |
| Tanzania | 3.7 |
2.6 |
28.5 |
34.1 |
| Zambia |
|
-1.3 |
17.6 |
11.9 |
| Zimbabwe | 0.1 |
2.1 |
39.4 |
28.9 |
Source: FAO (1988a).
Table 2. Productivity and production of coarse grains in SADCC, 1961-88.
Average growth in yield, 1961-88 (%/year) |
Proportion of sorghum and millet (%) |
|||
| Country | Sorghum and millet |
Maize |
1961-65 |
1986-88 |
| Angola |
|
-3.9 |
13.6 |
17.0 |
| Botswana | 1.7 |
|
87.0 |
83.3 |
| Lesotho |
|
0.7 |
33.3 |
28.0 |
| Malawi | 0.2 |
0.5 |
55 |
2.3 |
| Mozambique |
|
-1.4 |
33.8 |
29.7 |
| Swaziland | 2.9 |
5.0 |
19.5 |
2.2 |
| Tanzania | 0.2 |
2.7 |
29.3 |
22.9 |
| Zambia | 0.6 |
3.4 |
13.0 |
4.7 |
| Zimbabwe |
|
1.4 |
26.4 |
13.0 |
Source: FAO (1988a).
A review of coarse grain production trends over the past 25 years indicates, however, that the relative position of small grains is continuing to decline. Although the accuracy of these statistics is limited, particularly during the early period and particularly for such secondary crops, the data do offer a rough indication of land allocation and production trends.
Since 1961-65, the area planted to sorghum and millet has decreased in five of the nine SADCC countries for which data are available (Table 1). Production area has significantly increased in only one country, Tanzania, where a sorghum production promotion campaign was launched during the mid-1970s. In comparison, maize area increased in seven of the nine SADCC countries.
The area planted to sorghum and millet has declined from 27% to 24% of the total area planted to coarse grains during the past quarter century. In most countries, sorghum and millet have retained their position as critically important food security crops. Yet maize plantings are now ubiquitous. The largest shifts to maize production have occurred in countries with significant advances in maize technologies (e.g., the widespread adoption of hybrid maize in Zimbabwe and Zambia).
In general maize productivity has been improving relative to that of sorghum and millet. Average sorghum and millet yields have declined in four of the nine SADCC countries (Table 2). Average maize yields have also declined in three of these countries, but strong gains have occurred in three others. Investments in agricultural research largely oriented toward maize-based production systems seem to have paid off.
The gains in maize area and productivity led to an increase in the relative contribution of this grain to national grain production. Absolute production of sorghum and millet increased in only two of the nine SADCC countries for which data were available. The contribution of sorghum and millet to total coarse grains production increased in only one country, Angola, where average yields for maize sharply declined. In contrast, maize production increased in absolute terms in eight of nine SADCC countries.
In most of the SADCC region, coarse grain production has not kept pace with population growth or demand for these crops. As a result, the region has shifted from being a net exporter of coarse grains to being a net importer; eight of the ten SADCC countries now tend to be maize importers. Imports are increasing in both absolute and per capita terms (Table 3). Wheat grain imports are also rapidly growing. In contrast, sorghum and millet trade remains limited.
Net per capita cereal grain imports |
Net per capita maize imports |
|||
| Country | 1961-65 |
1986-88 |
1961-65 |
1986-88 |
| Angola |
|
27.2 |
1.7 |
6.5 |
| Botswana | 98.4 |
117.7 |
27.1 |
40.3 |
| Lesotho | 8.9 |
71.3 |
0.0 |
28.8 |
| Malawi |
|
1.8 |
|
0.1 |
| Mozambique | 9.0 |
26.2 |
3.9 |
12.2 |
| Swaziland | 16.2 |
55.1 |
0.0 |
22.4 |
| Tanzania | 7.2 |
5.3 |
2.3 |
|
| Zambia | 7.9 |
19.1 |
|
9.6 |
| Zimbabwe |
|
-31.5 |
-32.6 |
-38.4 |
Source: FAO (1988b).
A portion of the maize imports are needed to feed farm families in areas of sorghum and millet production, where low productivity of these grains has caused production deficits and persistent food insecurity. Rather than contributing to the national food supply, many farmers in the semi-arid regions of southern Africa are contributing to the demand for grain imports.
The low and declining productivity of small grains is partly a result of an historical preoccupation with maize production. Even areas that are not particulary suited to maize have been given over to its production. Investment needed to generate and disseminate improved technologies for the small grains has not been forthcoming. The largest growth in small grains area, in southern Africa, occurred as a result of a temporary program for the promotion of drought-tolerant crops in Tanzania. No country except South Africa has maintained a consistent small grains breeding program.
Maize currently accounts for over 50% of the area planted to coarse grains in eight of the ten SADCC countries. Only in Botswana does sorghum dominate the cropping system. The combination of maize production and imports makes maize the leading source of coarse grain calories in every SADCC country.
However, sorghum and millet remain critically important in many of the driest and most "food insecure" areas of the SADCC region. Although relegated to semisubsistence status, these crops remain essential food staples for many of the poorest farm households whose capacity to purchase imported maize is limited.
