The difficulties of Subsitence farming include using poor rudimentary tools like hoes and cutlasses in farming. This ultimately leads to too much time and labour spent in the farms for more vulnerable sub-populations like women. Besides many subsitent farmers are living in poor marginal communities cut off from health and educational systems thereby forcing farmers and potential farmers and their families to migrate into urban ghettoes (Hall and Midgley, 2004) for want of better lives.
People seem to hold a lot of, frankly, racist and insulting views about Africa.
Either they're a bunch of stupid niggers sitting around starving because they're too stupid to start farming, or they're a bunch of noble savages being oppressed by wicked evil western corporations.
The truth is that most are subsistence farmers living much like medieval Europeans or ancient Romans. The fact that they would rather live in slums should show us just how undesirable such a lifestyle is.
It's amazing how in this century there are farmers that dont have the proper tools, resistant houses,...How much time they have to wait to recieve them once for all? Where are going all the efforts(if it true that they exists)?
Some of the biggest probems are that there are too many farmers onthe land and that countries like Ghana should urbanize. There are however major impdements to modern agriculture in Africa the biggest by far being high tarrifs between African nations.
How can African Farmers compete with farmers in the first world if they are using inferior tools for farming. If NGOs and Charities are serious about alleviating poverty in Africa all they have to do is to send tractors and other farming implements to improve the situation of African farmers.
@Tennysontigga It's very revealing isn't it - the hypocrisy? NGOs are always lobbying for African people's "traditional" way of life to be preserved, when all that means is they want to keep them poor.
For all those who still think that living off a farm is a lovely 'way of life' in Africa, this film is a reality check! No, huts are not cute. No, people living in mud huts and toiling all day on a patch of land don't think it's a 'cultural' activity neither do they desire such a life. On watching the film, if you still fancy a poor idyllic existence (backward that is), you can always swap places with subsistence farmers.
the way that anthropologist study their culture always make us compair our lives with different people in different cultures... howevere, as you said most of them havn't had a chance to see our lives, to compare with theirs... the result and their behavior would not be any different than the reaction of these people in these video...
African farmers products have not access to the European market, and at the same time, they do not get any subsidy from they gornments like the European do. Who is to blame, the African leaders or the west?
completely agree with phamalyzi comment!such a dream what we all think about 3rd world countrys!i`m from brazil and sometimes watching carnaval and the beautifful womans and beach at tv(turism for develop!hahaha) i almost complete forget about the shit situation that most of brazilian people need to live...better survive!
Shows that no such development has been made in the past years for the people living in Africa. This could easily be seen by the farming equipment they use. "Easy to visit rather than living here in a shanty town". They have dreams like normal humna beings, "Big farmland", "Good standard of living". Seriously alot of things need to be done before its too late.
This reminds me of travelling in South East Asia - all those postcards of those colourful women under those cute little hats hacking away in all that green space! We love it don't we!
But most of us wouldn't survive a day's work in that heat with the frustation of such poor equipment.
The worst thing about these gross misconceptions are that they are preventing us from helping these farmers from working themselves and their children into a better life.
I can't believe farmers are still using this primitive farming equipment! With all the aid the west is sending over to developing countries like Ghana, you'd THINK farmers would reap some benefit!
It's amazing how Oxfam is putting money and effort into keeping people in rural farming areas instead of helping them get out of this subsistence farming situation. It just doesn't seem like they are putting their efforts towards the right things.
I believe it is the duty of the government of Ghana to improve the standard of living of the people and learning from the Western Policies rather individual NGO's going there to rip them off raw materials.
People need to expose themselves to this kind of media if they want any chance of effecting change, you cant change or start development without knowing the people on the ground level, an their own intrests
It's good chance to see how primitive life rural pelple have. Their needs are more basic and it's different from the desire of people living in town shown in the other films.
That most of these people know how to garden puts them well ahead of the average totally-out-of-touch with reality westerner.
Why can't they continue to use the hoe and cutlass for the next eighty years? Chances are the region and it's people would be better off if they did. Let's check back in eighty years and see what wonders the modern world and oil-for-dollars or bananas-for-dollars or whatever brings them.
I can't judge how stupid my comment may be without knowing how stupid all the stupid things you've read are. For all I know you only surprassed your abc's today. Question: do you have any experience in subsistence agriculture? My comment is based in some experience.
