Africa: Food Security . . . Taking Africa Out of the Hunger Pit

from All Africa

This Day (Lagos) ANALYSIS

Max Amuchie Lagos

The role of agriculture in addressing the continent's economic development is a foregone conclusion. Business as usual will not improve food productivity on the continent. Africa needs to change its ways in order to be able to feed its people and ensure its main source of economic development - agriculture - grows and develops. Prosperity by the farmer will influence economic growth and the management and handling of other factors such as infrastructure. Innovative agriculture, acquired through novel relationships with technology developers, and developed through mutually satisfactory relationships with partners in research, development and commercialisation, should lead to prosperity for the smallholder farmer, to food security and economic growth for Africa.

Sixty-eight-year-old Mr. Chijioke Ibekwem (not real name) has known no other occupation since his childhood apart from farming. As soon as the first signs of rain are noticed every year, he gets his family ready for farming. While Egonma, his wife of 40 years and their three young children will concentrate on maize, cassava, melon ad other such crops that ar regarded as fit only women, Chjioke concentrates on yam, which the Igbo regard as the king of crops. Year after year the Ibekwem family will till the same land, cultivate the same crops, use the same methods and get almost the same results.

The sad story of the Ibekwems can be replicated all over Africa. Old farmers, whose legs and hands are tired, hold sway in various parts of the continent. Poor quality crops, both food and cash, remain the basis of agriculture in various parts of Africa with the result that harvest does not match the labour imput.

It was in order to reverse the trend that the Nigerian goververnment recently hosted a Food Security Summit in Abuja. The summit was declared open by President Olusegun Obasanjo. The objective was to address the critical food security problem in Africa with a view to finding a lasting solution.

One of the organisations invited to make presentation at the Abuja summit is the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) based in Nairobi, Kenya. Dr Mpoko Bokanga, executive director of the foundation represented the foundation at the summit. A paper made available to THISDAY stating the foundation's vision, notes:

"The world has declared war on hunger - but in Africa, images abound of pot-bellied, emaciated, wide-eyed and lifeless children - some still sucking their dead mother's breasts - stretching out empty bowls for something anything to arrest the pangs of hunger they suffer; of vultures, waiting patiently for the only sign of surviving human life - the little boy on stick thin legs - to take his last breath before it pounces.

"The world has declared war on conflicts and violence - but in Africa, images abound of starry-eyed boy soldiers, innocence snatched from them, dragging weighty AK 47 rifles through the battle fields; of the helpless father, his manhood taken away, trekking through the long winding dusty road to nowhere his little boy on his shoulders and his worldly possessions - a thin strip of over used sponge that serves as his mattress -- strapped to his back, just to put distance between him and the horrors he leaves behind.

"The world has declared war on disease - but in Africa, images abound of the old lady, with sunken cheeks and wide eyes - they say she is only 21 - lying in her sagging single bed in the carton and polythene hovel she calls home hoping for a good Samaritan to pass by.

"These are the images of Africa that speak of Africa and tell the African story. These are the images that splatter overseas media, from which Africa gains its reputation. But Africa can be beautiful. Where are the beautiful and melodious sounds of African children playing hoop, tending to their parent's animals and playing tricks on each other? Where are the sounds of singing that fill the air as Africans celebrate bumper harvests or the marriage of their children or the coming of age of their youngsters? Where are the voices of women happily sharing stories as they harvest in the fields among chirping birds and children happily playing around them? Where are the images of the proud African peoples standing majestically and beautifully for all to see?

A revival of Africa's agriculture is necessary for faster realisation of the continent's development. But it requires commitment to genuine social change that will benefit the continent. Business as usual won't suffice. A different approach to dealing with issues that have dogged the continent for years is required. To make a real difference in its current state, Africa should aim for a higher state of being in addition to attaining food sufficiency. It should aim to take up its rightful place in world trade and economy and to sit at the same table with the rest of the world as a contributor to issues relevant to the survival of the human race and it can only do this if it achieves its own economic development."

According to Bokanga, the rationale for the establishment of AATF was to establish links between private and public sector institutions that own technological innovations in developed nations with African stakeholders in agricultural development such as the National Agricultural Research Systems, community-based associations, non-governmental organisations, and national private sector agribusinesses. The goal of AATF, he said, is to facilitate access to advanced scientific and technological resources and their adaptation for use in specific projects intended to increase the productivity of small holder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.

The foundation was established as an Africa-based and African-led entity, based in Africa but registered as a charity under the laws of England and Wales with the specific objective of relieving poverty in Africa by facilitating public-private partnerships for the transfer and use of innovative agricultural technologies by small holder farmers and, in particular, resource-poor farmers. The aim is contribute to increased productivity, higher farm output, increased food security and greater income generation potential to pull farmers out of poverty.