When sorghum and millet are viewed in terms of their suitability for production in drought-prone, semi-arid areas, their importance increases. At least half of the SADCC region can be characterized as semiarid and drought prone. Other areas contain acidic soils suited to the production of finger millet. Regional economic growth will best be served by promoting the production and use of a diverse set of crops suited to these agroecological conditions, not by efforts to promote a limited set of dominant crops.
Coarse grain policies in the SADCC region have evolved in response to urban and industrial demand for alternative staples. The predominance of maize arose out of the importance attached to this crop as an urban foodstuff. This justified the creation of a market infrastructure designed to encourage surplus production and deliveries to a centralized system of grain storage and processing. National marketing authorities arose out of concerns to stabilize maize supplies and provide a consistently favourable incentive for market deliveries.
Prices were fixed, grain movements were restricted, and sales had to be made through parastatal marketing boards. In some countries, even the milling industry was parastatal. Agricultural research and extension institutes were correspondingly charged with responsibility for increasing the level and quality of maize output.
Policies relating to sorghum and millet have been derived from concerns about equity rather than consideration of the value of these grains in competition with maize. In this context, regulations guiding small grains marketing and distribution have largely been established es appendages of those for maize. Sorghum and millet prices have commonly been maintained at consistent proportions of the price for maize. Movement restrictions and grade standards are similar across the coarse grains.
National grain policies have been based on the premise that all farmers are surplus producers, or at least capable of producing a surplus. Therefore, the policies have been largely extractive in design. Movement of grain within the rural areas has been discouraged (until recently, they were illegal in many SADCC countries). Grain could not legally move from farming areas with a grain surplus to areas facing deficits. The combination of pan-seasonal and pan-territorial pricing practices supported reliance on centralized, public grain stocks.
Equity was cited as justification for extending parastatal market infrastructure and associated regulations to the most distant reaches of each SADCC country. National grain policies did not discriminate between regions of high and low potential or between regions close to transportation and those more distant. In most countries, subsidies were provided to build and meet the operational expenses of outlying marketing board depots. In some cases these subsidies were direct budgetary expenditures. In others, the cost of outlying infrastructure was cross-subsidized by profits from market operations along rail lines.
In some countries, subsidies on production inputs (seed and fertilizer) were established to encourage the use of improved varieties and methods. Subsidized credit linked the production of a maize surplus with grain deliveries to the marketing authorities. National maize promotion programs employed extension agents to encourage larger plantings of maize-virtually regardless of the agroecological zone. Agricultural development programs were primarily defined in terms of maize production initiatives designed to achieve food self sufficiency, and food security was defined in terms of the level of national grain stocks.
Concern for the poor consumer brought additional subsidies on the retail price of maize meal. These encompassed direct subsidies of milling costs and indirect subsidies on meal distribution. Pan-territorial consumer prices encouraged the spread of industrially milled maize to the most distant regions. As a result, maize milled by urban industry is often the cheapest source of cereal calories in many sorghum and millet growing zones. In some rural markets, industrially milled maize is the only grain available. Households experiencing production shortfalls due to the lack of improved sorghum and millet technologies have been forced into reliance on the urban industrial output. National market policies, originally structured to provide a steady supply of maize to urban consumers, have also encouraged the movement of grain through urban industry back out to the rural areas that experience consistent food deficits.
Maize consumption has been further encouraged by the indiscriminant distribution of maize in drought-relief programs. Maize is viewed by many politicians as superior to sorghum and millet and food aid is a politically significant transaction.
In recent years, governments throughout the SADCC region have recognized that the budget deficits incurred through subsidization of grain production and market systems are unsustainable. The deficits have stimulated efforts to reduce market subsidies and, in some cases, eliminate them altogether. Trade restrictions are being lifted-initially on crops less important to the industrial economy (restrictions on trade in small grains have been lifted in virtually every SADCC country). Market liberalization has also involved reducing support to the outlying areas. Parastatal depots in remote areas and in areas with low or inconsistent delivery levels are being closed down.
As markets are liberalized, both parastatal and new private-sector traders are concentrating their resources along the more profitable routes in high rainfall zones. These encompass the major transport routes for maize flow to urban markets. The access to markets of outlying sorghum and millet production zones will deteriorate. Over time, private-sector investments should support the movement of grain directly from surplus to deficit regions and the reliance of deficit regions on imported maize meal should decline. Intrarural movement of sorghum and millet should increase. Yet no country in the SADCC region has a clearly defined strategy to promote the development of this sort of competitive, private trading network in outlying regions.
Market liberalization will also shift the competitive position of sorghum and millet as industrial inputs. Several opaque brewing industries have already shown an interest in contracts with large-scale commercial farmers for a supply of high-quality sorghum. The milling industries may perceive similar incentives. But the participation of most sorghum and millet producers in commercial grain markets will be limited by the high cost of collecting grain from large numbers of small farmers in outlying areas. Trade ties with small farmers will also be discouraged by the quality requirements of particular industries.
The liberalization of national grain markets could broadly shift the terms of trade facing the majority of small farmers in the semi-arid regions of southern Africa. The ultimate impact of these adjustments will depend on both the phasing of deregulation and the changing structure of investment incentives facing the private market. The development of the sorghum and millet subsector critically depends on major improvements in technology. In addition, production and consumption incentives will be guided by the evolution of rural grain markets.