Most countries described as third world counties practice agriculture on a wider range in the rural areas. This is preferred as the best alternative of getting money to purchase basic needs like clothing, shelter, education and medication. Post modernization in countries like Nigerian rural areas showed how several men went to the urban area to find jobs and send money back home to their wives.
This encouraged urban growth, which saw many peasant families get extra cash to add to their farm incomes. The reason behind this ideology is that, unemployment has been rampant in the developing countries. In order to enhance productivity, most government states decided to encourage agricultural modernization.
The need for agrarian reform was inferred by many policy makers. This was to solve the issue of poverty by increasing the peasant earnings. For example, the need to consolidate farms in order to enhance large-scale farming for exportation was suggested by the state.
This idea would help most women out of poverty as the state would help them sell their products. However, this concept did not yield any result as most people decide to work on their small plots to cultivate for subsistence purposes (Handelman, 2011, p.167). Due to underdevelopment in third world countries, the state considered the need for integrated rural development to reduce poverty in rural areas.
Different policies were pursued to reduce on small corn production and discourage farmers from practicing agriculture for local production. There was a need for removal of trade barriers to allow for competition.
The impact of this policy is that it would encourage more agricultural products in the country and discourage local production. In addition, the imported products would compete with the local products and in the end discourage the farmers from producing corn. The removal of tariff barriers would enhance agricultural modernization. To modernize agriculture, there are elements that can be addresses.
For example, using modernized farm equipment for cultivation, encouraging the use of genetically modified seeds to increase yields at the shortest time possible. The government wanted to discourage cultivating of small plots, as they were not economically efficient. However, this ideology failed because this is what the women and their families depend on for survival.
Reviewing the idea behind dependency theory, it showed that most developed countries were dependent on subsidies due to poverty. These include things like fertilizer and seeds. Country A also depends on foreign aid to assist poor people to have a better living standard.
Therefore, to modernize agriculture, Country A need external help especially in monetary terms to purchase modernized tools like machinery and tractors that will be used for cultivation.
Kenya and Nigeria are some of the countries faced with situations like in Country A. Most women in the rural areas are marginalized, and practice farm work most of the time. There are situations when children die of diseases because their mothers cannot afford to pay for hospital bills. According to the Millennium Development Goal 1, the need to address poverty was important.
This would see most peasants get access to good hospitals and medications to reduce on deaths. This is the reason men went out to the neighboring cities to get extra cash. However, it was never enough to meet the expenses that women needed. Therefore, to avoid all this issues, they sell the maize they have in stock to meet their heavy daily needs.
However, there is democratization in Kenya as compared to Country A. Government controls the prices of commodities so that the imports do not compete with the locally available products. In the end, this idea boosts the economy as more revenue is got from the imported goods and locally available products (Griffiths, 2011, p.17).
Reference List
Griffiths, R. J. (2011). SOC300: Developing World 11/12: 2011 custom edition (21st ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Handelman, H. (2011). SOC 300: The challenge of Third World development: 2119 custom edition (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Longman – Pearson Custom Publishing.