Agri entrepreneurs as a new type of innovators

Smallholders need to work the logic of markets. For that they need skills – and they do not come spontaneously. To make farming a business, farmers need specific services to help them in doing so: business services. And these services need to cater to a wide range of types of farmers.

The same holds true for other value chain actors such as local traders, warehouse managers, input suppliers and local processors: they also need business services to be able to cope with the dynamic environment they find themselves in.

After the European Agribusiness in Africa workshop (organised by the European Commission in April), the Platform for African-European partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD) collected interesting reference material focusing on agricultural entrepreneurs:

PAEPARD video interviews

Agri-entrepreneurs as a new type of innovatorsInterview with Andy Hall, Researcher in the area of Innovation Processes and agriculture. UNU-MERIT Maastricht. AISA workshop, Agricultural Innovation Systems in Africa, Nairobi, 29-31 May 2013. Andy answers following questions:

• Are agri-entrepreneurs a new type of innovators?
• What is an example of an agri-business service provider?
• Which role can entrepreneurs play to put research into use?
• Can entrepreneurs link the value chain to financial actors?
• Was Research into Use (RIU) over-designed?
• Why is engaging agricultural Small and Medium Enterprises (agri-SMEs) so challenging?
• Are equity funds an opportunity to engage them?

Patient capital to support African agribusinessInterview with Paul Frix, the Director ad interim of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise (CDE).

The collaboration between GIZ and BMGF to support African agribusinessInterview with Albert Engel, Deputy Director General, German Agency for International.

La collaboration du ROPPA avec le prive et la rechercheInterview with Khalilou Sylla (Secrétaire Exécutif, ROPPA)

Some Agribusiness support services

Towards Sustainable Clusters in Agribusiness through learning in entrepreneurshipIFDC, the International Centre for development oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA) and Base of the Pyramid Innovation Center (BoP Inc.) are promoting sustainable agricultural production and commodity chain development across Africa through the five-year (2012-2016) Toward Sustainable Clusters in Agribusiness through Learning in Entrepreneurship (2SCALE) project. Funded by the Netherlands’ Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS), the project focuses on the development of competitive rural agricultural systems, viable agro-enterprises and the use of public-private partnerships (PPPs). See also: Recent IFDC agribusiness support projects

Promotion of Private Sector Development in AgricultureThis is a bilateral technical assistance programme jointly implemented by the German Agency for International Development (GIZ) on behalf of the Government of Germany and the Ministry of Agriculture on behalf of the Government of Kenya. PSDA closely collaborates with other agricultural sector Ministries, mainly with the Ministry of Livestock Development, Ministry of Fisheries Development and Ministry of Cooperative Development and Marketing.

ASNAPP, an NGO with a head for businessCommunity farming projects in Africa have a much greater chance of making a real difference to the lives of rural farmers when there is a strong private sector company providing a ready market for the produce

Some best practices

Matooke Agribusiness IncubatorThe Afri Banana Products Limited, formerly Incubation and Diversification of Banana Products for Agribusiness (IDBPA), aims to upscale innovations and improve entrepreneurial skills in banana production-to-marketing value chains with emphasis on capacity building for increased production, development of SME’s, training in entrepreneurship and agribusiness at B.Sc. and M.Sc. levels, linking of research innovations to agribusiness, and marketing of banana and its value added products including disease-free seedlongs, fresh peeled and vacuum sealed bananas, vinegar, banana wine, enriched animal feeds, biogas, charcoal briquettes, biodegradable bags and textile fiber materials.

Training Beninese youth in agribusinessThe Songhai Center in Porto-Novo works towards reducing youth unemployment and underemployment by training young people in organic agriculture, food processing, and natural resource management.

An indigenous agribusines success: Shito, a traditional pepper sauceAfrican entrepreneurs have incredible potential to make African agriculture a dynamic, growth-generating sector that fills a growing market niche and engages the youth.

Resources on Agribusiness

Agricultural business development servicesThis book describes the two dominant approaches to providing services: (a) supply-driven (where the funder decides what services should be offered), (b) and market-driven (where more emphasis is put on market forces). It looks at how 12 business service providers from across Africa run their businesses.It describes the seven different “business models” that they pursue, and examines the features of each one.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship to enhance graduate studiesStudy on Challenges and Opportunities for Strengthening Tertiary Agricultural Education and Private Sector Collaboration in Africa.

Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of AgribusinessAfrica’s farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030 if they can expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value nutritious foods.

A Guide to Inclusive AgribusinessReport by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ)

Agricultural Value Chain FinanceThe purpose of this book is to provide an understanding of the emerging field of agricultural value chain finance.

Retrospective review of private and public sector agribusiness investments in AfricaWorld Bank Research Paper

Funding

Setting-up an equity fund for SMEs agribusinesses in UgandaThe European Union and other partners are working with the Government to launch an equity fund for SMEs agribusinesses in Uganda.

Launch of two Dutch Funding instruments on food security(a) Food and Business Global Challenges Programme (GCP). The closing date for submitting preliminary applications is9 July 2013.
(b) Food and Business Applied Research Fund (ARF). Proposals can be submitted continuously during the course of this first Call for proposals.

The Technical Assistance Facility of the African Agriculture Fund.This is a grant based facility, that supports capacity building for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) invested in by the African Agriculture Fund (AAF) and its SME Fund

Value chain based research fundingAn innovative approach to funding ARD is the value chain based research funding.

US, Sweden create $25m fund to spur private agric investmentThe governments of Sweden and the United States of America created a $25 million African agriculture fund for the six-member New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition initiative.

This blogpost was originally published on the PAEPARD blog

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Strong African partnerships point to a brighter future for the continent

CGIAR: “We are already engaging with a large number of partners in Africa. And we are determined to make sure we continue to align our research with the priorities of these development partners”

Africa is a hugely important region for CGIAR. It is no coincidence that at least 50 percent of our research budget is invested in projects on the African continent. So it was with particular pleasure that I followed progress at the High Level Meeting of African and International Leaders meeting in Addis-Ababa earlier this week (July 1st).

African leaders at the meeting, which was organized by the African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO) amongst others, unanimously adopted a declaration to end hunger in Africa by 2025. They also reaffirmed their determination to speed up implementation of the Maputo Declaration, which calls for African countries to devote ten percent of their budget to agricultural development.

But almost as exciting as this firm commitment to pursue food security for the African continent were some of the results outlined at the meeting, showing that several African countries are reaching – and sometimes exceeding – development goals in the agriculture sector.

Ten of the 54 AU member states have already reached the target of allocating at least ten percent of public investment in agriculture. Among them are Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Niger and Senegal, which have all surpassed the target.

Ten countries (Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, the Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania) have exceeded the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) objective of 6 percent growth in agricultural production. And another four have achieved growth of between 5 and 6 percent.

The meeting in Addis-Ababa stressed that the roadmap for agricultural development should be based on the continent’s own resources, and that is only right and proper. There is massive potential for African agricultural development. The continent has a growing population of young people and large land and water resources for crop, livestock, fishery and forestry production. But the meeting also recognized that it will need technical assistance and called upon development partners to strengthen their alliances.

That is something that strikes a real chord here at CGIAR, where we firmly believe in the value of working together, on a whole range of different levels. The potential for cross-fertilization is at the heart of CGIAR’s focus on partnerships. Whereas once, research organizations worked on their own, we now see the value of conferring with partners, to exchange information about where the real needs are, what kind of technologies can best help small-scale farmers produce more food and market it more effectively, and how those interventions can best be scaled up. That determination has been reflected in a number of strategic alliances formed between CGIAR and international development organizations. These include many of the main players at the High Level Meeting in Addis-Ababa this week.

Aligning research priorities

In late 2011, as a result of what has become known as the Dublin Process, CAADP and CGIAR started working together to harmonize their agendas and identify where the greatest value addition can be generated. The idea was to bring together the research strengths and networks of the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs) with agricultural development needs and opportunities identified by national agricultural Investment Plans (IPs) spearheaded by CAADP.

That marked something of a milestone for CGIAR involvement in agricultural development for Africa. Before, both CGIAR and CAADP had tended to pursue mostly separate paths, aside from occasional link-ups between CCADP and individual CGIAR Research Centers.

In January 2012, this partnership was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CGIAR and the African Union Commission (AUC) for a strategic partnership under CAADP.

This powerful partnership process continues to move ahead, producing dividends in terms of jointly focused investments and expertise. An important feature of the agreement has been more coordination in priority setting and programming between CGIAR and CAADP institutions. One concrete example of how that works in practice is the involvement of CAADP institutions in the development of the intermediate development outcomes (IDOs) for each of the CRPs.

Mutual benefits

For decades, CGIAR has collaborated on agricultural development with FAO. But that relationship moved a step closer in February this year when we signed an MoU with FAO, formally pledging to engage in a strategic partnership.

Basically, the agreement is a tit-for-tat that benefits both partners. FAO promises to provide theCGIAR Consortium with advice on priorities for agricultural research, as well as information on priority programs or activities that FAO is implementing. And CGIAR advises FAO on the potential for scaling up innovation in agriculture. We are also giving FAO regular updates on the activities of our CRPs. And again, there are practical outcomes. Through the partnership, FAO will be making new technologies developed by CGIAR and others available to small-scale farmers on the ground.

The IDOs will play a pivotal role in CGIAR’s move towards an effective results-based performance management system. These are the building blocks of the CGIAR research agenda and are innovative in the way they involve key stakeholders in their design – like CAADP — and the fact that they are integrated across CRPs where possible – underscoring the new CGIAR approach of cutting across research sectors that were once considered entirely separate.

As was reiterated during our recent meeting to shape the future research agenda, CGIAR plans for bringing about real improvements in addressing poverty, food insecurity, poor nutrition and environmental degradation depend largely on the extent to which we work with development partners, be they governments, international agencies, NGOs or others. Nowhere is this truer than in Africa – a continent with daunting challenges, but also massive potential.

We are already engaging with a large number of partners in Africa. And we are determined to make sure we continue to align our research with the priorities of these development partners. That way, we can be sure that the research we carry out answers the real needs of smallholder farmers and their families, and the African people whose future depends on them.

Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW)

CGIAR will participate in the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW), convened by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and hosted by the government of Ghana. From July 15 to 20, the AASW will gather all major stakeholders involved in Africa agriculture, under the theme “Africa Feeding Africa through Agricultural Science and Innovation”.

CGIAR will be keeping track of news relating to this event including blogs and social media from the event itself. For updates visit the Africa Agriculture Science Week 2013 events page on cgiar.org.

For more information:
United Behind the African agenda to Eradicate Hunger
African Union Commission and CGIAR Consortium form new strategic partnership (CGIAR Consortium)
FAO and CGIAR Consortium form strategic partnership (CGIAR Consortium)
“Dublin Process” Aligning Agendas for Agricultural Transformation in Africa (CGIAR Consortium)
Donors and partners tell CGIAR program leaders to “Show us the impact” (CGIAR Consortium)
CGIAR Research Programs join forces with partners and donors to shape targets and impacts(CGIAR Consortium)

Photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann

Blogpost by Dr.Frank Rijsberman, CEO CGIAR Consortium, originally published on CGIAR.org

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Idowu Ejere kicks off the AASW6 blog

Idowu: How young people can inspire young people…

“It isn’t where you came from,
its where you’re going that counts.”
—Ella Fitzgerald

Few young people raise to a position, early in their career, where they can inspire others and make a change. For those who do, even fewer dare to take the risk then, to stand up, and push for changes.

Idowu Okheren Ejere is one of those few. As a young Nigerian diplomat and researcher, she is presently the Communication and Public Awareness Officer at FARA. Given the opportunity to coordinate the media outreach at the upcoming Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW6), she took her task as an opportunity to use young people’s enthusiasm for social media, and pull them into the conference’s social reporting team.

One month before the conference, over 100 young professionals are now already part of this team, ceasing the conference as a way to learn new tools, and learning how to integrate these into their daily work.

This is a story how African youth can inspire people, when given the opportunity…

Meeting Idowu

Idowu holds a B.Sc in International Relations from Igbinedion University Nigeria, an M.A in Globalization and Development from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), University of Sussex (UK). She is currently studying for a PhD in Development Studies at the Natural Resources Institute (NRI), University of Greenwich and an MSc Poverty Reduction at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). She also holds several professional certificates from Harvard University and China Agricultural University.

Her career spans the public and private sectors with a keen interest in the research on food security, resource management, conflicts, agrarian change and rural development.

Discovering the power of social media

As a born communicator, she held several social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogger, etc, but used them mostly for personal purposes until last year. In November 2012, she attended the Social Media Training in Uruguay under the auspices of GCARD2. Idowu says this was a turning point in her life as she realized the power of social media: How it could be used to preach the gospel of poverty reduction and food security. At GCARD2, she discovered how social media could foster the goal of Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) and specifically how social media could be used to get the voices of millions of people across the globe heard in high level discourses.

Implementing social media at the AASW

After GCARD2, she was part of the Planning Committee for the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW). She realized from the previous AASW that one of the challenges was “getting the message out to people outside the usual audiences”, including policy makers, young people and the general public.

With the upsurge in the use of mobile technologies in Africa came the use of social media. Today Facebook is the single largest -virtual- nation outside any country with over 500 million active users. Twitter and Myspace are doing just as well. This “virtual nation” cannot be underestimated in the current architecture of agriculture and food security discourses.

With this in mind she suggested to the FARA Secretariat Organizing Committee to invest in bringing a group of young social reporters to the AASW. They would be trained on social media tools and would report “live”, from the conference. This onsite team would be supported by a virtual team, from all over the world, who would remotely assist this group of “social reporters”.

As great minds think alike, FARA teamed up with CTA, GFAR, CGIAR and YPARD with the common goal to build the capacity of young people as a voice for the role of research in African agricultural development. This “Communication Partnership” culminated in the AASW social media team we have today. This would not have been possible without the support of Prof. Monty Jones of FARA, Dr. Michael Hailu and Mr. Sam Mikenga of CTA, Ms. Marina Cherbonnier of YPARD, Mr. Piers Bocock and Mrs. Enrica Porcari of CGIAR and Mr. Peter Casier.

The role of social media at the AASW

The world is changing and we need to have people from all ends of the world contribute to discourses that involve their future and well-being. Africa is no different, and the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week is no different: At the conference, social media will create an avenue for those who are unable to participate physically at the science week. Social media will allow us to involve more people than merely those present at the conference venue, especially the youth who are easily overlooked in global development discourses.

In this way, social media would allow inclusion, participation and collaborations to achieve the conference’s goal of “Africa feeding Africa through science and innovation”.

Get involved!

The AASW social reporters team is a fast growing virtual team. With over 100 people in the group already, we are already virtually working together to learn the social media tools. way ahead of the conference. The AASW social reporters are now organising webinars and peer-assist sessions, coupling the “experts”, with those eager to learn more. At the same, the team is preparing the conference’s social media outreach via a Google Groups email discussion forum.

Do you want to join this virtual team? Send an email to p.casier(at)cgiar(dot)org, the AASW Social Media Coordinator and we’ll gladly integrate you in our group!

Follow the conference via the #AASW6 Twitter tag, follow @FARAinfo on Twitter and on Facebook

by AASW editor

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Opinions from FARA: Opening Young Minds to Africa’s Agriculture – How the 6th AASW connects the dots

Opinions from FARA: Opening Young Minds to Africa’s Agriculture – How the 6th AASW connects the dots

Opening Young Minds to Africa’s Agriculture – How the 6th AASW connects the dots

Youth: the future of Africa’s agricultural development is in your hands!

“Africa now needs desperately to redesign its self-image, create an environment of peace and stability and plan a new science-led future appropriate to its culture, needs and aspirations. In essence, it must become Africa-centered.”

Thomas R.Odhiambo, 1993

The forthcoming 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW) comes at an opportune time for Africa. The event poises the continent to surpass earlier generations in terms of transformation, innovation and leadership agenda. Great minds converging in Accra, Ghana will seek to refine ways and means to bring agricultural progress into our circles of influence. Hence, to connect science and agriculture at this high-level platform of thinkers and practitioners fits well as a way to capture young farmers’ realities and the opportunities for young agriculturalists in everyday life.

Connecting dots, starting from “the first African Agriculturalists”

The older generation recognizes the need to equip young minds with appropriate skills and knowledge to be tomorrow’s scientists and agricultural leaders. In fact, a large number of the challenges in agriculture and farming that will need to be resolved by 2050, will need to be met by today’s youth [i].

The same is echoed in a statement by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva [ii] at the “Innovative Ideas to Feed the World” recently organised by FAO interns. He noted that “the event brought together three important ideas: young professionals, innovative ideas and feeding the world. The three ideas that are not always connected. The biggest contribution young professionals can give, is to bring the three ideas together.”

Harvard-based professor, Calestous Juma in his McGrill Honorary Doctoral Address (“A Plea for Agricultural Innovation” [iii]) asserts that “addressing today’s challenges require a more balanced view that must be guided by evidence. But more importantly, it requires an optimistic outlook that recognizes the power of human creativity in responding to global challenges”. By pursuing careers in the field of gathering science-based evidence, youths can play a role in the science agenda.

The late eminent scientist, Thomas R. Odhiambo in his paper “The role of science in the development of Africa” [iv], noted “there is a need on opening young minds to new ideas and images, rather than on the accumulation of facts and information”.
It is not an underestimation that youth needs extensive knowledge and skills to be able to engage effectively in Africa’s agricultural transformation both with the public and the clientele.

The new generation

The first generation of African agriculturalists has by and large retired, and their successors -the second generation of researchers and their teachers- are often discouraged by poor conditions of service and the low return rate from overseas of many young academics [v].

It is refreshing then to note of efforts to halt the brain drain of Africa’s young scientists [vi]. A case in point of Ghana’s young scientist Michael Osei who is carrying out research to address Africa’s pressing needs. Michael Osei works in his home country albeit with a network of research associates from abroad. As Michael, youths should be compelled to pick their niche in their home country and draw from the abundant options that now exist offered by development institutions.

In a few weeks time, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) will showcase Ghana’s success on the Millennium Development Goal Number 1. More opportunities for engagement with youths are still abound. The global development era has become an all important choice to either: reform to engage youths or stand to be run over by the transformation wagon traversing the continent.

Young minds should take advantage of 6th AASW. I encourage youths to invest time studying Africa’s agricultural history, the constraints the continent faces, the advances made across agricultural disciplines, and its growing pool of expertise. Sweeping through Africa’s long agricultural trace, youths can connect the dots between the various players in the agricultural value chain.

A glimpse into Africa’s future hints that it is bright given a well-trained and disciplined young agricultural workforce.

My own experience

In order to keep the 6th AASW momentum going, here I trace my own agricultural footprints with the objective to motivate and inspire youths from across the globe: It is possible to thrive in agriculture!

I have five years of work and study experience from Zimbabwe, Taiwan, Kenya, Ghana and Mozambique. I hold a BSc degree in Agriculture and Natural Resources (2007) from Africa University of Zimbabwe with an Animal Science Major. My professional interests are ruminant nutrition (livestock), agricultural research for development (AR4D/Ag4Dev), extension and sustainable agriculture, with a focus on the African continent.

Soon after graduation, I started off my agricultural career in the province of Nampula, Mozambique. There, I acquired hands-on skills in integrated poultry production and feed mill operations working in several organizations: New Horizons, Gani Comercial Limitada and World Relief Mozambique.

I returned home to serve in the government of Zimbabwe as an agricultural extension worker in February 2008 in the Department of Agricultural and Technical Extension Services (Agritex). Thereafter, I worked at ward level (Buhera district), district level (Mutare and Buhera), provincial level (Mutare), and at national level (Harare) as a dairy livestock specialist.

Currently, I work as a dairy specialist in the Department of Livestock and Veterinary Services under the Division of Livestock Production and Development (DLPD) within the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development of Zimbabwe.

In my free time, I enjoy science communication and volunteer work with the Zimbabwe Farmers Union / GiZ (German Agency for International Cooperation) Young Farmers Clubs. I am also the country representative for the Young Professionals in Agricultural Research for Development (YPARD).

References:

[i] Ajit Maru (2013). The Near Future of Agriculture: Opportunities for the Youth. Global Forum of Agricultural Research Secretariat, Rome Italy.

[ii] Food and Agriculture Organization (2013). A statement by FAO Director General Jose Graziano da Silva – 21 May 2013. Young Professionals Conference: Innovative Ideas to Feed the World Opening Speech.

[iii] Calestous Juma (2013). A Plea for Agricultural Innovation –Honorary Degree Acceptance Speech, McGrill University, Montreal Canada June 3, 2013.

[iv] Thomas R. Odhiambo (1993). The role of science in the development of Africa. Technical Center for Rural and Agricultural Cooperation (CTA) Special Paper. CTA Annual Report. Wageningen The Netherlands.

[v] InterAcademy Council. (2006). Realizing the promise and potential of African agriculture. The Netherlands.

[vi] CTA. (2013). Halting the brain drain of young researchers: Interview with Michael Osei of Ghana. Spore magazine. Technical Center for Rural and Agricultural Cooperation (CTA), the Netherlands.

On the picture:
Front row: Right to left – Raymond Erick Zvavanyange (with glasses), Ana Crespo (with neck scarf of Germany Agency for International Cooperation, GiZ) and youths involved in poultry and goat projects (names available on request).
Back row: Right to left – Agritex extension officer and mentor in ZFU/Cotton Training Center/GiZ Young Farmers Clubs project (with hat) and Mr. Machaka (3rd standing – Zimbabwe Farmers Union, ZFU) Picture courtesy Raymond Erick Zvavanyange

Blogpost by Raymond Erick Zvavanyange, uploaded by Robert Kibaya, two of the AASW social reporters.

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THE FORUM FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH IN AFRICA (FARA) LAUNCHES THE 6TH AFRICA AGRICULTURE SCIENCE WEEK IN ACCRA, GHANA

17 May 2013 by Idowu Ejere

As the target date draws nearer for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), food and nutrition insecurity remain cardinal problems especially in Africa.  Africa has a great potential to feed itself given that 60% of its arable land remains un-utilized and the remaining 40% bear crops with low yields.  Of all possible topics that could have been considered at this time, the issue of home grown food security is at the top of the list. Hence in reflecting on a theme for the sixth edition of the Africa Agriculture Science Week , enhancing Africa’s capacity for agricultural innovation was at the front burner of discussions.

Launch of the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week in Accra

The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is collaborating with the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to organize the 6^thAfrica Agriculture Science Week, a continental gathering of all stakeholders in Africa Agriculture to create an open space for networking and exchanging information and knowledge on agricultural innovations and on topical issues with a bearing on agriculture research and development under the theme Africa feeding Africa through Science and Innovations

Speaking at the Official Launch of the Africa Agriculture Science Week on the 17^th of May 2013, in Accra Ghana, the Executive Director of FARA stated that “there is no better country to host this kind of meeting than Ghana, one of the few African countries that have succeeded in turning around its economy, cutting down hunger thereby remaining on track to achieving MDG Goal 1 of halving hunger and poverty by 2015”. 

Ambassador (Prof.) Monty Jones, Executive Director of
FARA speaking to Journalists at the Launch 

The Africa Agriculture Science Week which has been internationally recognized as the apex gathering of all stakeholders in African agricultural research and development will be attracting key decision makers in governments within and outside Africa such as Ministers, Parliamentarians, key players in the private sector, leaders of civil society and farmers’ organizations, women groups and leaders in agricultural research and development. This milestone event will take place at the International Conference Center in Accra, Ghana from 15-20 July 2013 and will be officially opened by H.E President John Dramani Mahama.

Website: http://www.fara-africa.org/scienceweek/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FARAinfo 

Twitter: http://twitter.com/FARAinfo - Follow tag #AASW6

Opinions from FARA: Engaging the Youth in the CAADP - KIS Agenda

www.fara-africa.org

Engaging the Youth in the CAADP - KIS Agenda

9 May, 2013 by Idowu Ejere

2013 marks a decade since African Heads of State and Government (AHSG) endorsed the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) as a strategic framework for the revitalization of the continent's agricultural sector as an engine for economic growth, poverty reduction and the elimination of hunger. To do this, African governments agreed in Maputo Mozambique, during the AU AHSG Summit in 2003, to increase public investment in agriculture by a minimum of 10 per cent of their national budgets and to raise agricultural productivity by at least 6 per cent in what is now known as the Maputo Declaration. 

However, ten years down the road, Africa still faces the challenges of poverty and food security which is further exacerbated by the growing impacts of climate change, declining agricultural sector and lack of government understanding of the economic potential inherent in agriculture. Rising food prices, the recent drought in the Horn of Africa, the impacts of climate change and the global economic crises have reinforced the urgent need for sustainable solution to Africa’s poverty and food security challenge. Low levels of investment in agriculture, un-enabling government policies, out-dated land regimes, weak rural infrastructure and financial services, inadequate production and deteriorating natural resource base, have also contributed to the rise in rural poverty. In addition, low incomes, food-deficit countries of Africa were the worst hit by the rise in global food prices between 2006 and 2008. Yet, the response in increasing productivity to combat higher prices has come mainly from the developed countries of Europe and America.

The over-arching vision of CAADP is to position national agricultural sectors to be productive and resilient to achieve at least 6 percent annual growth rate by 2015. It is expected that growth in the agricultural sector will stimulate growth in other non-farm sector and lead to poverty reduction. The CAADP vision pays special attention to the needs of smallholder farmers; developing dynamic markets that integrate farmers into the market economy; ensuring equitable distribution of wealth; positioning Africa as a strategic player in agricultural science and technology development and; ensuring sustainable environment and natural resource management. 

The CAADP vision translates into an operational framework  that guides agricultural led development through four continent wide priorities for investment and action in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and livestock management called ‘pillars’.

• Pillar I: Extending the area under sustainable land management and reliable water control systems – for example by increasing access to water and irrigation.
• Pillar II: Improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for improved market access. 
• Pillar III: Increasing food supply and reducing hunger across Africa by increasing smallholder productivity and improving responses to food emergencies such as the drought and subsequent starvation witnessed in the horn of Africa in 2011. 
• Pillar IV: Improving agricultural research and systems to disseminate appropriate new technologies, and increasing the support to enable farmers adopt them.

Adapted from blogs.cfr.org  

CAADP is Africa’s way of championing reform in the agricultural sector, enabling governments to develop National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans (IPs) that will take into account the current state of their agricultural sectors whilst addressing immediate welfare needs (food insecurity and poverty) and providing basis for economic growth and industrial revolution.  CAADP promotes government ownership, inclusiveness, multi-stakeholder partnership for development, evidence-based policy making, peer review, alignment of country plans to regional agenda and mutual learning. 

These principles are aimed at improving the quality of governance while ensuring collaborative solutions in programme design and implementation in the agricultural sector.

CAADP involves two stages, the pre compact and the post compact stages, each with a set of processes leading up to the implementation of agricultural productivity programmes. At the pre compact stage, countries launch their CAADP processes, conduct stocktaking analysis of existing initiatives, national priorities, growth options modeling and the constitution of a CAADP Country Team comprising all national or sub-regional stakeholders. Till date 29 countries have developed their IPs. While the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sub-region has developed a multi-country sub-regional agricultural productivity programme. Yet CAADP remains relatively unknown at the sub-national and local levels in most countries. Why?

In organizing the Regional Workshop on Engaging Youth in the Implementation Phase of the CAADP Transformation Agenda – KIS on 9-10 May 2013, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) will be leading the process for youth groups engaged in African agricultural research and development (ARD) to identify areas in the CAADP-Knowledge and Information Support System (KIS) where the youth can make active contributions.  The Workshop will bring together youth, youth leaders, and policymakers including CAADP Country Team Leaders to articulate a workable strategy for effectively engaging youth along the implementation phase of the CAADP. 

With an ICT savvy youth generation, the instrument required to generate public awareness on CAADP and ensure national level implementation may rest with the African youth. the outcomes of the meeting will determine if their role in these uncharted waters will be sustainable.  

To keep you updated on the discussions taking place at the workshop, some youths will be tweeting live from Accra! Follow the discussions on Twitter with Hashtag: #FARAYouth on 9-10 May 2013.

Biotechnology: Prospects and Challenges for Africa

Biotechnology: Prospects and Challenges for Africa

Signature of the agreement 

on biotechnology 

(Unesco Nigeria)

4 to 8 February 2013. The International Scientific Advisory Board for the International Institute for Biotechnology, a UNESCO Category II, had its inaugural meeting and its scientific session at the University of Nigeria (Nsukka).

A one-day seminar was devoted to Biotechnology: Prospects and Challenges for Africa.The University of Nigeria (Nsukka) is hosting the International Institute for Biotechnology, a UNESCO Category II facility at Nsukka, Nigeria. This Regional Centre is the first Institute of its kind in Africa and the agreement for its establishment was signed by UNESCO and the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on 15 October 2012. 

The meetings and scientific session on the 7 February brought together stakeholders and experts in Biotechnology from the region and beyond who addressed critical issues of Food Security and Tropical Disease Research in Africa; these being the principal focal areas of the centre.

CUTTING FOOD WASTE TO INCREASE FOOD SECURITY

Accra — Experts say food waste accounts for 1.3 billion tonnes every year. 

At a time when food security the world and indeed Africa is recovering from food crises, experiencing high population growth rate and struggling to increase productivity, it is pertinent to cut food waste. Experts recommend checking food expiry dates and cooking just enough to eat among several other techniques. "With the World Bank warning of the possibility of a four-degrees-centigrade temperature rise by the end of the decade and an expected world population of nine billion by 2050, global food production and supply is going to be highly affected," Dennis Garrity, United Nations drylands ambassador and senior fellow at the World Agroforestry Centre told AlertNet in Nairobi. "The time to act is now."

Experts estimate that there are about 870 million hungry people in the world today, a bulk of these people are in sub-Saharan Africa, but droughts, floods and climate related plant diseases among many other factors, continually reduce access to food especially in rural areas. Experts believe that cutting the amount of food that go to waste in developed and developing countries is key to addressing this. 

A Typical Food Dump

THE SCENE AT DANDORA DUMP

One of Africa's food waste hotspots is the Dandora rubbish dump on the outskirts of Nairobi.The 30-acre piece of land receives 2,000 tonnes of solid waste every day, an uncertain share of it food waste. The presence of pigs, marabou storks, dogs and other animals - as well as human scavengers - indicates there is plenty to eat, however. "I have worked on this site for the past six years," said Eunice Khasandi, a 36-year-old mother of four who scavenges waste food at the dump.

"We collect food and sell it to pig farmers on the outskirts of the city," said Khasandi who is one of an estimated 6,000 scavengers, who visit the dump, according to the City Council of Nairobi

The scavengers sell a 50-kilogramme sack of waste food for Sh200 ($2.50). If the sack contained an equivalent amount of maize meal, Kenya's staple food, it would be enough to feed between 250 and 350 people if served with stew for lunch, nutrition experts say.

Read the original of this report on AlertNet Climate, the Thomson Reuters Foundation's daily news website on the human impacts of climate change.