savannas, and tropical forests—with destructive effects on
the soil. Other problems stem from the massive deforestation
produced by the demand for firewood. Wood has now become so scarce
in Tanzania that each household must spend from 250 to 300
worker-days per year to gather fuel.
New
Initiatives in Agriculture
For many
years the Ford Foundation, in its overseas work, has attempted to
alleviate hunger and malnutrition and too-rapid population growth
by supporting programs to increase agricultural production and
limit family size. More than a half billion dollars has been
invested in this work since the early 1950s. In the field of
agriculture, the Foundation helped establish a worldwide network of
international research centers that are developing improved crops
and farming systems for the tropical regions. Foundation grants
have also supported efforts to accelerate agricultural and rural
development in individual countries and to improve understanding of
the social and economic factors that limit agricultural production
and rural welfare.
Among some of
the newer agricultural initiatives we are supporting are:
Farming
systems research: This relatively new scientific methodology
attempts to identify and remedy the agronomic, marketing, labor,
and other constraints that limit the productivity of small,
resource-poor farms. Through grants to several of the international
agricultural research centers and to national agricultural research
programs, the Foundation is helping train farming systems
specialists and supporting on-farm trials of the methodology.
Agroforestry:
Spreading deserts and increasing cultivation of marginal and
erosion-prone lands call for improved land-use systems that
maintain watersheds, restore soil fertility, and check erosion. One
such system is agroforestry, in which trees and bushes are
cultivated in combination with crops and sometimes livestock on the
same land. The Foundation is increasing its support of research and
experimentation with these and related land-use systems in Africa,
India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Water
management: Billions of dollars are being invested throughout the
less developed world in large-scale irrigation projects to improve
crop yields and keep food production ahead of population growth.
Often these projects fail to achieve the results their designers
planned. Some lands become overwatered and develop drainage
problems while others receive little or no water. Last year the
Foundation