全球视野 | 增收、环保、信任、可持续“一举四得”，巴菲特在卢旺达的农业项目或许能给乡村振兴一点启示

A span of 2,900 acres of cropland in landlocked Rwanda, encompassing 2,099 smallholder farmers, is the most productive farmland in all of Rwanda. How did they do it? “It helps incredibly that I farm,” says Howard Buffett, whose foundation spent a good amount of effort learning about the needs of Rwanda’s agriculture sector before deploying its assets. 

卢旺达内陆地区有一块2900英亩的耕地，包括了2099个小农户，是卢旺达全国产量最高的农田。他们是如何做到的？霍华德·巴菲特（Howard Buffett）说：“我种地的经历帮了大忙。”他的基金会在部署资产之前，花费了大量精力了解卢旺达农业领域的需求。 

It’s fair to say Buffett is unique among funders. Not because he has a famous father – there are plenty of those –  but because he has earned his stripes from the seat of a tractor. 

可以说，巴菲特在资助人中是独一无二的。这并不是因为他有一个著名的父亲，这样的父亲比比皆是，而是因为他是在拖拉机的座位上赢得荣誉的。 

The importance of better equipping smallholder farmers cannot be overstated. Though most are under 2 hectares (5 acres), they produce approximately a third of the world's food on only 12% of all agricultural land. These family-focused farm systems mainly use family labor — women make up more than 60% of the workforce — and at least part of what they produce is for family consumption. 

关于更好地装备小农户的重要性，是怎么强调都不为过的。虽然大多数小农户拥有的土地面积不足2公顷（5英亩），但他们仅用12%的农业用地就生产了全球约三分之一的粮食。这些以家庭为中心的农业系统主要使用家庭劳动力（妇女占劳动力的60%以上），他们生产的粮食至少有一部分是用于家庭消费的。 

Rwanda is an agricultural nation. Farming employs some 70% of its workforce and accounts for approximately 33% of its gross domestic product, with smallholder farmers producing 75% of its agricultural products. 

卢旺达是一个农业国。农业雇用了约70%的劳动力，约占其国内生产总值的33%，其中75%的农产品是由小农户生产的。 

Buffett is pushing back against the notion that smallholder farms across the global south have to be that image of an impoverished subsistence farmer with a hoe. His foundation is funding a number of efforts to scale up agriculture education in Rwanda. A key reason Buffett chose the landlocked nation is the government’s zero-tolerance corruption policy, part of a long and complex road to healing in the wake of its horrific 1994 genocide. 

巴菲特反对这样一种观念，即南半球的小农户必须是拿着锄头的、贫困的、自给自足的农民形象。他的基金会正在资助一系列工作，以扩大卢旺达的农业教育。巴菲特选择卢旺达这个内陆国家的一个重要原因是，卢旺达政府对腐败实行零容忍政策。这也是卢旺达在1994年发生了骇人听闻的种族灭绝事件后，漫长而复杂的愈合之路的一部分。 

“The scale of its investment in Rwanda is striking,” says philanthropy expert and founder of Inside Philanthropy David Callahan, who has written extensively about the various Buffett family foundations. He says the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, or HGBF, is taking on “one of the most ambitious big bets in global development by any grantmaker today. This work is driven forward by an unusually hands-on funder and made possible by a close partnership with Rwanda’s government.” 

慈善专家、《Inside Philanthropy》杂志创始人大卫·卡拉汉（David Callahan）说：“巴菲特基金会在卢旺达的投资规模令人震惊。”他表示，霍华德·巴菲特基金会（Howard G. Buffett Foundation，简称HGBF）正在进行“在当今所有资助者中、在全球发展领域里最雄心勃勃的豪赌之一。这项工作由一位异常亲力亲为的资助者推动，并通过与卢旺达政府的紧密合作得以实现。” 

Africa’s farmers face very real challenges, in particular, inadequate water resources and poor water management affect soil health and, conversely, soil health affects water resources. 

非洲的农民面临着非常现实的挑战，尤其是水资源不足和水管理不善会影响土壤健康。反之，土壤健康也会影响水资源。 

Agriculture has a massive negative impact on shrinking global water supplies and water quality, routinely wasting, misusing, and polluting precious water resources — and literally sucking us dry. As Buffett notes, U.S. agriculture hasn’t gotten water usage right either. The updated U.S. Global Water Strategy states that water insecurity “endangers public health, undermines economic growth, deepens inequalities, and increases the likelihood of conflict and state failure.” Improving water management will only become more crucial to food security, and global and environmental health, as climate change results in floods and droughts — too much water and not enough. 

