African leaders cite a need for new, small-scale technologies to irrigate Africa s lands during the dry spells. We must move to agriculture that relies on water collected during the rainy season, said Vice President Kazibwe. We must tap underground water and the water in our fresh water lakes and rivers. But we must adopt technologies for storing and using water that are appropriate for our small farms. Technology Part of a Larger Mosaic There are many sociopolitical issues that mire new technology once it has been developed.
Technological innovation is just one stone in a large and complex mosaic.
According to Idachaba, unsound food policies and governmental instability in large part hinder the ability of technology to help the small farmer. Throughout the 1980s and continuing into this decade some of the poor food policies were reversed, according to Idachaba. But still, from government to government and from country to country, policy failures persist because their political cost has been too low. We must raise the cost of governmental neglect of African agriculture. Rural people must put political pressure on governments to support improvements in agricultural technologies.