This video just confirms what i have always known-that all human beings are the same and all want the same things, such as good housing, a secure future for their children, etc. It is a tragedy and a stain on the human race that the colour of your skin and your geographical location, factors that are not within your control, are what determine if you achieve these things in your lifetime.
a very challenging piece! it shows that people need to move to towns in order to gain access to potable water, jobs, and healthcare (however basic). The filmakers then go to a rural area, where they are told that what they need is concrete and cement, not more small scale farming that'll get them nowhere. If we in Britain can have massive cities and a healthy(ish) countryside, without agriculture as a prime generator of wealth than surely other countries can too, even in Africa!
I am wondering what the purpose of this video is? I have witnessed life in rural Africa, I spent time with some farmers there, and farmed the land with them, using a hoe to dig with, building mud houses. But why is this always made the responsibility of the west? What about responsible governance?
Another super expose of the wider implications of current "developmental" thought..it's amazing and disgusting to think that those who have benefited from development, and modernity i.e academics able to think rather than toil for survival, are exporting their low horizons for development to the rest of the world.
this film shows that Western arguments that people in the developing world prefer subsistence life to development are ridiculous. globalisation may not be working in the developing world's favour either at the moment, but that certainly doesn't mean a return to manual labour agriculture is the solution!
The difficulties of Subsitence farming include using poor rudimentary tools like hoes and cutlasses in farming. This ultimately leads to too much time and labour spent in the farms for more vulnerable sub-populations like women. Besides many subsitent farmers are living in poor marginal communities cut off from health and educational systems thereby forcing farmers and potential farmers and their families to migrate into urban ghettoes (Hall and Midgley, 2004) for want of better lives.
AfricanCentreforCom 2 years ago
People seem to hold a lot of, frankly, racist and insulting views about Africa.
Either they're a bunch of stupid niggers sitting around starving because they're too stupid to start farming, or they're a bunch of noble savages being oppressed by wicked evil western corporations.
The truth is that most are subsistence farmers living much like medieval Europeans or ancient Romans. The fact that they would rather live in slums should show us just how undesirable such a lifestyle is.
havocgate 2 years ago
Take a good look. this is what America will look like with Obama as president.
hannityforpres 3 years ago
Well, guess we'll see that first-hand, won't we? Go Obama!
nebula31201 3 years ago
It's amazing how in this century there are farmers that dont have the proper tools, resistant houses,...How much time they have to wait to recieve them once for all? Where are going all the efforts(if it true that they exists)?
Andreasangulo 3 years ago
Some of the biggest probems are that there are too many farmers onthe land and that countries like Ghana should urbanize. There are however major impdements to modern agriculture in Africa the biggest by far being high tarrifs between African nations.
Knoss 3 years ago
How can African Farmers compete with farmers in the first world if they are using inferior tools for farming. If NGOs and Charities are serious about alleviating poverty in Africa all they have to do is to send tractors and other farming implements to improve the situation of African farmers.
Tennysontigga 3 years ago 4
@Tennysontigga It's very revealing isn't it - the hypocrisy? NGOs are always lobbying for African people's "traditional" way of life to be preserved, when all that means is they want to keep them poor.
levar1979 6 months ago
I wish the World Trade Organisation could stop this inhumanity. Trading policies of the west have disadvantaged all African farmers.
Tennysontigga 3 years ago
its good to see that all the people living in the rural area are getting good jobs and living a decent life
V0LUNTEER2 4 years ago
Standard of living makes people happy. Everyone wants to improve their lives. NO ONE lives outside of this human need.
glebehotel 4 years ago
For all those who still think that living off a farm is a lovely 'way of life' in Africa, this film is a reality check! No, huts are not cute. No, people living in mud huts and toiling all day on a patch of land don't think it's a 'cultural' activity neither do they desire such a life. On watching the film, if you still fancy a poor idyllic existence (backward that is), you can always swap places with subsistence farmers.
sadsme 4 years ago 3
the way that anthropologist study their culture always make us compair our lives with different people in different cultures... howevere, as you said most of them havn't had a chance to see our lives, to compare with theirs... the result and their behavior would not be any different than the reaction of these people in these video...
pikotg 3 years ago
African farmers products have not access to the European market, and at the same time, they do not get any subsidy from they gornments like the European do. Who is to blame, the African leaders or the west?
lehon01 4 years ago
the film is good
lehon01 4 years ago
completely agree with phamalyzi comment!such a dream what we all think about 3rd world countrys!i`m from brazil and sometimes watching carnaval and the beautifful womans and beach at tv(turism for develop!hahaha) i almost complete forget about the shit situation that most of brazilian people need to live...better survive!
xuxuzi 4 years ago
it gives the viewer an understanding of what type of work is being done
lehon01 4 years ago
Shows that no such development has been made in the past years for the people living in Africa. This could easily be seen by the farming equipment they use. "Easy to visit rather than living here in a shanty town". They have dreams like normal humna beings, "Big farmland", "Good standard of living". Seriously alot of things need to be done before its too late.
aashna8 4 years ago
This reminds me of travelling in South East Asia - all those postcards of those colourful women under those cute little hats hacking away in all that green space! We love it don't we!