农业对全球日益萎缩的水资源供应和水质，产生了巨大的负面影响，经常浪费、滥用和污染宝贵的水资源，是字面意义上的要把我们吸干了。正如巴菲特所指出的，美国农业也没有正确使用水资源。更新后的美国全球水资源战略指出，水资源不安全“危及公众健康，破坏经济增长，加深不平等，增加冲突和国家失败的可能性”。随着气候变化导致洪水和干旱（水太多，以及水不够用），改善水资源管理对于粮食安全、全球和环境健康，只会变得更加关键。 

Tim LaSalle, co-founder of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems, couldn’t agree more. In his home state of California, agriculture uses 70% to 80% of the water supply. “If we change the way we work with soil, we change the water question dramatically,” he tells Devex. Healthy soil contains carbon-based organic matter “that acts like a sponge,” so employing practices that regenerate soil and make it carbon-rich increases its water-holding capacity during dry times and how it absorbs water during rains and flooding. 

再生农业和复原系统中心（Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems）的共同创始人蒂姆·拉萨尔（Tim LaSalle）对此深表赞同。在他的家乡加利福尼亚州，农业用水占供水量的70%至80%。他告诉Devex：“如果我们改变与土壤打交道的方式，就能极大地改变水的问题。”健康的土壤含有碳基有机物，“就像海绵一样”。因此，采用可使土壤再生并富含碳的做法，可以提高土壤在干旱时的持水能力，以及在下雨和洪水时的吸水能力。 

To address increased pressure on water quantity and quality in Rwanda, HGBF has pursued better soil and water resource management targeting smallholder farmers. This effort, called the Nasho Solar-powered Irrigation Project, or NAICO for short, spans 1,173 hectares (about 2,900 acres) and encompasses 2,099 farmers. 

为了应对卢旺达水量和质量所面临的越来越大的压力，HGBF以小农户为对象，寻求更好的土壤和水资源管理。该项目名为Nasho太阳能灌溉项目（Nasho Solar-powered Irrigation Project，简称NAICO），占地1173公顷（约2900英亩），涉及2099名农民。 

As Buffett tells it, after he flew over Rwanda’s small and hilly landscape laced with smallholder farms, he told farmers he wanted to “bring them rain.” He tells Devex: “They thought I was nuts.” The farmers weren’t just skeptical. Change can result in their family going without enough to eat. NAICO started with small behavior changes first, and soon farmers outside NAICO were adopting helpful new procedures learned from NAICO farmers. 

据巴菲特讲述，当他飞越卢旺达遍布小农户的丘陵地带后，他告诉农民们他想“给他们带来雨水”。他告诉 Devex：“他们以为我疯了。”农民们不仅仅是持怀疑态度。改变可能会导致他们全家吃不饱饭。NAICO首先从小的行为改变开始。很快，NAICO以外的农民也开始采用从NAICO农民那里学到的、有用的新程序。 

But the key to NAICO’s success is “precision irrigation.” Among the Rwandan government’s high priorities is irrigation, which must have been music to Buffett’s ear. “Irrigation is an amazing tool,” he says, joking that he can talk about it for hours. Rather than farmers depending on rain, and when scarce, doing the back-breaking work of hauling water, 63 giant electric pivoting sprayers called center pivots (picture gigantic crop circles) provide the right amount of water to the 2,099 farm plots. Crops are monitored so farmers avoid stressing the plants by overwatering or underwatering. 

但NAICO成功的关键在于“精准灌溉”。灌溉是卢旺达政府的重中之重，这对巴菲特来说是个好消息。“灌溉是一种神奇的工具。”他开玩笑说，他可以在灌溉方面滔滔不绝地讲上几个小时。农民们不再依赖雨水，在雨水稀少的情况下，也不再从事艰苦的运水工作，而是由63台被称为中心枢轴的巨型电动旋转喷雾器（想象一下巨大的作物圆圈）为2099块农田提供适量的水。农作物受到监控，因此农民可以避免因浇水过多或浇水过少而对植物造成压力。

By following this technique, crops are healthier and more resistant to pests with less fertilizer usage, yields are higher, and little water is wasted unlike traditional agriculture. Solar power offsets the cost of electricity, contributes to grid power, and provides backup when grid power is unavailable. 

与传统农业不同的是，采用这种技术后，农作物更健康，抗虫害能力更强，化肥用量更少，产量更高，浪费的水也很少。太阳能发电可以抵消电力成本，为电网供电做出贡献，并在电网无法供电时提供备用电力。 

LaSalle, who has been a consultant to Howard Buffett — though not on NAICO — lauds it as an “ambitious and innovative project.” 

蒂姆·拉萨尔曾担任过霍华德·巴菲特的顾问，但没有参与过NAICO项目，他称赞这是一个“雄心勃勃的创新项目”。 

Sustainability is the consistently missing puzzle piece. “Too much development is building the project and leaving.” That means they’re “designed for failure,” says LaSalle. “Maintenance is always a question and that was not overlooked by Buffett.” 

可持续性是始终缺失的一块拼图。蒂姆·拉萨尔说：“太多的发展项目都是建完就走。这意味着它们是‘为失效而设计的’。维护始终是一个问题，巴菲特也没有忽视这一点。” 

At the outset, NAICO farmers agreed to establish a sustainability fund to finance extension services and operate and maintain irrigation infrastructure. According to an internal report provided by HGBF, as of May 2022 (2023 numbers are not yet available), the sustainability fund had 90% of farmers contributing on time. The fund had a healthy balance of approximately $630,000 and NAICO is self-sustaining, with no further funding needed from the foundation. 

