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Partnerships Called for Partnerships Established
Partnerships for improving productivity was a key topic at three recent conferences, all dealing with the issue of food production and safety. African leaders welcomed investments in developing the agriculture sector, and called for improved access to crucial inputs such as fertilizers and seeds. Agricultural productivity and food production has been placed firmly on the global agenda in 2007–2008. This was firmly evident with the UN food crisis and climate change summit in Rome in early June, as was the case at Africa-specific meetings in Yokohama in late May and in Cape Town in early June. Romesummit The food crisis summit in Rome, June 3–5, the High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy, adopted a declaration in which the 181 participating countries committed themselves to “eliminating hunger and to securing food for all, today and tomorrow”. The adoption ended three days of deliberations that attracted extensive international media coverage, contributing to added focus on agriculture and Africa.
The declaration itself was criticized by small farmers’ groups and other organizations, who say it lacks concrete proposals and that no fresh funds were committed to address the key problem of boosting food production capacity. On the other hand, the mere fact that the vital role of agriculture in world development was given due recognition, was hailed as a valuable achievement. This was also the note of South Africa’s Agriculture Minister, Lulu Xingwana, telling the BBC that “For the first time agriculture has been put at the centre of the world stage. For years it has been on the periphery”. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier De Schutter, added that the adoption of a final declaration was "a sign that the international community is speaking with one voice". Still, the Economist commented, the conference could have come up with more concrete fixes, pointing at one as obvious: reducing export bans, which, according to a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), would reduce world cereal prices by an average of 30 percent. Referring to the debate, the New York Times noted that “Everyone complained about other people’s protectionism – and defended their own”. The food crisis, argued Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, deputy president of South Africa, is a unique opportunity to conclude the Doha Development Round on trade, “that would lead to a real and substantial reduction in trade and production distorting domestic support”. World Bank president Robert B. Zoellick also pointed at closing the Doha deal, phasing out huge distortions from subsidies and tariffs, as one point of action for doubling food production over the next 30 years in order to cope with population growth. “The global food crisis is a wake-up call for Africa”, Nigeria’s Agriculture Minister Sayyadi Abba Ruma said at the conference, calling for action. His Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, noted that such action should include a trebling of the use of fertilizer with the development of drought-resistant, high-yielding seed varieties – which, along with water, are the basic ingredients of an African green revolution. In his statement, Mozambique’s agriculture minister Soares Nhaca told the summit that his government had outlined at strategy for a green revolution well before the food crisis was evident. However, the strategy, he said, requires a lot more resources made available immediately, to assure the availability of seeds, fertilizers, research and extension services, and to extend infrastructure. Opening the summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on world leaders to take “bold and urgent” steps to tackle the global food crisis, whereas FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf appealed for USD 30 billion a year to re-launch agriculture and avert future threats of conflict over food. The summit declaration calls for increased investments in agriculture, agribusiness and rural development, from both public and private sectors, reflecting the arguments of several of the African delegates at the conference, one of the strongest being the president of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade. He reminded the audience that a similar commitment to provide food security was made at the World Food Summit in Rome in 1996 and again in 2002 – still without reaching the goal, while the world food and environmental situation has further deteriorated. The president called for resources, but also for a revolution: “The agricultural revolution we are wishing for in developing countries,” he said in his statement, “supposes at the outset a revolution in mentalities for a new state of mind in approaching problems and their solutions”. Senegal, he said, has initiated a number of innovate policies and projects, some in a regional context, such as the Great Green Wall – a belt of trees planted across the Sahel, from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east, to create a five-kilometer-wide green strip across the desert to stop further desertification, accompanied by water capture basins. President Wade called for at new type of partnership through which equipment and other agricultural inputs like fertilizers, irrigation equipment, drilled water, power generators, seeds and the necessary technical assistance are provided to people in Africa’s villages. One of the tangible outcomes of the Rome conference largely met the Senegalese president’s wish: During the summit, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) signed an agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP). It was hailed as an “unprecedented partnership” among key players in agricultural development to significantly boost food production in Africa’s “breadbasket regions”, aiming to link local food production to food needs and to work across Africa’s major agricultural growing areas to create opportunities for smallholder farmers.
