The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does agroforestry fit in? - World ...

130World Agroforestry into the Futureing curricula and technologies to promoteit. The concept of rural development wasadded in the early 1990s, when it becameapparent that efficient farming alone wouldnot solve the economic and social problemsof rural eastern Africa.Conscious of the need to ensure that thefocus of Baraka remained on primaryproducers in rural communities, a strategicplanning process was started in early2003. This involved intensive work by collegemanagement, staff and many partnerorganizations, including Kenya’s Ministriesof Agriculture and Education, Science andTechnology. The resulting strategic plancharts a clear path for the future. BakaraCollege will continue its role of strivingto empower rural communities throughpromoting the concept of sustainable agricultureand rural development (SARD).This chapter is based on the practical experienceof Baraka College over the past 29years, hence we do not refer to the literature.Box 1. Baraka Agricultural CollegeOur Vision: ‘Rural communities wherepeople live in dignity and harmony withtheir environment and God’.Our Mission: ‘To promote sustainableagriculture and rural development ineastern Africa through dialogue, participatoryeducation, training, research andextension’.Dependency on agricultureA cursory social analysis of the countriesof eastern Africa gives a clear picture ofthe social, economic, environmental andpolitical realities of the region. Seventy percentof the population lives in rural areasand 60 percent of rural inhabitants live inabsolute poverty; the physical and socialinfrastructure is very poor; education levelsare low; government development servicesare inadequate and not likely to improve;government decision making is influencedby a small percentage of the population;cultural values are strong, but cultural practiceshave not adapted to changed realities;the informal education system has beenneglected; and there is over-emphasis onacademic university education and a correspondingneglect of the middle-level educationinstitutions. The hasty dismantling ofState Marketing Boards and other essentialrural development services has left smallholderfarmers and pastoralists with littlepractical State support. The nurturing of dependencyand the neglect of the informaleducation system has contributed to a lackof organization by rural people and theygenerally lack the confidence to contributeto or influence the national and internationalpolicies that affect them.Yet according to government planning, thesmallholder–pastoralist sector will becomemore important in providing employmentand creating wealth in the future. Table 1clearly shows the scale of the challenge.By 2008, the small-scale agriculture sectoris expected to directly absorb 10.09 millionof an estimated 18.05 million labour force.By that time, the formal sector of the economywill employ a mere 1.83 million people.Baraka Agricultural College is convincedthat SARD is the most appropriate responseto the economic, social, environmental andpolitical realities of eastern Africa.Sustainable agriculture andrural developmentSARD is a development concept that promotesefficient, environmentally friendlyfarming and integrated rural development.Sustainable agriculture is concerned witheducating and training farmers, studentsand development workers to look onfarming as an environmentally friendlybusiness. The emphasis is on using locallyavailable resources and technologies.Criteria in all decision-making processesinclude the economic, environmental,social and cultural impacts of such decisions.The concept includes activities outsidethe farmgate, including the need forcooperation with neighbours, for example,self-help groups, marketing associations,cooperative societies or other farmer-representativestructures. From the farmer’sperspective, for a farm to be sustainable,it must satisfy the food security, cash andenergy needs of the family depending on it.Therefore, home management, social andcultural issues also need to be addressed.Sustainable agriculture aims to promote efficientfarming, but no matter how efficient,farming alone will not eradicate poverty.Rural development encourages the integrateddevelopment of rural areas throughadding value to farm produce, improvingthe efficiency of the informal industrial sectorand attracting local and foreign capitaland expertise to invest in rural areas, sobringing jobs to the people. Rural developmentis also concerned with improving educationand medical services, security andrecreation facilities, and generally makingrural areas more attractive to live in.Baraka College takes community developmentas a prerequisite for the success ofSARD. Youth development, gender, theenvironment and HIV/AIDS are some of thecrosscutting issues that have to be addressedwithin the SARD concept. We emphasizethe value of informal education and trainingsystems and promote integral developmentof the individual and resources.