One of the most important fundamental issues in Africa is agricultural development. The Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) has worked with local governments and international organizations intensively to support African nations with the best agricultural information and technology available.

“The problem with farming is the same everywhere,” says Toshiro Mado, who recently returned to Tokyo from serving as a program officer for the SAA in several African countries, where he became known as a “Green Warrior.”

Mado is now using his almost 20 years of experience in Africa to work on agricultural improvement projects in SE Asia, specifically Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

“Green Warrior” Toshiro Mado talks about his agricultural dreams for Africa

After graduating from university, Mado became a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) and was assigned to Ghana to work on agricultural projects. When his three year stint with JOCV finished, he then joined the SAA in 1989.

Following studies in the United Kingdom, Mado was assigned by SAA to Ethiopia to train instructors in agricultural processing and storage technology.

He also worked on implementing the “Sasakawa Global 2000” project which is dedicated to spreading farming information and technology to African nations.

Harvested rice in Africa

During this time on the Sasakawa Global 2000 project, Mado had a close professional relationship with Nobel Peace Prize recipient Dr Norman Borlaug, who was a highly valued adviser to SAA and Sasakawa Global 2000.

“We had many heated discussions about the best way to conduct projects,” Mado recalls fondly.

Mado recently gave a talk at the International Association of Agriculture and Forestry conference about the cooperation projects with which he was associated during his nearly 20 years in Africa.

“Agricultural production has certainly increased,” he said, presenting examples of successful implementation of projects in Africa, particularly Ethiopia. “On the other hand, the agricultural industry still has a long way to go,” he commented.

Mado mentioned that while productivity surpluses have increased which give farmers additional income, there is still a need to develop more transportation and roads to potential markets.

He gives the example of roads radiating out of Addis Ababa which have no side roads. The result is farmers find it harder to get their surpluses to market, and people in the city have difficulty getting to the farmers.

This husker machine enjoys a high reputation in Ethiopia

One result of the rise in agricultural purchasing power is the tendency of people to rush to buy foreign goods instead of products made in their own country.

Even though there are such problematic factors, Mado emphasized “the future of Africa is bright.” He also points out that 70-80% of Africa’s population is involved in agriculture, so literally speaking, the foundation of these nations is based on agriculture.

“By working to improve agriculture, one has the feeling that you are participating in national building,” he stresses.

A turning point in his professional life occurred recently when his wife’s chronic mountain altitude illness took a turn for the worse due to living in Addis Ababa’s 2,400 meters altitude. It made his continued work in Ethiopia difficult, so he decided to return to Japan for his wife’s health.

Fortunately, the Sasakawa Africa Association in cooperation with The Nippon Foundation will dispatch Mado to Bangkok to work with the International Tropical Agricultural Center (CIAT) in Bangkok (CIAT), which is cooperating with ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) to improve the agricultural situation in SE Asia.

Therefore, Mado’s valuable expertise and experience in Africa will be effectively harnessed to provide necessary support for Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar in their drive to increase their rural agricultural productivity.

Using the old but effective method for threshing the harvest in Africa

Prior to his move to Bangkok, Mado made a visit to Cambodia and Laos and had the impression that the agricultural fertility situation in these Mekong River basin countries was much more advantageous than Africa.

He will immediately go to work in Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia to find ways to improve the living standards and welfare of small farmers in these three countries by training people in the production of cassava.

Cassava can be used for human nutrition and feed for farm animals. It is now considered a raw material source of bio-fuel. It can also be grown in areas where soil erosion has been a problem. Overall, Mado has a wide variety of challenging issues to deal with in this new assignment to SE Asia.

In an interview, Mado chooses each word he uses with care and deliberation, more like an academic than a field worker.

He says thoughtfully from the vantage point of wide experiential point of view, “Both in Asia and Africa the basis of agricultural life is at the village level and must be promoted. Many African experiences can be used in Asia, and the Asian experience can be used to help Africa.”
“I realized while doing this work that I liked it. This is my present and future commitment,” he concluded.

(This article is based on an original interview by Tadashi Miyazaki)