Pilot for protecting against counterfeit crop protection products

Anecdotal evidence collected across all agribusiness sectors in 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa indicates that counterfeit agricultural inputs account for more than 30 percent of all retail agro-input purchases. 

Unscrupulous entrepreneurs produce counterfeit pesticide packaging and fill it with inert product, sell inferior grain as quality seed and palm gravel off as fertilizer.  Neither law enforcement agencies nor Ministries of Agriculture nor the private sector have been able to make any real headway in reducing this illegal trading which, according to Felix Jumbe, Executive Director of the Seed Trade Association of Malawi, “makes the poor poorer.”

Felix Jumbe

With support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through theCommon Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), IFDC is helping eliminate counterfeit crop protection products (CPPs). IFDC staff members have designed a simple counter-measure and, in partnership with CropLife Africa Middle East (CLAME) and CropLife Uganda, IFDC is launching a pilot program to scientifically test the effectiveness of the methodology. CLAME, a member of CropLife International, is a regional federation representing the plant science industry and a network of national associations in 30 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Read more

The fuel wood value chain and improved charcoal production

A documentary on the IFDC CATALIST/SEW project's modern charcoal production and agroforestry programs in Burundi, DRC and Rwanda. Run time: 40 minutes.

IFDC has released an educational and inspirational film, “Makala,” that illustrates improved charcoal production (carbonization) techniques that are more environmentally sustainable than traditional methods. “Charcoalers,” farmers and others involved in the fuel wood value chain are learning the improved techniques through training from IFDC’s CATALIST/SEW project. CATALIST/SEW is the “Sustainable Energy Production Through Woodlots and Agroforestry” project in the Albertine Rift of Central Africa’s Great Lakes Region. The 40-minute film will be used extensively in the CATALIST/SEW focus countries – Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – to promote both modern carbonization methods and agroforestry.

“The project brings a group of people together – men and women – for 12 days, at one place, and we give them practical training using participatory learning activities – learning by doing,” said Aimé Kikuru in the film. Kikuru is the CATALIST/SEW national value chain officer in DRC. “We have a goal of training 500 charcoalers. But we cannot train them all ourselves. That is why we developed our ‘peer-to-peer’ training program.”

Partnership promoting agricultural development unveiled in Southern Sudan

6 May 2011. The United States, Netherlands and two leading agriculture-focused nonprofits are collaborating to back the Southern Sudanese government’s efforts “to transform farms into businesses.”

The communiqué was signed between the U.S. Agency for International Development, Dutch government, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and International Fertilizer Development Center on May 6 at the commercial Rajaf Farm outside Juba, according to a USAID news release.

Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr. Anne Itto represented the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) at the event. She mentioned during her remarks that southern Sudan has enormous potential for agricultural development-with more than 640,000 square kilometers of land, only four percent is now farmed.

The new partnership seeks to help develop southern Sudan's commercial agriculture sector by increasing agricultural productivity, supporting agribusinesses, and improving agricultural research and technology through:

• Expanded use of quality seed and integrated soil fertility management
• Development and expansion of an agro-dealer network
• Revitalization of local agricultural training and research centers
• Development of policies and regulations that support business development, sound regulatory practices, and innovation
• Development of institutions that promote and support market infrastructure and information systems
• Increasing farmers' and entrepreneurs' access to finance.

Announcement: FERTILIZER POLICY AND MARKETING STRATEGIES IN AFRICA

July 4-8, 2011. Nairobi, Kenya.The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) announced an international workshop entitled “Fertilizer Policy and Marketing Strategies in Africa”.

                  

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

The workshop is designed for policymakers, private sector entrepreneurs, producer organizations, agro- input dealers, financial institutions and development partners supporting agricultural and fertilizer market development in Africa.

For further information, please click here  and read the detailed program description. 

AMITSA: web- and mobile-based market information system on agro-inputs

AMITSA is a multi-country, web- and mobile-based market information system on agro-inputs for eastern and southern Africa implemented in collaboration with IFDC, Esoko, COMESA and EAC.

The lack of accurate, up-to-date information on agro-inputs is one of the major constraints to agricultural productivity and to the development of business linkages and trade in the region. To address this problem, AMITSA was created to provide accessible data through an open and collaborative market information system. The AMITSA network covers eight countries – Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

Statistics, directories, publications and market news are compiled and shared via an interactive, web-based portal (www.amitsa.org). Monthly price reports are sent by e-mail to over 600 recipients and can be downloaded from the site’s publication center. Mobile phone applications were recently integrated into the AMITSA system, which broadened availability to nearly every farmer and agro-dealer in the region by allowing data to be transmitted via text messages. Price information, technical, extension or marketing messages and alerts will be distributed to more than 5,000 agro-dealers and to hundreds of thousands of farmers. AMITSA’s mobile networks are managed by Esoko, a web-based tool that gives people and businesses the opportunity to share information quickly and affordably.

AfricaFertilizer.org to Increase Agricultural Productivity and Knowledge Across Africa

AfricaFertilizer.org, a global forum to disseminate and exchange information on fertilizers, soil fertility and related agricultural issues that face Africa, has been launched. The website provides much-needed agricultural information to the citizens of Africa and the world. AfricaFertilizer.org serves stakeholders in the movement to make Africa selfsufficient in food production. Stakeholders include farm organizations, researchers, policymakers, extension specialists, the agro-input industry, the private sector, donors, funding agencies and the media.


AfricaFertilizer.org is partially funded by a grant from the Strategic Alliance for Agricultural Development in Africa (SAADA) project of the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International
Cooperation (DGIS). IFDC is responsible for creating and maintaining the site, which features an interactive map of nutrient depletion in Africa, numerous publications available for download,
news and other information crucial to agricultural intensification. AfricaFertilizer.org will expand through partnerships that will provide essential data for the Website. 