从一开始，NAICO的农民就同意建立一个可持续性基金，为推广服务以及灌溉基础设施的运营和维护提供资金。根据HGBF提供的一份内部报告，截至2022年5月（2023年的数字尚未公布），90%的农民按时缴纳了可持续性基金。该基金拥有约63万美元的健康余额。NAICO可自我维持，无需基金会提供进一步资金。 

This land is now the most productive farmland in all of Rwanda, according to the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources Gerardine Mukeshimana. Internal analysis provided by HGBF also shows NAICO farmers realized significant gains in efficiency, revenue, and yield. 

根据卢旺达农业和动物资源部长Gerardine Mukeshimana的说法，这片土地现在是卢旺达所有土地上产量最高的农田。HGBF提供的内部分析还显示，NAICO的农民在效率、收入和产量方面都有显著提高。 

For example, in 2017, it took farmers three months to plant their newly irrigated area; by 2021, that time was down to 11 days; and by 2022, just three days in some areas. Maize revenue increased from $254 per hectare in 2016 to $1,406 per hectare in 2022, as did other crop revenues. “NAICO offers itself as a huge laboratory, allowing farmers to figure it out and succeed,” Buffett says. 

例如，在2017年，农民种植他们新灌溉的地区需要三个月的时间；到2021年，这个时间减少到11天；到2022年，一些地区只需要三天。玉米收入从2016年的每公顷254美元增加到2022年的每公顷1406美元，其他作物收入也是如此。巴菲特说：“NAICO把自己当做一个巨大的实验室，让农民能够摸索并取得成功。” 

NAICO is of course not without its challenges. Farmers not only had to trust the technology behind the project, they had to change and coordinate some of the crops they grow and the project had to convince 144 of the 2,099 farmers to relocate their homes beyond the giant pivoting sprayers. The foundation built each relocated family improved housing, with running water and toilets, and kept communities intact. 

当然，NAICO也并非没有挑战。农民们不仅要信任项目背后的技术，还要改变和协调他们种植的一些作物。项目还必须说服2099位农民中的144位，将他们的家重新安置在巨大的旋转喷雾器之外。基金会为每个搬迁家庭建造了条件更好的住房，提供自来水和厕所，并保持了社区的完整性。 

Hopefully, the innovation being catalyzed in Rwanda will spill across boundaries to help sustainably address food and water insecurity across Africa. Ultimately, LaSalle points to long-term success as sociological. “Will we see a change in families’ well-being is the question. Are girls getting educated? Boys getting educated? Have economic conditions improved?” 

在卢旺达催生的创新但愿能够跨越国界，帮助整个非洲可持续地解决粮食和水不安全问题。最终，蒂姆·拉萨尔将长期成功归结为社会学意义上的成功。拉萨尔说：“我们能否看到家庭福祉发生变化，这是一个问题。女孩受教育了吗？男孩接受教育了吗？经济状况是否有所改善？” 

It’s still early but NAICO is promising. It illustrates that water-smart principles benefit farmers in countries that commonly experience wet and dry spells. LaSalle says “NAICO should be studied as a model,” while acknowledging no solution is replicable in all contexts. 

虽然时间尚早，但NAICO前景广阔。该项目说明，节水原则有利于那些经常出现旱涝灾害的国家的农民。蒂姆·拉萨尔说：“应该将NAICO作为一个范例进行研究。”他同时也承认，没有任何解决方案可以在所有情况下推广。 

“Nothing is more fun than to go back two years later. See how they’ve changed and talk about how amazing it worked,” Buffett says with zeal. He has had test farms in Texas and Arizona in the United States, and in South Africa, and his own working farms in the U.S. — in Illinois and Nebraska, where he is deeply engaged with the university, a leader in agriculture research and development. “This stuff works. It’s not magic.” 

巴菲特热情洋溢地说：“最有趣的事情莫过于两年后再回去，看看它们发生了怎样的变化，再谈谈它的神奇效果。”他在美国的得克萨斯州和亚利桑那州以及南非都有试验农场，在美国的伊利诺伊州和内布拉斯加州也有自己的工作农场，他与那里的大学（农业研发领域的佼佼者）有深入的合作。巴菲特说：“这东西有用。这不是魔术。” 

Buffett has the reputation as a forward-moving if not impatient force. But in his exuberance lives the patience of a farmer. “Change can’t come quickly without disrupting lives,” he says. We “can’t come in with radical change. Long-term programs are what help you learn.” He’s seeing progress, and as he says, “It can’t get better than that!” 

巴菲特虽然不是一个急性子，但也是一个敢于向前推进的人。但在他的热情中，却蕴含着农民的耐心。他说：“变革不可能在不扰乱生活的情况下迅速到来。我们不能来一场彻底的变革。长期计划有助于你学习。”他看到了进步，正如他所说：“没有比这更好的了！”