Trends in Agriculture
Introduction
Agriculture has remained to be the backbone of the economic well-being of most developing countries in the world and hence becoming a possible sector that can eradicate poverty. First, the essay describes the history of agriculture and the various changes that have occurred in the past decades. The economic schools of thought such as classical economists, Marxian economics, and new classical economics have affected the growth of agriculture as well as the dynamics of the agrarian changes. Therefore, in consideration of these dynamics, the essay has evaluated how agricultural development can lift the rural population from poverty. The paper has focused on the different farming developments that have taken place in Tanzania and the cost incurred during the advancements. Further, reasons for implementation of numerous projects in the country and their influence on the rural populations; mainly, the small-scale farmers have been discussed. In examining the various aspects of agriculture, the essay finally considered the relationship between advanced agriculture and poverty reduction.
The paper examines if there is truth in the statement that without agricultural development there will be no industrial development and no reduction in poverty in the countryside. To demonstrate this, the research details the effects and contribution of agriculture sector in developing the economy of third world countries and the results these projects have brought to the rural areas having that they are primarily involved in agricultural activities. The paper has also evaluated the relationship between the falling of the rural population in the global south while there is an increasing development in export-led industries and explained precisely the reason for the migration of peasants to urban areas despite the reduction of poverty in the countryside caused by more investments in the rural areas. Besides, the paper determines if the type of agriculture development taking place is of any significance to the rural people whether large or small-scale farming. The article paper also describes the main trends in agriculture and their implications for industrialisation in Tanzania. Furthermore, a review of the main development direction-taking place in agriculture in the south and how these patterns are related to those in the north is explained. Finally, the paper provides for policy directions of leading institutions in addition to reviewing the critique of agricultural trends and systems together with the underlying conceptual frameworks the meaning it has to the rural people currently.
The paper concludes by examining what these trends in agricultural development have achieved for the countryside citizens who are mostly farmers and the economy of Tanzania. The article addresses the assertion whether agriculture can lift rural population from poverty and explain reasons without the existence of farming there will be no industrial development and poverty reduction. Lastly, the essay provides recommendations to the agricultural experts, economists and the government on the measures, policies, and law to be formulated and implemented to ensure there are continuous growth and development of agriculture to increase foreign exchange and GDP of Tanzania.
History of Agriculture
Agriculture is a science that involves farming and growing of crops and the rearing of animals to get products associated with these events. Another definition states that agriculture is an art and science of livestock and crop production. The history of agriculture dates back decades ago, and it was traced to have originated in the Middle East and parts of Africa. For the past centuries, the world’s population have improved gradually hence necessitating a need for the development of modern agricultural methods to meet the ever-increasing demand for food around the globe. The recent events have led to the development of current farming methods such as the use of improved crops varieties and animal breeds, use of farm machinery to increase labour productivity as well as utilising modern drugs such as pesticides, herbicides and parasites drugs to control pest, weeds, and parasites. Other methods include using new agricultural practices such as irrigation, crop rotation, and applying fertilisers among others. Despite these facts, agrarian development is lagging behind in developing countries where farming is the backbone of most economies.
Agriculture in developing countries has been the centre for economic development and poverty eradication in third world countries. Most of developing nations depend on agriculture for economic growth. Farming affects economic development and poverty reduction both directly and indirectly. In poverty eradication, agriculture has contributed to this aspect in various ways. Farms employ a majority of the countryside people both directly and indirectly. As a result, the employment offered reduces the poverty level since rural people earn a living. Most farmers receive income through exportation of agricultural commodities to foreign countries, and this increases their source of income. Additionally, according to Anderson, (2016) increase in agricultural productivity suggests to the rise in food production making the cost of food to be cheaper. Inflation in food availability reduces the cases of malnutrition and diseases associated with hunger, hence increasing the health index of the country in addition to minimising mortality rate associated with food shortage. At the same time, it indirectly increases education performance of children in these developing nations and reduces the country’s request for the donation of food aid. Increase in farmers income results to rise in standards of living in people staying in rural areas. Agriculture has also been the centre for economic growth and development through different ways. Increase in agricultural exports has led to a rise in the gross domestic product of these countries, increasing the aggregate productivity. These lead to improvement in per capita income of these countries and increased national income and high standards of living among citizens. Through these economic growths, developing countries receive and get adequate financial resources to build their infrastructure. Transport and communication networks are improved to enable easy transport of agricultural products and it contributes to improved health conditions and education sectors of these countries. Agriculture also aids in the development of industries through different methods. Most of the industrial areas depend on agriculture for raw materials, market, labour and source of food for the workers and the management of these industries. Industries rely mainly on raw materials from the farm that are necessary for the manufacturing of outputs. Agriculture also provides the market for these industrial commodities, farmers and labourer purchases products and inputs that are used or required in farming activities or for consumption in the homestead. Some farmers and agricultural professionals are employed by agricultural based industries to provide for labour in different departments of these companies. Lastly, agriculture is a source of food for both workers and the management of enterprises. Though the above explanation it’s evident that farming has contributed to the industrial development and poverty reduction in developing countries(Ruben and Steenhuijsen Piters, 2015).