"More content will be added on an ongoing basis, as partnerships are developed at several levels: with international organisations or publishers; at the continental level with organisations such as AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), the African Union and NEPAD (The New Partnership for Africa's Development); (and) at the national level with governments, associations, organisations, research institutions and agricultural projects working across Africa," Patrice Annequin IFDC market information specialist.

According to Annequin, IFDC also hopes to use mobile phones to disseminate important fertilizer information, as many sub-Saharan Africans increasingly have gained access to mobile phone technology.

AfricaFertilizer.org is partnered with Esoko.com, a Website that allows market information to be transmitted via text messaging to sub-Saharan Africa. Whether transmitted by Internet or phone, IFDC has gathered vital soil fertility information for Africa in once place for the first time-an important step towards improving sustainable agricultural practices on the continent.


Reference:
The Citizen Daily 15/03/2010 Africa: New Website to provide fertilizer information to farmers

First International Conference on the Convergence of Sciences: Strengthening Innovation Systems

22-26 June 2009. Elmina/Cape Coast Ghana. First International Conference on the Convergence of Sciences: Strengthening Innovation Systems (CoS SIS) . The participants include the category of partners called Research Associates, Graduate Students, Supervisors, other stakeholders in the program from Ghana, Mali and Benin, CGIAR and IFDC. The Embassy of the Netherlands and the Ministry of External Affairs in the Netherland were both represented.

Objectives:

• To provide a forum at which PhD students, RAs, CoS Coordinators, scientific supervisors, domain experts, and chair persons of CoS-SIS Programme Management Teams can meet and discuss.
• To create an opportunity for all the CoS-SIS actors to get a broad view and a common understanding of the CoS-SIS research programme and its background.
• To begin to create a common perspective on institutional change, the Innovation Systems Approach, Multi-Stakeholder Processes and other key concepts.
• To present, discuss and agree on the overall ‘quasi-experimental’ research design of CoS-SIS and its use of Causal Process Tracing (CPT).
• For the Research Associates (RAs) to present the results of the opportunity scoping in each of the CoS-SIS domains and for these results to be critically discussed and decided upon by the CoS-SIS actors.
• For the CoS-SIS partners to discuss and guide the next steps of the CoS-SIS process defining the work of both PhDs and RAs.

FARA presented a paper during the Innovation Systems Approach and its relevance session: Why is innovation systems approach important for Africa ( Wale Adekunle, FARA)

References:

Programme

How market information systems help privatise the Agri input sector in Nigeria

Interview with Emmanuel Ozoemena of IFDC Nigeria during the Esoko partners workshop organised at the FARA secretariat in Accra 9 - 13 March 2009.

The government of Nigeria has embarked on a programme of privatisation of the Agri inputs. Emmanuel explains how 1400 agro-dealers are targetted by the IFDC supported project: the Nigerian Agro dealer support project. Exchange of information through the mobile phone market information system plays a vital role in the exchange of information on the prize of agri inputs.

Reference: New Project Aims to Bring Quality Seeds to Nigerian Farmers 09/10/08

2008 US-AFRICA Agribusiness Forum

25-27 June. Leaders in agribusiness industry discussed the increasing business case for investing in agriculture & food production in Africa at the 2008 US-AFRICA Agribusiness Forum in Chicago. [Chicago is regarded as the world’s grain centre, with its commodity exchange being the largest in the world]

Record high food prices calls attention to the role of the private sector in improving food security around the world. An increased emphasis on agricultural inputs and farming technology can contribute greatly to increased production capacity across Africa.

The Forum brought together the U.S. and African public and private sectors to discuss the minimization of investment risk and identify projects and mechanisms to expand their investment portfolio through agribusiness.

Highlights of the Forum included industry-specific sessions, panels to address cross-cutting issues, such as finance product innovation, pharmaceutical and biofuel industry growth, carbon trading, production technology, and certification; as well as networking opportunities. Industry experts shared best practices and the latest trends in the field.

• DON CRANE, senior development advisor at IFDC (an international center for soil fertility and agricultural development), and MONTY JONES, executive director at the FORUM FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA (FARA) were panelists on the ―Food Security Driven by Agricultural Inputs and Farming Technology‖ workshop.
• IFDC and FARA were joined by other industry experts to the best practices of the private and public sector in addressing the issue of food security through increased investment in Africa’s agricultural security sector. IFDC projects cover specialties from agribusiness to engineering and technology development, from management information systems to plant nutrient management, policy reform, and market development.

References:

• PDF Plenary sessions + PDF Workshops
• 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum - a pictures set on Flickr
• AllAfrica 01/07 Africa: Global Food Crisis Demands New Approach to Agriculture
• AllAfrica 01/07 Africa: Business Changing to Confront Food Crisis
• NewsBlaze 02/07 Strong Forces Now Reshaping World Food Markets
• AllAfrica 03/07 Africa: Continent Needs Transportation Capacity Now, Experts Say
• East African 13/07 Flower producer Sher to go into food production

Regional meeting on crop protection and fertilizers

April 8. A two-day international annual West and Central Africa Hub and Regulatory meeting was held in Accra, Ghana.

The meeting was organised by CropLife Africa Middle East with participants from Ghana, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Benin and Nigeria.

With support from International Centre for Soil Fertility and Agricultural Development (IFDC) the workshop will also formulate recommendations for the rapid setting up and implementation of the ECOWAS harmonization regulatory framework.

Reference:

GhanaWeb - MOFA calls for cooperation to fight crop protection piracy