MISEREOR

Investigational journey exploring the topic “Agricultural Revolution in Africa - Growth Corridors versus Rural Agricultural Development”.

In May 2012, the “New Alliance for Food Safety for Africa” was established at the G8 summit in Camp David. The defined goal was and is the creation of secure conditions for private investments in the agricultural sector in Africa - with the involvement of the German and American government, the World Food Programme, global cooperations like Monsanto or Unilever and the World Bank. These investments have already been implemented in Tanzania as the “Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor” (SAGCOT). This corridor covers a third of the mainland of Tanzania, from the port city Dar es Salaam, over the southern highlands and up to the border to Zambia and Malawi.

With the aid of modern agricultural techniques, two million people are supposed to be freed from poverty. The target group of the development programme are mainly peasant farmers: they are meant to get better access to fertilisers, seeds, agricultural advice and schools or be directly integrated into the supply chain of the agricultural sector through “contract farming”. To this end, about 350,000 hectare of land are supposed to transfer to modern agriculture.

However, in the fall of 2012, critical voices of MISEREOR partners from Tanzania reported land grabbing, conflicts over land, bad payment and substandard working conditions on the plantations.

client: www.misereor.de
location: Tanzania
date: 30.06 - 8.07.2015

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