A concrete proposal was presented by Yara’s CEO Thorleif Enger in his capacity as President of the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA): “We need public-private partnerships to develop agricultural growth corridors; corridors promoting port efficiencies, a coordinated approach to regional transport, storage, credit, and cross-sectoral coordination to accelerate agricultural growth”, he told the summit, noting that “Farmers need access to inputs such as fertilizers at affordable prices and at the right time”, and calling for a vibrant network of private-sector agri-retailers to support African agriculture. Capemeeting The same week as the Rome summit, the World Economic Forum’s Africa meeting gathered in Cape Town, June 4–6, under the theme “Capitalizing on Opportunities”. One of the opportunities debated was how Africa’s farming sector could profit from the increased food prices on the world market. With several years of economic growth in Africa, the conference opened on an upbeat note, with African leaders present, expressing optimism about Africa’s future. Ghana’s president John Kufuour said the opportunity for Africa is immense, and that, with time and good coordination, Africans could make it a powerful entity. Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika said Africa should help solve the world food shortage with its vast tracts of land. Having led Malawi from famine to food surpluses, he said greater international investment in agriculture was necessary to move Africa towards food security and economic development. The current food prices crisis also presents opportunities to Africa – to revive its agriculture, said World Bank Vice-President for Africa, Obiageli Ezekwesili. "This is an awakening for Africa to prioritize agriculture, which used to be a competitive advantage in the past”, she said, according to Reuters. Agriculture is back on the agenda, and with the right kind of public investment, Africa stands a chance of increasing productivity, she added. The same sentiment was voiced by Monty Jones, Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA): “I think that Africa should turn around this as an opportunity to increase its food production”, he said, seeing the food prices as a business opportunity. “Empowering smallholders to make sure they can access information and outside inputs and have their voices heard”, he said, continuing: “If that happens, I foresee a considerable increase in production.”
In the opening message, founder and executive chairman of WEF, Klaus Schwab, said Africa needs partnership, another key topic at the meeting. The private sector is poised to play a growing role to help Africa become more competitive and forge international alliances that extend beyond the customary handouts that have long characterized the region’s relationship with rich countries. That conclusion emerged as one point of consensus among panelists in a session entitled “Taking Control of Global Partnerships”. Despite the critical nature of the challenge, panelists at a session entitled “Food Insecurity: A Perfect Storm”, seemed optimistic. “The most important thing is to get the resources to farmers for the next season,” said Thorleif Enger, CEO of Yara International. “We have seen in Malawi that it can happen quickly.” Tokyoconference Preceding the Rome and Cape Town meetings, the 4th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was held in Yokohama on May 28–30, with 51 African and 12 Asian countries represented, along with donor agencies, international organizations and NGOs. The conference is organized by the government of Japan in cooperation with the UN and the World Bank. Convening under the theme "Towards a Vibrant Africa: a Continent of Hope and Opportunity", the conference initially did not have agriculture and food security as its main focus, but it became the key topic nevertheless, much due to the prevailing global food crisis. Participants agreed there is an urgent need to boost agricultural productivity in Africa and pledged to tackle the widespread impact of soaring food prices. Closing the conference, the aim was set at doubling rice production in Africa within ten years and expanding irrigated land by 20 percent within five years. Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda committed his government to double its official development assistance to Africa over the next five years and to help promote private investments The TICAD concluded with the Yokohama Declaration and accompanying Action Plan, aimed at improving grain production in Africa. In yet another event on Africa at the same time, the government of Israeli development agency Mashav hosted a conference on Israel and the African Green Revolution in Jerusalem, June 1, attended by African states and international aid organizations, as well as Israelis. In a keynote address, Jeffrey Sachs of the Earth Institute at Columbia University drew the attention to the technology and know-how that Israel possesses in the fields of agriculture, health and solar energy that African can capitalize on. |
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Partnerships Called for Partnerships Established
