IFAD to help support diaspora investments in rural development and agricultural projects

May 17-19, 2011. Washington, D.C. The US Department of State, in partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Migration Policy Institute, organized the first ever Secretary’s Global Diaspora Forum, focused on involving US-based diasporas in foreign policy and development efforts to achieve common-interest goals.

The Forum challenged diaspora communities to forge partnerships with the private sector, civil society, and public institutions in order to make their engagements with their countries of origin or ancestry effective, scalable, and sustainable. The Forum took place over three days

One panel was organised around Agriculture and Rural Development. Food insecurity is often rooted in poverty and poses long-term challenges to communities and countries to develop. The global community has launched an expansive effort to eradicate global hunger and achieve food security. This panel, organized in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development, explored the role of diasporas in meeting this objective.

Moderator: Paul Weisenfeld, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Food Security, USAID

• Estrella Dizon Anonuevo, Executive Director, Atikha Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative, Inc.
• Fatumo Farah, Director, Himilo Relief and Development Association
• Eleanor Nagy, Acting Deputy Coordinator of Feed the Future, Global Hunger and FoodSecurity Office, US State Department
• Pedro de Vasconcelos, Coordinator, Multi-donor Financing Facility for Remittances

Another panel was organised around Science and Technology. Science and technology are central to addressing major global challenges. Foreign-born scientists in the US contribute to progress in every field of science. For many, maintaining ties with colleagues back home contributes to new research partnerships, increased uptake of new research products or services, and strengthened science policies and practices. This panel focused on the scientific diaspora communities as vectors of knowledge, learning, entrepreneurial partnerships, and science diplomacy.  

Moderator: Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, Ph.D., Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for 

Oceans, Environment and Science

• Dr. Alexander Dehgan, Ph.D. Science and Technology Advisor to the Administrator, USAID
• Dr. Jorge Gomez, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Office of Latin American Cancer Program 
• Development, National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Health
• Dr. Alfred Watkins, Ph.D., Science and Technology Program Coordinator, The World Bank
• Patricia Zambrano, Senior Research Analyst, International Food Policy Research Institut

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Opening Remarks:

At the end of her opening remarks, she mentions IDEA will collaborate with IFAD to help support diaspora investments in rural development and agricultural projects.

Announcement: Second African Diaspora Marketplace

18/05/2011. The FINANCIAL - Business Initiative for U.S.-based African Diaspora Announced at Secretary Clinton’s Global Diaspora Forum. The Western Union Company a leader in global payment services, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced they will launch a second African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM) in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The ADM encourages sustainable economic growth and employment by supporting U.S.-based African Diaspora entrepreneurs with innovating and high-impact ideas for start-up and established businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The new Marketplace will incorporate key learning from the first African Diaspora Marketplace, by focusing grants toward priority, high-impact sectors in Africa, including agribusiness, renewable energy, and information and communication technology (ICT).

Backgound:
The African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM) is a business plan competition designed to support the entrepreneurial spirit and resources of the U.S.-based African diaspora community to promote economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa by facilitating diaspora direct investment (DDI) in viable small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In 2010 the African Diaspora Marketplace (ADM) has awarded $1.4 million in matching grants to 14 businesses who are working in partnership with African-based ventures to promote job-growth in their native countries.The grant winners were chosen at an ADM conference in January 2010 after beating out 733 applicants and 58 finalists.


Related to agriculture/agribusiness:

