Beyond good intentions: agricultural policy in the SADC region

This briefing note, published by Oxfam in August 2015, argues that although policy makers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are aware of the challenges facing small farmers and in particular women farmers, they urgently need to move beyond rhetoric to an action-based agenda that will catalyze smallholder-led development in the region. Smallholder farmers, and particularly women, are on the frontline in the fight against hunger and climate change in southern Africa. Unequal access to resources, poor access to finance and limited linkages to markets to sell their produce impose critical constraints, and food insecurity and poverty are the direct outcomes of this failure. In countries such as Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, between a quarter and half of the population are classified as being chronically undernourished. 

Despite rhetorical commitments, however, the implementation of agricultural policy has been weak or non-existent. Only eight of the 54 AU member states and just one of the 15 SADC countries (Malawi) have fulfilled the commitments contained in the Maputo Declaration. The accompanying strategies to enhance access to agricultural financing, such as through the establishment of rural financial intermediaries and the establishment of an agricultural development bank that is customized to meet the financing needs and challenges of the sector, have also not been implemented.

A new set of innovative, transformation-oriented policies is urgently needed to support the emergence of a vibrant and prosperous smallholder sector in the region, especially for women living in rural areas. This framework needs to target specific constraints that undermine access to key resources such as land and finance; new technology and inputs for increasing productivity; entry into viable highvalue product chains; and services such as information, training and extension.