Africa's green revolution - people-centric and old-fashioned

BBC News is running a series of opinion articles on environmental issues called the "Green Room." This article, by president of the Rainforest Alliance Tensie Whelan, argues for low-input, traditional agriculture methods in order to spread the green revolution throughout Africa.

Whelan agrees with Africa's Green Belt Movement Founder and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai that a environmental revolution is overdue in Africa. "But when it comes," argues Whelan, "it must be sustainable; socially, economically and environmentally."

She continues: "A green revolution created and developed at the expense of sustainable, clean water supplies, good forestry protection and good soil management will not only be a disaster for the people of Africa, it will be a disaster for its ecology as well. Yet so far, much of the debate has been on the technology of agricultural inputs such as the role of fertilizers and genetically modified (GM) seeds...The debate - dominated by the West - has become, like so many western debates on big environmental questions, fixed on the technological solutions that will magically create tomorrow's paradise.

"In doing so, it has largely ignored the role good farming and forestry practices can play in mitigating food scarcity, protecting scarce water supplies and soil productivity, addressing climate related issues and both preserving and enhancing biodiversity across the continent."

At the Rainforest Alliance, Whelan encourages "good land-use management and harvesting practices, or reintroducing native tree cover" to improve biodiversity and reduce environmental fragility. Whelan echoes the perspective of one of my vocational heroes, ECHO, an educational and networking organization for workers in tropical agriculture.

Whelan also argues for sustainable forestry management. Re-growing trees and forests provides a barrier to desertification as well as haven to struggling species. While Whelan doesn't delve into the human benefits of forest preservation, a real-life example comes to my mind - A Rocha Kenya's Arabuko-Sokoke Schools and Ecotourism Scheme.

View the entirety of Whelan's article at Calling for an 'old-fashioned' green revolution. Of particular interest is the discussion invited by BBC moderators in reaction to her article.

I'm excited that the president of an environmental organization is so sensitive to the needs of societies in biodiversity hotspots and so forward-thinking about agriculture. Using traditional, basic techniques of farming supports local people and conserves land in a sustainable and productive fashion. What do you think?