Economic Schools of thought and Agriculture
Different economics schools of thoughts such as Marxian economics, classical economics, and neoclassical economics together with the dynamics of the agrarian changes, have affected the growth of agriculture during pre and post-war eras. Marxian economics which viewed a capitalist economy as self-destructive requires outside intercession and guidelines for wealth to be steady. It also considered capitalist as oppressors of the labour class. Marxian economics had different effects on agricultural developments. The school of thought did not encourage or motivate people to work hard which resulted in poor and low productivity in agriculture together with causing a decline in agriculture development(Terence, 2016). Classical economics emphasised that free markets were necessary for the achievement of the equilibrium. They argued that market interventions such as regulations and government were disrupting the natural order of the markets. Classical economics influenced the development of agricultural differently such as farmers were left to pursue their economic activities of farming without government intervention which increased productivity. Through laissez-faire policy, farmers were allowed to produce to their full capacity, earn more and save according to their wish. As a result, it encouraged farmers to create more, leading to the development of agriculture. The last school of thought is the neoclassical economics which was a modern adaptation of the classical education and involved rational expectation. The school stipulated that prices of goods and services are above their input costs and the priority of the consumer is personal satisfaction and evaluates the impact of the market demand and supply. The school aided in the development of agriculture whereby farmers got the demand and supply knowledge which enabled them to make decisions on the choice of what to produce at different seasons to avoid price fluctuations in the markets. Therefore, farmers would earn more by providing commodities which have high demand in the market (Ying and Trautwein, 2016).
Dynamics of the agrarian changes involved economic and technological conditions that directly and indirectly touched farming practices. These terms include size and productivity of the farm, land reforms, capitalist transition path and migration and rural labour markets. The size of land affects agricultural production since peasant with small farms has low outputs. The increase in immigration of rural agrarian labourers to urban areas lead to shortages of labour in the estate leading to declining in agriculture development (Bernstein, 2014).
Agricultural development can lift rural populations out of poverty through different ways. Most developing countries where agriculture is the backbone of the economy have experienced a specific reduction of poverty among the rural peasants. Agriculture accounts for the most significant share of aggregate employment of rural population. Agriculture has resulted in the development of agricultural based industries and other sectors which employ a large number of people hence increasing the standards of living and income to people. These industries develop because of presence and availability of raw materials which are the output of agricultural and markets which get provided by the peasant farmers and labourers’. Through export of agricultural commodities, a country earns foreign exchange leading to economic growth and development of these nations. Moreover, it contributes to the improvements and provision of human capital assets such as education and health, marketing infrastructure improvements, increased income and price elasticity demand of the farming commodities, domestically or internationally(Anderson, 2016).
Population in the south has declined rapidly over the years despite an increase in development of agricultural export-led industry. Majority of the people in the rural areas in the south are migrating to urban areas in the north looking for employment and escape poverty. It is contrary to the statement that agricultural development reduces poverty in rural and in developing nations. In fact, the majority of countries depending on agriculture for growth are poor (Terence, 2016). The major contributing factor in these countries is practicing poor farming methods. For instance, most of the farmers practice subsistence farming, use traditional tools in agriculture and using of indigenous animal breeds and crop varieties resulting in low outputs per large area of land and reduced labour efficiency making farmers operate at a loss in the long run. These problems have led to rural people in the south to migrate due to poor wages paid when providing labour in agricultural sector and farmers abandoning their lands and moving to the urban area because of the effects of extended loss associated with agriculture. Peasants migrate to urban areas as they own a small portion of soil which cannot accommodate large-scale farming which preferable is profitable compared to subsistence farming. The peasants experience life difficulties since subsistence farming operates in an extended loss which occurs within the irrational zone of production. Therefore, small-scale farmers migrate to urban areas to seek employment to better their lives and increase their income rates. Agriculture development is taking place whether large or small-scale farming matters to rural people. Most or rural peasants are subsistence farmers hence they produce fewer yields for homestead consumption and sell the little remaining. They practice small-scale farming due to the small portion of land they own. Large-scale farming development will matter to rural people as the type of farming requires large pieces of farms, high amounts of initial capital for starting the system and it requires intensive labour which is expensive, and these people cannot afford it(Bernstein, 2014).
Agricultural Trends in Tanzania
Tanzania is a state located in East Africa along the coast and experiences various trends in agriculture development that affects the growth of industries in the country. The agricultural patterns include population growth and urbanisation, global economic growth, investment, trade, increased competition for natural resources, climatic changes, and farm productivity. Others include innovation, pest and diseases, conflicts, crises and natural disasters, poverty, inequality and food insecurity nutrition and health and lastly, development finance as asserted by the World Bank (2015).
