cases from tanzania - Sustainet

5 Scaling up
agriculture is an investment that can pay dividends: with proper support, sustainable
agriculture can generate more revenue for the government in the form of taxes, and
reduce the cost of providing for destitute rural people. Development organizations can
also organize farmers so they can apply for government funding.
• Networking Lobbying carries more weight if several organizations join together to
press for the same cause. A network of organizations pulling in the same direction is
more likely to be heard than each organization individually. PELUM-Tanzania (p. 85)
works with MVIWATA and other farmers’ organizations, as well as with other NGOs
and community organizations, to press for policy changes.
challenges
Political scaling up can promise big rewards – if, for example, the government agrees to
sponsor a major expansion in a particular sustainable agriculture approach. But it also is full
of challenges. Here are some.
• Government priorities Government priorities might not be in line with sustainable
agriculture ideas. Agriculture may be low down the government’s priority list. Even if
the government views farming as important, it may emphasize high-input agriculture
rather than the sustainable sort.
• Commitment of officials A sustainable agriculture organization is lucky if the national
and local governments are understanding and supportive of its efforts. But this is
sometimes not the case: unfortunately some officials are not interested, uncooperative,
lack the right skills, have different views about what is desirable, are corrupt, or are just
too busy.
• Time and skills Building awareness and getting support at the policy level takes a lot
of time, and requires staff who are adept at lobbying. But with their field focus, organizations
promoting sustainable agriculture may not necessarily have the time and staff
available.
• Cost Lobbying and advocacy is costly, and there is a high risk of failure (or at least of
only partial success).
• Competition Governments have only a limited amount of resources to allocate, and
there is stiff competition for these. Many organizations and interest groups compete for
policy makers’ time and for the limited pool of resources. Sustainable agriculture must
vie with many other deserving causes: education, health and so on. Other stakeholders
might try to influence policies in the opposite direction. For example, agrochemicals
suppliers are unlikely to sit quietly if they think sustainable agriculture is going to damage
their sales of pesticides. These competitors often have deeper pockets, dedicated
lobbying staff and good ties to key officials.
One way of overcoming these constraints is to ally with other organizations involved in
sustainable agriculture and rural issues to engage in lobbying work. That way, the organizations
can pool resources and knowledge. They can employ specialist lobbying staff, and can
provide the government with a much larger, more credible set of evidence about sustainable
agriculture than any one organization could do alone.
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