Nowhere to Go But Down?

In this personal discussion of subsistence farming in the Third World and its potential for development, Andrew MacDonald argues that the farming system is limited in its potential for development by the energy value of manpower and, unless the importance of the manpower constraint is recognized, inputs of development funds will be wasted. He clarifies the strengths and limitations of the subsistence farming system and discusses the complexities and difficulties encountered in achieving agricultural developments in the poorest countries, providing an insight into the inevitability of future famine if present day policies are continued. Andrew MacDonald has worked throughout Africa and South East Asia in agricultural development planning and crop husbandry, most recently as a consultant in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and the Philippines.