**Agricultural Systems in IGAD Region — A Socio-Economic Review**

Osman Babikir, Solomon Muchina, Ameha Sebsibe, Adan Bika, Agol Kwai, Caroline Agosa, George Obhai and Samuel Wakhusama

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/60012

**1. Introduction**

Agriculture is defined to be the management of natural environment in an attempt towards its domestication. The goal of this domestication is to provide humankind with an adequate, controlled, and reliable source of food and fiber. To achieve this goal, agriculture deals with the management of living systems at many scales [1].

The quality and availability of land and water resources, together with important socioeconomic and institutional factors is essential for food security [2]. "How to feed the world" is an increasingly urgent rising concern voiced by many people, from local community groups to national and international communities. Agriculture is in crisis. Although the world's agricultural lands continue to produce at least as much food as they have in the past, there are abundant signs that the foundations of their productivity are in danger [3].

Preserving productivity of agricultural land over a long term requires sustainable food production. This could be possible through alternative agricultural practices with considera‐ tion to social, cultural, political and economic systems [4]. High productivity levels usually come at high environmental and social costs when farmers along the globe practiced the so called conventional agriculture which is the type of farming where some technological advancement is used to gain those high levels. This use of advanced techniques, according to Gliessman [3] is based on science and research (fertilizers, new varieties, irrigation techni‐ ques,), but this happened at the expense of degrading the basis of natural resources which are

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the key pillars of agricultural production. These natural resources like water, soil and natural genetic diversity have been undermined by the current technological advancement and in addition to their degradation, there is also the dependence on nonrenewable fossil fuels and help to forge a system that increasingly takes the responsibility of growing food out of the hands of farmers and farm workers who are in the best position to be stewards of agricultural lands [5]. Factory-farm livestock production is another manifestation of the specialized trend in agriculture. The rise in factory farming is coupled with a world-wide trend toward diets higher in meat and animal products. As demand for meat increases, industrialized methods for animal food production become more profitable and wider spread, replacing more sustainable pastoral and mixed crop-livestock systems [3]. On the other hand, with the development of research on natural resources, the term of eco-efficiency originates. Ecoefficient agriculture means increases productivity while reducing environmental impacts. It meets economic, social and environmental needs of the rural poor by being profitable, competitive, sustainable and resilient. The increased food insecurity and vulnerability of a large number of people worldwide point to a broken food production and distribution system. We need to look at the contribution agriculture should make not only to feed a growing population but also to impact less on the planet's resources. The future food supply equation needs to consider the current reality of lower growth rates for major crop yields in conventional agriculture, eco-efficient approaches to diminish impacts on natural resources, the climate change challenge and the volatility of energy prices [6]. This implies that adoption of ecoefficient practices, approaches and eco-efficient farming systems will surely lead to higher productivity levels while maintaining lesser negative environmental impacts. More clearly, Koohafkan *et al*. [7] reported that, there are many competing views on how to achieve new models of a bio-diverse, resilient, productive, and resource-efficient agriculture that humanity desperately needs in the immediate future. Conservation agriculture, sustainable intensifica‐ tion production, transgenic crops, organic agriculture, and agro-ecological systems are some of the proposed approaches, each claiming to serve as the durable foundation for a sustainable food production strategy [7].

Therefore, one of the current widely used ideas about food systems is what is called by Francis et al., (2003) the use of integrating approach that combines ecology of these food systems with the economic and social dimensions [8]. Hence, agroecology has been defined as linking ecology, culture, economics, and society to sustain agricultural production, healthy environ‐ ments, and viable food and farming communities [9]. It has been reported that, socio-economic, technological and ecological components constantly interact, creating a complex feedback mechanism that through time has selected for the type of food production systems that we observe today [10]. According to Franci *et al.* [8], agro-ecolgy is defined as the study of the whole food system, embracing both natural and social sciences, and emphasizing systems thinking and ecological principles [8].

In Africa, Andriesse et al., [11] has emphasized that agricultural productivity must be increased to meet the demands of an increasingly urban population, as much as to support sustainable rural population [11]. Most of Africa's poor are rural, and most rely largely on agriculture for their livelihoods. The now widely-shared view is that improving agriculture, particularly smallholder agriculture, is fundamental to overcoming the seemingly intractable problem of African poverty. But how? During the past decade Africa has also experienced several episodes of acute food insecurity, with tragic loss of lives and livelihoods. Recently, the Sahelian and the Horn of Africa encountered yet another food crisis that has severely affected millions of people. Droughts, crop failures and other disasters often trigger these crises. But the real causes go deeper and they are diverse [12].

In Africa in general, there is a growing debate based on the fact that population growth has exceeded the carrying capacity of land at the current technological levels, which will have bad consequences such as environmental and ecological deterioration, wide spread poverty, malnutrition and famine. As well, in some countries this may lead to conflicts and political instability. The horn of Africa or what is also known as IGAD region is not an exception from that situation, if not is more severe and deteriorated. It has been emphasized by Giessen [13] that, in the Horn of Africa increasing scarcity and degradation of natural resources seriously threatens human well-being. The population in the region has increased fourfold in the past 50 years and continues to go rapidly. Farmers need to feed more mouths and extra areas of land are needed, at the expense of forest and pasture lands. With a high and stable number of pastoral communities and decreasing amount of pasture land, pressure on land and water grows. The mounting needs for fertile soils and irrigated land is intensified by high interna‐ tional demands for food and energy [13].
