Resolving Agriculture's Transformation Deadlock

James Martin, an independent agricultural transformation consultant and facilitator, says that transformation is a critical goal, but expecting power imbalances and prejudice to simply disappear is unreasonable. He believes that real change will only happen once we start changing human behaviour to shift perceptions, so that we can meet as equals.

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When I think of transformation in the South African agricultural sector, I am reminded of a story of a Second World War sniper. A group of German prisoners of war were being led, hands above their heads, out of a building by their Allied captors. High above them, a German sniper, unaware of his compatriots’ capture, shot one of the Allied captors. Suddenly finding themselves under fire, the Allied soldiers gunned down the German prisoners of war. The sniper had anticipated achieving a small victory, but had been unaware of the tremendously negative consequences of his misguided action.

In South Africa, our endeavours towards achieving agricultural transformation remind me of that scene. The South African players could be substituted with the characters described above: there is misunderstanding, a limited view of the situation, and ultimately, suffering through misaligned communication and an incomplete grasp of the landscape. It seems that we are all at each other’s throats.

THE PLAYERS 

There are commercial farmers willing to actively participate in agricultural transformation, even though they are kept awake at night by their worries about cash flow, weather patterns, broken tractors, labour relations, their bank managers, and the possibility of an attack on their families.

So what is this thing called agricultural transformation, and what more can be expected from these commercial farmers in making it real? They are already sending the children of their staff to good schools, their induna is almost a family member, and they are actively involved in the community school. What more can they do in their already overloaded day?