By Greg Nikkel
Agriculture deserves to be more front-and-centre for provincial and federal levels of government and not just a 鈥渟ide-issue鈥� as most governments currently regard it, said Fillmore farmer Jake Leguee.
The 29-year-old third generation farmer recently returned from Des Moines, Iowa, where he took part in a Global Farmer Network roundtable, held as part of the World Food Prize series of events held in October.
Leguee, who farms with his family in the Fillmore area, was the only producer from Canada to take part in the invitation-only round-table forum along with farmers from 13 other countries around the world, discussing issues that affect them as farmers, and as an industry world-wide.
鈥淚t was eye-opening,鈥� said Leguee of the experience of sharing about agriculture with other producers. 鈥淭he best word I could use to describe it is perspective. I gained a new perspective on how good we have it here in Canada, with access to technology, with our freedom to pursue our own objectives, with safety of both the food we eat and the products we have access to.鈥�
For some of the farmers at the round-table, particularly those from African countries, their challenges include dealing with the military, or with government corruption. 鈥淭heir perspective is different. It鈥檚 a part of life. In some of those countries there is democracy, and it doesn鈥檛 sound very different from ours, but for some farmers the issue is whether they own the land they farm, or the produce they grow on it.鈥�
As the farmers discussed issues they have to deal with, some have issues with access to inputs that they need, such as fertilizer or genetically-modified seeds.
鈥淚n Africa, they desperately need fertilizer. They have disease issues that they can鈥檛 deal with,鈥� said Leguee, adding that European Union countries won鈥檛 take crops grown from GMO seeds, which limits the markets that these countries can sell to.
Some issues were common to many of the farmers, such as farmers having problems getting enough skilled labourers, whether they were from Nigeria, New Zealand or Canada.
In some countries, women who farm alone are looked down on, while 鈥渉ere in Canada we have a real advantage, in that it鈥檚 quite possible for anyone to farm, as long as you have the capital to operate,鈥� said Leguee.
Asked if family-owned farming operations were common amongst the group in the roundtable, Leguee said quite a number of were, pointing out one farmer from England whose family had owned their farm for nine generations. The farmers from Africa were also from family-owned operations, but they tended to be first-generation farmers.
One farmer from 小蓝视频 Africa had difficulty having access to inputs, where here in Canada, a farmer can go to a dealer and arrange to buy whatever inputs they need for their crops. In Africa or India, there seemed to be corruption in the ag industry where people were just trying to make a quick buck rather than selling good-quality farm inputs.
鈥淎s farmers, we鈥檙e not that different from each other. We all have similar issues, although some deal with bigger issues. We all struggle with access to labour, and with the public perception of agriculture, and with succession so we can pass on our farms to our children. A lot of the challenges are similar to challenges faced around the world,鈥� said Leguee.
As the roundtable discussed ideas of how to improve things, he noted some of the young African farmers were trying different things to get youth interested in agriculture.
A common denominator for many farmers is the 鈥渢op-down鈥� approach to agriculture, where governments and ag companies put out ideas on how to fix problems in farming without getting any input from the farmers themselves.
People and governments 鈥渘eed to hear our stories, and need to understand why farmers should be at the table for food policy development. Farmers need to be present at those discussions at every level, and we as farmers need to do a better job on our agriculture and agri-food policies,鈥� he said.
Leguee said this was in evidence even at the World Food Prize event, as with all of the panels convened for discussions of agriculture, only one had a farmer on it from the Global Farmer Network.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to get that across, because as a farmer you鈥檙e pretty small, but as a group, we have a larger voice,鈥� said Leguee.
鈥淔or a really long time, agriculture has been a background business, especially in developed economies. I don鈥檛 think that鈥檚 right. Agriculture needs to be one of the central focuses of government,鈥� he added.
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