I couldn’t believe my ears. A few years ago, our local rowing club wanted to buy a boat that mentally impaired youngsters could use on their own. For these children, it was a moment of huge pride. To my astonishment, however, several people from whom we tried to buy the boat said “it’s pointless, they’ll never learn.”
Fortunately, we knew they would. And fortunately, we found some partners whose faith in these youngsters was so strong that they contributed their own money towards a brand new boat. Today, it’s in regular use, and yet another class of the supposedly unteachable passed our sculling test this summer.
What’s this got to do with global development? Well, I’m often reminded of those oarsmen’s dismissive attitude in the field of agriculture. There’s an undertone of “we know what’s better for them” running through a lot of the talks, websites and articles I see about smallholder farmers in developing countries.
About the author
Paul Castle
Paul Castle is communications manager at the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, based in Basel, Switzerland. Between careers in healthcare and agribusiness, Paul worked as a journalist and translator. 30 years after graduating from Oxford, he completed a certificate in African Studies at Basel University, specializing in radio extension for smallholders in minority languages. Paul is trustee of a children's cancer foundation and an international rowing commentator.