Annan disavows use of GM technology for African green revolution

In what is bound to stir controversy in agriculture and scientific circles, former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has ruled out the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the battle against food insecurity and poverty in Africa.

"We in the alliance will not incorporate GMOs in our programmes. We shall work with farmers using traditional seeds known to them," he said. Annan said poor pricing of commodities, and not type of seeds, keeps African growers away from their farmlands despite spiralling food insecurity and poverty on the continent.

"We need to get the right seeds into their hands by strengthening research partnerships with local universities and other institutions," he said. Annan said insufficient infrastructure such as roads, poor storage facilities and weak market structures were to blame for Africa's continued dependence on food aid.

"Millions of Africans are being fed through aid and this is not sustainable. We have the means to make Africa self sustainable," he said. Annan, who chairs the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), said infrastructure development will top the organisation's agenda for the next five years.

"We need proper market systems, an infrastructure of roads and storage facilities because failure by farmers to access them acts as a demoralising factor," he said. Agra was established last year with an initial $150 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates and Rockefeller foundations. It seeks to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families get out of poverty and hunger through sustainable growth in farm productivity and incomes. Annan said food production in Africa could be doubled in the next decade with improved seeds and increased access to inputs such as fertilisers and pesticides.

The Alliance seeks to implement the vision laid out in the African Union's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which seeks a 6 percent annual growth in food production by 2015 through increased usage of new technology and inputs such as fertiliser.

CAADP was established by the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) in July 2003, with special focus on four pillars. They are : extending the area under sustainable land management and reliable water control systems, improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for market access, increasing food supply, reducing hunger and improving response to food emergency.

Business Daily

Book on Africa's under-utilized fertilizer raw materials published

The International fertilizer Development Corporation (IFDC) in January 2007 published 'Fertilizer Raw Material Resources of Africa,' a 435-page reference by Steven J. Van Kauwenbergh, IFDC Senior Geologist.

The book is a collection of information that IFDC has gathered on Africa’s mineral resources that could be used to manufacture fertilizer. Much of the data is from Van Kauwenbergh’s research during his 22-year IFDC career. “The book is the first to cover all fertilizer raw material resources in Africa,” he says. “Writing the book was a wonderful opportunity to bring this information together under one cover.”

The book documents nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, and sulfur resources in Africa. The first four chapters give background information and serve as a basic textbook on fertilizers. The second half of the book is country descriptions—a general overview and geological description of each African country that has fertilizer raw materials.

“This publication is an IFDC contribution to meeting the objectives of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program, or CAADP, and those of the Africa Fertilizer Summit,” says Dr. Amit Roy, IFDC President and Chief Executive Officer.

CAADP works to restore Africa’s agricultural growth and reduce food insecurity and poverty. In 2004, African ministers of agriculture passed a resolution calling for the development of Africa’s fertilizer industry to support CAADP. The resolution stated that fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa is only about 9 kg/ha, while fertilizer use in Asia was 150kg/ha during its Green Revolution.

The Africa Fertilizer Summit, held in Abuja, Nigeria in June 2006, laid the groundwork for the African Green Revolution called for by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Steps are now being taken to make fertilizer more readily available to fuel that Green Revolution. The African Development Bank is establishing an African Fertilizer Development Financing Mechanism, recommended at the Summit, to support regional fertilizer procurement, credit for imports, and development of local fertilizer production.

Van Kauwenbergh points out that six African countries control about 41.5% of the world’s currently exploitable phosphate rock reserves and 50.2% of the total global phosphate rock reserve base that may be exploitable in the future. “Ironically, Africa exports large quantities of phosphate rock, while importing manufactured fertilizers at costs that small-scale farmers can’t afford,” Van Kauwenbergh says. “Development of indigenous fertilizer raw material resources and local or regional fertilizer production facilities are alternatives to supply the nutrients that African farmers must have to feed growing populations."

IFDC

NEPAD's FARA discusses vision for African agriculture

Top officials from the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) are currently meeting in Johannesburg to discuss NEPAD's vision for African agriculture. The 4th General Assembly of FARA, together with the Africa Agriculture Science Week, will run until 16 June.

NEPAD, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, envisions increasing Africa's agricultural productivity by 6 percent per annum, the NEPAD Secretariat said in its weekly newsletter. The general assembly is giving delegates the opportunity to debate whether African Agricultural institutions and organisations are contributing to achieving this growth target.

FARA is an umbrella organisation of stakeholders in agricultural research and development on the continent, and has been operating as the technical arm of NEPAD since 2002. FARA has been the driving force behind the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

The CAADP is based on four operational pillars, namely, extending the area under sustainable land management and reliable water control systems; improving rural infrastructure and market access; increasing food supply and reducing hunger and agricultural research and technology dissemination and adoption.

The meeting is giving national research institutions that have developed special technologies the opportunity to relay their success stories of improving the livelihoods of pastoralists and smallholder farmers. Development agencies that also play a significant role in assisting farmers to increase productivity are also sharing their experience.

allafrica.com

Rwanda to host parley on African agriculture programme

About 300 agriculture experts, policy makers and stakeholders from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), African Union (AU) and other international development partners meet in Kigali, Rwanda 29-31 March for a round table on NEPAD`s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

According to the official newsletter of the New Partnership for Africa`s Development (NEPAD), Rwandan President Paul Kagame is expected to officially open the meeting as well as the preceding parley of COMESA and CAADP partners.

"The purpose of the meeting is to reach consensus among stakeholders on the framework to forge the necessary partnerships to implement the agriculture development agenda and secure commitments and resources from partners to make the necessary investments," the publication said.

Rwanda is the first to organise such a meeting among the six designated countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia, selected by COMESA under phase one to speed up the implementation of the region's agricultural development programme. The meeting will also review how national policies and investments are supporting agricultural development and identify constraints to achieving at least 6% target growth rate for the agriculture sector. It will also identify policy and investment gaps as well as design an action plan to bridge the gaps.


CAADP is spearheaded by African governments aiming at accelerating agriculture growth and eliminating poverty on the continent.

Angola Press