GSR Blog Special Series #1: A Tale of Two Cedis Part Six – Everyone Loves an Underdog

[As you may remember from previous episodes, the two heroic cedis (a cedi is the currency of Ghana (pronounced “cee-dee”) were looking to go out into the world to seek their fortune. They first thought of going to China, where so many cedis before them ended up, but none of these cedis had ever returned (since China sold manufactured goods with higher value than the raw materials it purchased from Ghana) They also decided

that jumping into a development project funded by an IGO would be a waste of time, since they had seen so many projects, but none of them brought any improvement to the local economy. Finally, a wise 10 pesewa coin explained to them the benefits of local self reliant development. This “African solution for African problems” appealed to the cedis and they listened carefully to the 10 pesewa coin.]

An ugly old one pesewa coin had been sitting quietly with them in Lili’s pocket. He was a scarred veteran. He had seen a lot of bad harvests and inadequate meals. Suddenly, he spoke out, “You are crazy, Cedi boy! Do you think that you can beat the system? You are facing the boys with the big money running the big plantations. They have the odds stacked in their favor to win. You are like the village soccer team challenging the Ghana national team – the Black Stars. You can never win. Just tell Lili to stay in her village and be happy with a half bowl of cassava:

One of the cedis stood up and protested strongly, “Whenever there is a sports match-up where one team is considered superior to the other, almost everyone is rooting for the underdog. Even staunch supporters of the superior team are excited to see the little guys win.”

The one pesewa coin frowned a big round frown. “More than enthusiasm is needed to win this game, you know? There are some real stumbling blocks here. The problems facing villages today are enormous. At present, smallholder farmers in rural Africa have not been able to compete with large scale plantations, as they are generally undercapitalized and cannot afford pricy inputs such as fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.

Moreover, they have been unable to take advantage of economies of scale in warehousing, mechanization, marketing, and transport. As a result, they have not benefited from the current strong global commerce and instead have been consigned to subsistence farming. Smallholder farmers often have to use substandard land, usually without the benefit of irrigation and low agricultural inputs. In fact, while their income has remained stagnant, their cost of living has steadily risen. Smallholder farmers are facing ever increasing levels of impoverishment—even as demand for their produce grows locally and globally. “

You know what, cedis, maybe the best thing for you to do would be to forget the smallholder farmers and work on one of the big plantations.”

“In the long run that would actually make things worse, “ the 10 pesewa stated emphatically. “This would result in the greatest increases in agro production but would destabilize rural communities, stunt rural economic growth, exacerbate income discrepancies between the wealthy and the poor, and ultimately would be unsustainable and damage the soil irreparably. The challenge to increase Africa’s agricultural production can be met most sustainably, and with greatest widespread economic boost, by the effective transformation of the small farm sector.”

The 10 pesewa coin said quietly, yet firmly, ‘Its more than that my friend. The small farmers can win. They may look like underdog, but GSR gives the small farmers some powerful advantages.”