Data collection and analysis is only as valuable as the parameters that are addressed. If important parameters are overlooked, important information that can guide future programs to more effective efforts can easily be lost and may have been. When it comes to food security and nutrition, I would like to suggest a couple important interwoven parameters that have been historically overlooked. Once these parameters are addressed, the data collected and analyzed, substantial improvements might be possible to the basic approach to both food security and improved nutrition.
1. First, is the operational feasibility of innovation. The agronomists, including myself, with their small plot technology do an excellent job of determining what is physical possible in an area, but say nothing about operationally feasible of their results particularly for smallholder farmers heavily relying on manual labor. That is who in the agronomic development technology transfer process is responsibility to determine:
a. The labor or access to mechanization needed to complete various agronomic activities within the estimated time allocated;
b. If that labor or access to mechanization is available;
c. If not available, what are the rational compromises farmers should make to adjust the innovations to their limited operational capacity; and
d. How close to the current practices do these compromises come?
From an agronomic data collection prospective there is a simple proxy value to measure operational feasibility. That is timing of operations particularly the spread of basic crop establishment, which is often 8 weeks or more. This is well past the normal estimate of only 2 weeks and well beyond when recommended top dressing of fertilizer and good weeding is overdue. This data is easy to collect through farmer interview or simple field observations. The difficulty here is that this has been long noted, but attributed to lack of motivation or risk avoidance, and the need for extension programs to badger smallholders on the importance of early planting. Something they are most likely aware of as their very livelihood depends on it. This of course assume early planting is fully discretionary and labor is infinitely available. Is that realistic?? Isn’t it time to assume delayed planting is non-discretionary and focus programs toward enhancing the operational capacity of smallholder so they can get their crops planted in a timelier manner??!!
https://webdoc.agsci.colostate.edu/smallholderagriculture/OperationalFeasibility.pdf
https://webdoc.agsci.colostate.edu/smallholderagriculture/BrinksDrudgery.pdf
2. A major factor in the operational feasibility is the caloric energy balance of smallholder farmers to undertake a full day of diligent agronomic field work. It is interesting to note that we have historically recognized that smallholder farmers are poor and hungry, but rarely factored hungry as a major hinderance to crop production. We have also rarely even collected data on how many calories smallholder have access to. Why has this not been done?? What little data is available show daily caloric intake of between 2000 – 2500 kcal. If you subtract the 2000 kcal/day estimate of basic metabolism, where is the energy for agronomic field work? With these limited dietary calories how many diligent hours of field work are possible, and what will this do to the time it takes to get basic crop establishment? To do a full day of diligent agronomic field work takes in excess of 4000 kcal. Are our extension efforts compelling people to exert more effort than the calories they have access to? If so, does that qualify for Genocide? How close are we? Should this be referred to the International Criminal Court in The Hague as a potential “Crime Against Humanity”? Very provocative, but just how accurate is it?? Should we enhance the effort to collect information of available calories, analysis that in terms of potential hours of diligent agronomic effort, impact on crop husbandry, and food security? Also, how would the need for calories to meet economic opportunity impact on the nutrition programs promoting more diversified diets? Which should get the highest priority? I fear it will be for higher levels of caloric energy to optimize economic opportunity.
https://agsci.colostate.edu/smallholderagriculture/ethiopia-diet-analysis/
Dr. Dick Tinsley