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Action Card - February 2008

As a child living in the highlands of Ethiopia, Dinknesh believed that stones could grow. Severe erosion meant that as more and more soil was blown away, the stones in the ground appeared to be getting bigger.

MRDF partner SUNARMA trains youth groups in water and soil conservation, so that they can reclaim degraded land. Unusually for a girl, Dinknesh is a group leader and her group has received seeds, tools and training for tree planting.

Planting trees helps stop soil erosion, improves farmland and provides shelter for livestock and leaves for fuel. Other farmers are so impressed that they now come to Dinknesh and her youth group for advice.

Projects such as SUNARMA do a great deal to help people in poor rural areas support themselves and their families in a sustainable way. The approach taken by MRDF and its partners on a small scale needs to be appropriately recognised within UK government aid policy. Although the UK government already provides aid to developing countries, spending on agriculture has more than halved in the past 10 years and tends to go to larger ‘commercially viable’ farms rather than to those who risk starvation if their crops fail.

Douglas Alexander is the UK’s new Secretary of State for International Development. In a few months, he will review his department’s agriculture policy: he has the perfect opportunity to ensure it prioritises poor farmers. Concern are running a campaign called ‘unheard voices’ encouraging people to write to Douglas Alexander on this issue.

Express your conviction that support to the poorest farmers is central to reducing hunger. Urge Douglas Alexander, as Secretary of State for International Development, to ensure that this year’s review of DFID’s agriculture policy acknowledges the role that poor farmers play rather than focusing only on farmers who already produce enough for the markets.

It is recommended that DfID:

• prioritise and increase support to marginal farmers, for whom agriculture is their only option, so they can grow enough food for their families and communities now and in the future

• ensure that the support farmers receive satisfies their expressed needs, sustains their farming environment and changes local policies and practices in their favour.

Details of the ‘unheard voices’ campaign see www.concern.net

For more information on the work of SUNARMA and MRDF see

www.mrdf.org.uk

Address:

Douglas Alexander

Deparment for Internaltional Development

1 Palace Street

London SW1E 5HE