Country	Business Name	Project Title
Ghana	Aceritas Ghana, Ltd.	Green Acres Goat Farm Beginning with 100 goats, this commercial goat farm will use improved breed stock imported from South Africa and modern husbandry methods to produce the animals for meat and breeding. With a small laboratory and education center, the ranch also will work as a platform for sharing knowledge with local farmers to help them upgrade breeding and farming methods and grow.
Ethiopia	TAF, PLC	TAF BioTechnology TAF BioTechnology (Ethiopia) is a commercial-scale plant tissue culture business focusing on the cultivation and multiplication of cells, tissues and organs of plants with the objective of increasing the yield and quality of produce for Ethiopian agriculture producers. The company will produce plant clones (true copies of plants) in large numbers through streamlined operation of a tissue culture facility.
Nigeria	AACE Foods	Processing and Preserving West Africa's Best Fruits and Vegetables AACE Food Processing & Distribution Ltd. processes, packages and distributes nutritious and tasty food made from the best of West Africa’s fruits and vegetables. It product line consists of spices, spreads, sauces and complementary food that excite and satisfy individuals and families.
Uganda	Tek Consults, Ltd.	Cooking Solar Ovens Manufacturing Building a solar oven factory in Uganda. The factory will be located in the industrial park section of Kampala. It will be only the second solar oven factory on the continent, and the very first solar oven factory in sub-Saharan Africa.
Sierra Leone	Palm Fruit Processing	Production of Crude Palm Oil Using a Palm Processing Mill Palm Fruit Processing (Sierra Leone) will establish a Palm Oil Processing Mill in Sierra Leone to produce Crude Palm Oil (CPO). CPO is a staple in Sierra Leone and there is a substantial demand for the product. Production of CPO in Sierra Leone is done primarily using traditional methods that are very labor intensive and also inefficient. This inefficiency, coupled with export of CPO, creates an atmosphere wherein CPO trades locally at a substantial premium to world market price

Uganda	EarthWise Ferries	EarthWise Ferries (Uganda) will reestablish, manage, and operate a fast-ferry transportation system on Lake Victoria, with destinations in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Earthwise has enlisted 600 indigenous farmers to grow sunflower seeds to produce the vegetable oil which will power the ferries.
Kenya	Uza-Mazao	Uza-Mazao (Kenya) (TM) is creating a marketplace via SMS messaging to bring unprecedented levels of efficiency to buyers or sellers of crops, farm produce, livestock or livestock products. It gives sellers the ability to find willing buyers and vice-versa. It aggregates buyers and sellers and applies a powerful algorithm to find the best match.

Is there a role for the African diaspora in Agricultural Research for Development?

Association of African Agricultural Professionals in the Diaspora

A new organization will link African agricultural professionals abroad and in Africa together to strengthen the continent's agricultural and rural development.

The Association of African Agricultural Professionals in the Diaspora, or AAAPD, wants to help transform African smallholder agriculture into an engine of economic growth in the continent. In addition to providing opportunities for networking among Africa's professionals, AAAPD will mobilize resources, promote the exchange of information and technology, and encourage public-private investments in agricultural research, extension and training.

"Our role is to become a bridge to African agricultural institutions, play a catalytic role in agricultural development and provide a mechanism to harness African Diaspora experiences toward Africa's agricultural and rural development," AAAPD President Peter Jeranyama said. "In this quest, we plan to work in collaboration with 'Friends of Africa' -- people who share a common interest of facilitating Africa's development."

The Association of African Agricultural Professionals in the Diaspora is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization registered in Massachusetts. AAAPD is the implementer of a grant to Iowa State University from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. A multi-disciplinary team of African professionals founded AAAPD in July 2008. The team includes Andrew Manu (Iowa State University), Stephen Machado (Oregon State University), Thandiwe Nleya (South Dakota State University), Samuel Essah (Colorado State University), Felicitas Katepa-Mupondwa (Agriculture AgriFoods, Canada), Edmund Mupondwa (Agriculture AgriFoods, Canada), Dianah Ngonyamo-Majee (Monsanto Company), Daniel Karanja (Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa) and Peter Jeranyama (University of Massachusetts Amherst).

Related:
One of the assumptions of PAEPARD is to also include the Diaspora: “African Diaspora can be mobilised for ARD”. It is assumed that preventing African ARD stakeholders being part of the “scientific diaspora” support the submission of high quality proposals depending on their field of expertise and whether they are still active in agriculture.


Following a presentation of Raoul DONGE, Président Réseau CEFOREC International Centre de Formation et de Renforcement des Capacités at the European Development Days in Brussels on December 7th, CEFOREC was invited to collaborate with PAEPARD in order to mobilize the African Diaspora active in the agribusiness sector or supporting SMEs in Africa in the agricultural sector.