Praise for this book
This book is an inspirational call to action by one of Africa's leading development champions.
Professor Calestous Juma, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, United States
This book has inspired me and given me fresh ideas. It feeds the will and the mind. A must read, particularly for young men and women entering the field of rural development.
Julio Berdequ, Principal Researcher at the Latin-American Centre for Rural Development (RIMISP), Santiago, Chile
This book is about the hard work of providing justice for individuals and communities. It could not be stronger on the cost of inaction especially in Africa. The author's experience and passion for working with rural communities shines through from these pages.
Agnes M. Kalibata, President, The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
The book is a clear testimony of Dr Nwanze's dedication, commitment and passion to bring development to benefit smallholder farmers, women, and food insecure. It will inspire many who are working in agriculture and rural development in their pursuit of ending hunger and malnutrition.
Shenggen Fan, Director General, International Food Policy Research Institute
A book of hope for the poorest people on the planet. In an engaging, uplifting, readable and lucid way, Kanayo Nwanze tackles the highly complex issue of rural transformation by taking the reader through dozens of practical examples of lives improved. His stories of international cooperation to strengthen opportunity and dignity for struggling people should overcome cynics everywhere. Why shouldn't we live in world free of hunger? Nwanze shows it can be done.
Homi Kharas, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director, Global Economy and Development, The Brookings Institution, Washington D.C.
Poverty and hunger are at the top of the world development agenda, encapsulated in the SDGs. Both are strongly linked to rural areas and farming. Smallholder farmers are key here they must move from subsistence farming to profitable business, not only for their well-being but for our own food security. Kanayo Nwanze writes with authority and great understanding but also with passion. This is an important plea by Nwanze for all of us to focus on what really matters.
Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chairman, Mo Ibrahim Foundation
An illuminating look at the challenges smallholder farmers face, but also the opportunities. Kanayo brings both academic rigour and a visionary, practitioner's view of what it will take to achieve an end to hunger.
Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director, Oxfam International
A Bucket of Water
Reflections on Sustainable Rural Development
Kanayo F. Nwanze
Practical Action Publishing Ltd
The Schumacher Centre, Bourton on Dunsmore, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV23 9QZ, UK
www.practicalactionpublishing.org
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), 2017
The moral right of the author to be identified as author of the work has been asserted under sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publishers.
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalogue record for this book has been requested from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 9781853399701 Hardback
ISBN 9781853399718 Paperback
ISBN 97817804499715 eBook
ISBN 9781780449708 Library PDF
Citation: Nwanze, K.F., A Bucket of Water: Reflections on Sustainable Rural Development, Rugby, UK: Practical Action Publishing and IFAD .
Since 1974, Practical Action Publishing has published and disseminated books and information in support of international development work throughout the world. Practical Action Publishing is a trading name of Practical Action Publishing Ltd (Company Reg. No. 1159018), the wholly owned publishing company of Practical Action. Practical Action Publishing trades only in support of its parent charity objectives and any profits are covenanted back to Practical Action (Charity Reg. No. 247257, Group VAT Registration No. 880 9924 76).
The views and opinions in this publication are those of the author and do not represent those of Practical Action Publishing Ltd or its parent charity Practical Action or IFAD. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the authors and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IFAD concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The designations developed and developing countries are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgement about the stage reached in the development process by a particular country or area.
Cover photo: Women collect water in the Koulikoro region of southern Mali.
Amadou Keita
Cover design by Andrew Corbett
Typeset by vPrompt eServices, India
Printed in the United Kingdom
Dedication
During my long involvement in agricultural development, I have been impressed again and again by the tireless contribution that rural women make to their families, their communities, and their countries. Often unacknowledged, disadvantaged, and discriminated against in many ways, rural women are the heart and soul of their communities. Without them there would be no food security and no future. This book is dedicated to them.
Kanayo F. Nwanze is President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations and an international financial institution. Previously, he was Director-General for a decade of what is now the Africa Rice Center, part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). He has been a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Food Security since 2010. In 2016 he received the inaugural Africa Food Prize in recognition of his leadership of IFAD and advocacy for smallholder farmers.
Kanayo Nwanze and I have been colleagues and friends for many years. I first got to know him in 1998 when I was president of the Rockefeller Foundation and he was director-general of West African Rice Development Association (WARDA), now the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). The Foundation helped to fund AfricaRice's path-breaking development of New Rice for Africa (NERICA), which Nwanze oversaw.
We soon discovered that we were both trained as entomologists; we had seen at first hand the terrible depredations of insects that attack the crops of poor farmers. We also both recognized that solving such problems is rarely easy and requires clear analysis, good science, and the placing of smallholder farmers at the centre of the solutions.