Population growth and urbanisation trends affect agriculture development and growth of industries in Tanzania dissimilarly. The country has experienced an increase in population growth and urbanisation rates that is directly affecting agriculture and industries. Increased population results in the shortage of food since land under cultivation is not capable of yielding the normal amount of food. People migrate to urban area creating a problem of the labour shortage in rural areas contributing to low productivity in agriculture. As a result, the trend results to decline in agricultural and industrial development. Global economic growth, investment, and trade trend have positively affected agricultural and industrial growth in Tanzania. Global economic growth contributed to rising in farmers’ income in Tanzania who exports their commodities leading to improvement of the standards of living by farmers enabling them to start large-scale farming and adopt the intensive system of farming. Investment and trade have gradually increased over some years in Tanzania. The move is advantageous because it has since then contributed to the development of infrastructure aiding to development of agriculture in Tanzania and increases the market for agricultural commodities. Competition for natural resources is another trend affecting agricultural and industrial development in Tanzania. Natural resources such as land, water sources, energy, and minerals have become scarce in Tanzania. As a result, it has led to an increase in competition for these resources that negatively affects agriculture and industrial development. Farmers experience problems of the small portion of lands and inadequate availability of water and these results to reduced productivity. Industries have suffered from scare minerals and raw materials due to the poor performance of agricultural sector, which is always a significant source of raw materials. The trend has adversely affected growth and development of industries and agriculture in Tanzania (World Bank, 2015).
Besides, climatic change trend has adverse effects on both agriculture and industrial development in Tanzania. Tanzania has experienced climatic changes over the years. The country has recorded changing climatic conditions in what can be termed as from bad to worst. Consequently, it has resulted in poor performance in the agricultural sector and increased food insecurity, which directly leads to decline in the development of industries due to fewer raw materials. Another trend of agriculture in Tanzania includes that of agricultural productivity and innovation. Due to the rapid increase in population in Tanzania in the last few decades, the need for increased farm productivity and change to meet the rising demand for food has become essential. The Tanzanian government has formulated and implemented agricultural policies such as irrigation and large-scale farming to improve farming productivity and advocate for farm mechanization to meet the demand for food for the citizens that has resulted in increasing industrialization. Pest and diseases trend have significantly affected agriculture in Tanzania. Crops and livestock are affected by pest and diseases leading to poor performance in agriculture, and consequently decline in industrial development in Tanzania. Conflicts, crises and natural disasters trends of farming are also present in the nation. The pattern involves issues such as community disputes, flood, drought, and famine which contribute to food insecurity, malnutrition, disrupt access to food and health-bringing negative consequences to agriculture. Poverty, inequality and food insecurity trend is also a trend that involves examining poverty among farmers and their ability to farm. The levels of inequality in a country among citizen cause an increase in poverty levels and poor performance in agriculture in a third world country such as Tanzania. Increase rates of poverty among Tanzanian farmers have resulted in the decline in agricultural production due to the inadequacy of funds to cultivate. Inequality also increases poverty rates in Tanzania and adversely affecting agriculture and industrial growth in the country because industries acquire raw materials from the farm. Food insecurity has contributed to increased sufferings among farmers and citizens.
Nutrition and health trends of agriculture in Tanzania have significantly affected farming and company developments. Most farmers face food insecurity because of poor agricultural productivity get affected by malnutrition hindering their farming activities resulting to reduced output levels in the farm. Lastly, the development finance trend in agriculture is a pattern that involves giving financial aid to farmers of developed countries by providing them with financial assistance to engage in intensive farming activities. As a result, it enables development of agriculture in Tanzania since most farmers get financially stable and participate in large-scale farming and government build infrastructure that will allow development of agriculture. Industries in Tanzania are developed due to the mentioned trend, as there is the presence of large varieties of raw materials from agricultural sector (World Bank, 2015).
The trends mentioned above are the same to those of the south. Agriculture in the south gets associated with poor farmers or peasants. Some of these patterns relate with those of the north or developed nations in various ways. These trends correlate with the location issues affecting both developed and developing countries. They include population growth and urbanisation, global economic growth, investment, trade, increased competition for natural resources and climatic changes. Population growth and urbanisation are affecting agriculture for both developed and developing countries where people migrate from rural areas leading to labour shortages and low agricultural productivity. Consequently, it worsens because of the continuous increase in demand for food resulting population increase. The trends in climatic changes are similar to both places since the world climate have been changing over some years, and these have adverse effects on areas where agriculture is practiced. To the rural people of present days, this suggests that farming gets associated with various risks and uncertainties due to different factors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is evident that the mentioned agricultural trends have positively and negatively affected agriculture development and lives of farmers in the countryside. These trends have also affected Tanzanian economy since it relies majorly on agriculture. Through the above discussion it is evident that agriculture lifts rural population by removing farmers from poverty by making them live in good conditions. The essay has revealed the importance of agriculture in industrial development, and it shows that industries cannot enlarge in the absence of agriculture. The governments of developing countries should formulate and implement policies and laws like agrarian revolution achieved in Britain to encourage farmers to practice large-scale farming and restrict subdivision of agricultural lands into small portions. Moreover, the governments of these countries should increase the money budgeted for agrarian development to enable more farmers to get loans and start large-scale farming.

Bibliography
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