But most of us wouldn't survive a day's work in that heat with the frustation of such poor equipment.
The worst thing about these gross misconceptions are that they are preventing us from helping these farmers from working themselves and their children into a better life.
Phamalyzi 4 years ago
I can't believe farmers are still using this primitive farming equipment! With all the aid the west is sending over to developing countries like Ghana, you'd THINK farmers would reap some benefit!
jequayle 4 years ago
It's amazing how Oxfam is putting money and effort into keeping people in rural farming areas instead of helping them get out of this subsistence farming situation. It just doesn't seem like they are putting their efforts towards the right things.
sobrelaluna 4 years ago
I believe it is the duty of the government of Ghana to improve the standard of living of the people and learning from the Western Policies rather individual NGO's going there to rip them off raw materials.
AdwoaYesu 5 years ago
People need to expose themselves to this kind of media if they want any chance of effecting change, you cant change or start development without knowing the people on the ground level, an their own intrests
DKairis 5 years ago
It will be better if farmers would be trained to use modern equipments instead of the primitive ones which is not so fast and physically draining.
Phidelia 5 years ago
It's good chance to see how primitive life rural pelple have. Their needs are more basic and it's different from the desire of people living in town shown in the other films.
yurikotaki 5 years ago
It's madness!! How can these people progress work there way out of poverty when this is all they have.
Drawde83 5 years ago
great! really deals a blow to any glamourised image the west may have of being a farmer!
etalla7 5 years ago
That most of these people know how to garden puts them well ahead of the average totally-out-of-touch with reality westerner.
Why can't they continue to use the hoe and cutlass for the next eighty years? Chances are the region and it's people would be better off if they did. Let's check back in eighty years and see what wonders the modern world and oil-for-dollars or bananas-for-dollars or whatever brings them.
kristabear 5 years ago
You've written one of the stupidest things I have ever read.
cheesechoker 4 years ago
I can't judge how stupid my comment may be without knowing how stupid all the stupid things you've read are. For all I know you only surprassed your abc's today. Question: do you have any experience in subsistence agriculture? My comment is based in some experience.
scyther63 4 years ago
This video just confirms what i have always known-that all human beings are the same and all want the same things, such as good housing, a secure future for their children, etc. It is a tragedy and a stain on the human race that the colour of your skin and your geographical location, factors that are not within your control, are what determine if you achieve these things in your lifetime.
philtrium 5 years ago
Wonderful title! Everyone of these WW videos all make wonderful points and are really opening my eyes!!
mediamadame 5 years ago
People should be able to have a choice!!! Every human being should also have accessible to them clean water!!!!
kalinharada 5 years ago
a very challenging piece! it shows that people need to move to towns in order to gain access to potable water, jobs, and healthcare (however basic). The filmakers then go to a rural area, where they are told that what they need is concrete and cement, not more small scale farming that'll get them nowhere. If we in Britain can have massive cities and a healthy(ish) countryside, without agriculture as a prime generator of wealth than surely other countries can too, even in Africa!
philtrium 5 years ago
I am wondering what the purpose of this video is? I have witnessed life in rural Africa, I spent time with some farmers there, and farmed the land with them, using a hoe to dig with, building mud houses. But why is this always made the responsibility of the west? What about responsible governance?
largearg 5 years ago
it's a nice stuff. Keep it rolling.
2gr8 5 years ago
Another super expose of the wider implications of current "developmental" thought..it's amazing and disgusting to think that those who have benefited from development, and modernity i.e academics able to think rather than toil for survival, are exporting their low horizons for development to the rest of the world.
VikramBooboos 5 years ago
great title, love it!
denizunal 5 years ago
this film shows that Western arguments that people in the developing world prefer subsistence life to development are ridiculous. globalisation may not be working in the developing world's favour either at the moment, but that certainly doesn't mean a return to manual labour agriculture is the solution!
kylelondonuk 5 years ago
I couldn't believe that an area of cultivated land no bigger than my driveway is called a farm. It's shocking!
riojodiablo 5 years ago
Love this stuff, well done, needs saying there are to many nature lovers out there
sarahkelly 5 years ago
Nice one, shows us how it really is and not how we're led to believe it to be. Great title too.
caroldoddy 5 years ago
Love it, big eye opener, more of these please
BernieWalker 5 years ago