Cash Crops and Food Security: A Case of Tea Farmers in Burundi

Pierre C Bitama,Philippe Burny,Patrice Ndimanya,Philippe Lebailly

doi:10.5539/ass.v16n7p81

Abstract

Food security is a genuine challenge in developing countries. To combat food insecurity, various means and strategies are being mobilized. The promotion of cash crops in rural areas is one of the main strategies for improving food security. Accessibility to subsistence staples and stable living conditions for rural farmers are made possible by the relatively high and permanent income from cash crops. This paper addresses the issue of food security by discussing the power of tea crop incomes in a rural tea farming area in Burundi. A survey was conducted in 2019 among 120 smallholder tea farmers in two communes located in the Mugamba natural region of Burundi. The results show that the tea plant contributes significantly to food security for both tea farmers and non-tea farmers. By complementing other livelihood resources, tea incomes improve the food security of smallholder tea farmers. In addition, tea incomes ensure the resilience of smallholder tea farmers during lean seasons and against various shocks. Besides, the perennial nature of the tea plant provides a pension for smallholder tea farmers in their old age.

Highlights

Despite spectacular improvements in agricultural yields worldwide over the past half century, food insecurity, hunger and undernourishment persist on the African continent, in the Horn of Africa, resulting from adverse climatic conditions and drought (Godfray et al, 2010; Food and Agriculture Organisation [FAO], International Fund Agriculture Development [IFAD], & World Food Programme [WFP], 2013; FAO, 2015; Kuma, Dereje, Hirvonen, & Minten, 2019)
Our survey revealed that the availability and accessibility of livelihood to tea growers depend on several resources: food staples produced or purchased with the income from the tea plant, sale of livestock, financial resources through leasing of arable land, donations from Non-Governmental Organizations, financial resources from trade, remittances, etc
The valuation of the sample's 2018 annual food crop production showed that tea plant income, continuously earned throughout the year, is lower than the income from the production of some foodstuffs

Summary

Introduction

Despite spectacular improvements in agricultural yields worldwide over the past half century, food insecurity, hunger and undernourishment persist on the African continent, in the Horn of Africa, resulting from adverse climatic conditions and drought (Godfray et al, 2010; Food and Agriculture Organisation [FAO], International Fund Agriculture Development [IFAD], & World Food Programme [WFP], 2013; FAO, 2015; Kuma, Dereje, Hirvonen, & Minten, 2019). Food security is the ability of a country or region to ensure long-term physical and economic access to safe and nutritious food for all its people in order to meet food and dietary preferences for an active and healthy life (World Bank [WB], 1986; FAO, 2008). Addressing food and nutritional insecurity is a combination of strategies, means, policies and programmes priorities for economic growth (FAO, 2009; FAO, IFAD, & WFP, 2012)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion