Harnessing Innovation for African Agriculture and Food Systems

In November 2013, the African Union Commission (AUC) and Kofi Annan Foundation, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, convened a group of senior African leaders and experts in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss actions that could be taken to “sustain the momentum of the many positive transformations taking place in African agriculture and food systems”. A Chairs’ Summary of the high-level dialogue, “Harnessing Innovation for African Agriculture and Food Systems:  Meeting the Challenges and Designing for the 21st Century,” was recently released. The report details the discussions of the meeting, looking at some of the past successes, future challenges and opportunities for action.

The meeting, held in support of the 2014 Year of Agriculture and Food Security in Africa and the 10^th anniversary of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), noted the recent change in language used to describe African agriculture, turning to one of potential and transformation. Agriculture and farming businesses can not only play a significant role in the food security of Africans and others in the world but can be a drivers of development, poverty reduction, growth in infrastructure and address social issues such as gender inequality and youth unemployment.

Significant forces of change were identified as smallholder farmers and the private sector, while greater coordination within and beyond the continent, and between sectors, and “scaling, amplifying and transferring” of successes in a way that reflects regional differences were seen to be key to the transformation of the sector.

Some of the challenges Africa faces were, in this meeting, seen also as opportunities. For example, rapid urbanisation and shifting diets mean increased demand for food, and some 60% of the continent’s food needs arise from people in urban centres, but this is also an opportunity to build better urban to rural links and food supply chains, benefiting those in towns and cities but bringing much needed investment capital to rural areas.

Several countries are already seeing significant growth in the agricultural sector, driving reductions in hunger. While engagement of the private sector is seen as a key part of this growth, visionary and determined leadership is driving this process, and good governance and a strong enabling environment developed through the public sector were identified as being needed to “resolve bottlenecks, maintain momentum and optimise for the greatest benefit to all layers in the economy and society”. Governments’ actions to aid the development and transformation of the agricultural sector include incentivising investment, providing regulation, coordinating across sectors and providing safety nets for the most vulnerable.

Can biotechnology transform African agriculture: an interview with Professor Calestous Juma

An interview with Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development at Harvard Kennedy Business School, aired recently as part of CNN’s African Voices series.  In it he discussed the potential of biotechnology to transform African agriculture.

Juma, coming from a conservation background, explained how he first became interested in biotechnology while talking with fruit farmers on the slopes of Mount Elgon in Kenya. They told him that they were saving the seeds of fruit crops that no longer grew on the mountain due to drought and they wanted to know if scientists could help these seeds grow with less water, a task that couldn’t be achieved with conventional breeding.

In response, Juma authored a pioneering book, Gene Hunters, in 1989 that discussed the potential of biotechnology to resurrect crops and adapt traditional crops to new conditions. African agriculture, Juma explained, has stagnated because of pests, droughts, floods and declining soil nutrients, challenges growing in their significance. In the 1990s the designing and modifying of organisms to overcome these challenges grew as a new industry, one that could be highly transformative to African agriculture.

A key concern amongst many is that biotechnology is purely for large farmers but Juma disagrees stating that it is ‘scale neutral’. 80 to 90% of GM farming is small-scale as can be seen of GM cotton farmers of India and China. Another criticism of biotechnology is the cost to buy seeds. Juma agreed that GM seeds do cost more but that these costs must be balanced against savings made from reducing pesticide costs and greater income from bumper harvests. He also pointed out that many of the original patents owned by large corporations have now expired and this knowledge is in the public domain. Africa, as a latecomer, can harness this technology, while avoiding the mistakes of others.

CAADP turns 10

The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) has its 10th anniversary this month. Here we discuss the development of CAADP and its achievements so far.

Food insecurity is a substantial barrier to Africa’s development and in acknowledgement of this African heads of state at the African Union’s second Ordinary Assembly held in Maputo, Mozambique in 2003 ratified a new initiative, CAADP. The program is part of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and has the aim to transform agricultural institutions and policy.

The explicit goal of CAADP is to “eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture”. To do so African governments agreed to the setting of two targets:

• To achieve 6% annual growth in agricultural productivity by 2015
• To increase the allocation of national budgets directed to the agricultural sector by at least 10%

The program also has four objectives or pillars:

Pillar 1 – Extending the area under sustainable land and water management

Pillar 2 – Improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for market access

Pillar 3 – Increasing food supply and reducing hunger

Pillar 4 – Agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption

At the national level, countries were tasked with:

1. Performing a stock-taking exercise of the current agricultural sector;
2. Holding roundtable discussions to discuss challenges and solutions;
3. Signing a CAADP Compact, “an agreement of consensually identified priorities and a roadmap to implement the country’s strategy for agricultural development” and;
4. Preparing and implementing a country investment plan.

The process allows for countries to set their own priorities and pathways within the CAADP pillars. Africa’s Regional Economic Communities are also tasked with developing a Compact and investment plan for the region. These and the NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency and various meetings allow for knowledge sharing across the whole continent.

Progress to date

As of June 2012, 40 countries have been involved, 30 have signed Compacts, 23 have finalised investment plans and some 9 to 15 countries have received significant funding. With regards to the two targets progress has been less substantial. As of 2011, only 10 countries have exceeded the 6% agricultural production growth target and only 8 have exceeded the 10% national budget allocation to agriculture. But this is not to say that progress hasn’t been made where targets have not yet been reached.

Enough food for everyone IF….

Originally posted on the Agriculture for Impact blog.

One in eight women, men and children go to bed hungry every night and by 2025 nearly a billion young people will face poverty because of the damage done to them now through hunger and malnutrition. These are just some of the startling statistics that have led over 100 organisations to combine under a new campaign.

“Enough food for everyone if…” is the slogan of this UK campaign launched on the 23^rd January 2013. Backed by Desmond Tutu and Bill Gates, the campaign aims to reach 20 million people in the UK and get 5 million people involved with the ultimate goal of petitioning David Cameron to lead on hunger at the G8, which the UK have presidency over for 2013. With his leadership, the campaign hopes to ensure global leaders, meeting at the G8 summit in June, act on the underlying causes of hunger.

Namely that there can be ENOUGH FOOD FOR EVERYONE:

• IF we give enough aid to stop children dying from hunger and help the poorest families feed themselves
• IF governments stop big companies dodging tax in poor countries, so that millions of people can free themselves from hunger
• IF we stop poor farmers being forced off their land and we grow crops to feed people not fuel cars
• IF governments and big companies are honest and open about their actions that stop people getting enough food