Analyze/If it's customary to say that the land never lies, without obviously taking into account the difficulties linked to this profession depending on the context, namely deforestation, soil erosion, and climate change, it's because we tend to believe that life in the village is better than in the city. Indeed, villagers mostly live off the land. They eat more of what they sow, unlike those who live in large cities. The extensive and primitive subsistence agriculture they practice, allows them to meet immediate needs, to the point where we can say that, if it's possible to die of starvation in the city, the risk is lower or almost zero in the village, especially when the seasons are good.
Cultivating fields, regardless of the quality of the weather conditions means being sure of having something to eat and to sell. Asking Africans to return to working the land is to recognize that the benefits of globalization, which benefit much more the largest grain exporters and large agri-food companies, have led us to be less focused on a tradition that allowed those who came before us to live better. The land that never lies is just a language element that means that in order to no longer die of hunger, not to lack employment, and to eat more of what we produce, we must return to working the land. And this is where the whole challenge of practicing industrial agriculture lies. Indeed, if primitive agriculture as it has always been practiced, and as it is still practiced today, requires a daily effort, it is important to do everything possible to improve the quality of working methods and means, because it is not by remaining in a primitive practice that we will be able to impact development on a larger scale.
Using rudimentary tools doesn't lead to better-quality development. The tendency to believe that those who don't want to use a hoe to work are lazy is not true. Indeed, every activity has its difficulties. The particularity of working the land, particularly in the sub-Saharan African context, is that it requires a special human effort, especially when practicing extensive and primary subsistence agriculture. By further improving the quality of tools, the work will certainly be less arduous, but it will always remain difficult, because all work requires enormous daily effort.
The arduousness of work isn't only found in working the land, or using only a hoe. Even those who use the latest generation of agricultural tools experience the difficulties of daily work, with the only difference that they have given themselves the means to reduce their human effort through innovative mechanical and technological means, allowing them to produce more, better, and to tire less.
Africa must equip itself with more technical means to produce better. Humans need technical assistance that supports them in their efforts, without taking their place; and this is where the challenge of using artificial intelligence in agriculture lies. Indeed, as stated in an article published on the Éducanada website entitled: AI and agricultural technologies: a growing field of study (March 2024), "smart agriculture and livestock farming go beyond food production and cultivation." It is now possible to manage crops without moving, because artificial intelligence is a technical assistant that helps humans in their daily efforts.
Traditional agriculture as it is practiced needs more assistance because it is not only the working conditions that are difficult; there are also the conditions of access to markets, and continuous assistance in times of drought because Africa eats more of what she does not produce. And when there are supply difficulties for multiple reasons, it is impossible to feed oneself properly, especially in places where wars and armed conflicts rage. The problem of the massive return to working the land is too complex to be limited to just an intention that not only does not provide enough technical and land resources, but also does not facilitate access to the land, for a very large number of people. If everything were implemented so that all job seekers could live solely from the land in Cameroon for example, they would not hesitate to throw themselves body and soul into this activity en masse. And even if, it is not only agriculture as it still practiced in sub-Saharan Africa in particular that will solve all the problems of African populations, we must equip ourselves more, in order to produce better quality products on a massive scale. We must give ourselves the means to produce better, and get tired less, because we do not measure laziness by the number of hours of work spent in the sun, using rudimentary materials. In fact, there are no lazy Mens. There are only Mens who, for multiple reasons, choose to drown their talents in deplorable practices that make them lose their dignity, in addition to having negative impacts on the lives of others.
He who sows, will reap and eat. This is how things have always been, and it will be even better if we equip ourselves with more means to practice sustainable agriculture; that is to say, more respectful of the environment. If we compare the difficulties that city dwellers have in feeding themselves compared to those in villages, who have always been dependent on a land that gives them everything, we can say that it is better to live in the village, it must be said that it is by equipping ourselves with more technical means that we will be able to perpetuate a tradition that has always allowed older generations to live better. Moreover, in villages, social ties are closer; the consideration we have for others is greater, unlike what happens in the city, where people are selfish, even if it should be noted that the same reality is also observable in the village. But whatever the case, working the land is a tradition that allows us to understand the true meaning of work. To live from the land, it is living from what we have chosen to do; if there is land, and we add, good quality land, and good weather conditions, it would be impossible to die of hunger.
This is what has allowed many villagers to ensure a future for their children thanks to working the land which is an ancestral heritage. Living of the land means doing everything possible to be self-sufficient because you have the means. Villagers in sub-Saharan Africa in particular depend on the seasons, and their autonomy, as well as that of their respective countries, depends on the quality of the harvests. By providing ourselves with more means to optimize the quality of our agriculture, we ensure food self-sufficiency with this precision that, the land which does not lie, also needs a set of essential support both internal and external, to satisfy the inhabitants of an entire Territory.
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