The foundation's strategy for achieving its objectives is to act as the principal and 'responsible party' in facilitating public-private partnerships on a project-by-project basis in response to African farmers' needs. It endeavours to assemble all the necessary components for each project, balancing concerns for expense, simplicity, effectiveness, risk minimisation and regulatory compliance. More specifically, AATF:

- Consults with African stakeholders to identify priority crops and key constraints for resource-poor farmers.

- Consults with potential technology providers, in both the private and public sectors, to identify technologies that can address those constraints.

- Negotiates with potential partners to develop a project business plan that specifies the role of each partner institution, and determines how and where the technology will be used.

- Enters into license agreements to access and hold proprietary technologies royalty free and ensure freedom to operate for all the components of the technologies.

- Sub-licenses partner institutions for further research as needed to adapt the technologies to small holder farming conditions.

- Issues sub-licenses to test the adapted technologies for regulatory compliance.

- Issues commercial sub-licenses for production and distribution.

- Carries out risk assessment and develop risk mitigation strategies

- Monitors compliance with the requirements of sub-licences and with risk mitigation measures to minimise the probability of technology failure.

- Facilitates the work of appropriate partner institutions to ensure that links in the value chain are connected, effective and result in products of technology getting to farmers at competitive prices and farmers' surplus harvests getting to market to generate income for farmers.

- Creates partnerships within African countries and with external stakeholders to foster over time the development of necessary indigenous capacities.

The core function of AATF is to acquire access to one institution's intellectual property and to carry it through other institutions until it reaches small holder farmers. In the implementation of its projects, AATF abides by all relevant international laws and treaties, as well as national laws concerning intellectual property rights and genetic resources in the countries in which it operates. Proprietary technologies are legally acquired and are used by AATF and its partners/collaborators to help make the technological advances necessary to achieve AATF's charitable objectives.

According to Bokanga, with regard to the protection of cells, genes, molecular constructs, plants, varieties and traits, and to the extent permitted by applicable laws, AATF and its partners/collaborators would consider the effects that patenting has on access to, as well as the distribution and use of the protected product before they proceed with an application for intellectual rights protection. Where appropriate, recipients of germ plasm and products generated by the project will be required to publicly recognise the source of the original material or product. AATF and its partners/collaborators will ensure that agreements granted to recipients to apply for intellectual property protection do not in any way waive the rights of AATF and the project collaborators to challenge excessive protection, by recourse to administrative and/or court proceedings.

The executive director said the foundation bases its activities on three strategic thrusts. The first is negotiating access to proprietary technologies that enhance the productivity of agriculture in Africa. In this regard, the foundation engages in technology scoping, interaction with technology developers, and negotiation. It keeps abreast of the latest information about agricultural production constraints and priorities in Africa and is familiar with major national, regional and Africa-wide policies on agricultural development.

The second is managing partnerships for project formulation, product development and deployment to introduce innovative agricultural technologies to African farming systems. Here, AATF identifies and develops partnerships with the most appropriate organisations for product development. These may be public or private organisations at the national or international level. AATF may also pursue access to funds for limited and targeted subsidies or output-based contracts. Partnerships may also include investments for information provision (such as farm-level demonstrations).

The last but not the least strategic thrust, Bokanga said, is managing knowledge and information to support technology identification and development, and the policy environment. AATF develops access to information on production constraints in African agriculture, the technical characteristics of candidate technologies, and relevant regulatory, biosafety and intellectual rights property requirements. AATF also develops its own knowledge base about issues related to the enabling environment for agricultural technology.

Bokanga told THISDAY that AATF takes action for the farmer and by extension for the hungry and deprived in Africa. Its approach to reviving Africa's agriculture demonstrates courage in exploring new ways of doing business. Aware of the risks involved in charting new waters, he said the foundation has chosen to trust in the goodwill and willingness of others, especially the private sector, to lend a helping hand by bringing useful products to small holder farmers for a win-win outcome. The Foundation's approach to agricultural development - while different from what others have been doing - does not rock the boat, but provides, so to speak, additional steering power to take Africa out of the hunger pit.

He said the reason why agriculture is not performing is that it has not changed. "We cannot satisfy the needs of three times the population using the same method," adding that Africa could no longer feed its population. He said 30 per cent of food aid goes to Africa and that the continent has small population compared to Asia or Latin America.

On the kind of crops the foundation devotes attention to, Bokanga said AATF concentrates on staple foods. He mentioned maize as a major staple crop in Africa that is endangered. Maize, he said, is grown in northern Nigeria, east Africa and southern Africa. "Maize is a victim of a weed called striga. This plant throws its seed in the soil and stay in the soil for two years. It will take nutrients out of maize. It is found in northern Nigeria. There has been a lot of attempts to control the weed without success until a breakthrough from a German company called BASF. The technology is such that the seed of the variety is taken to the herbicide and the striga seed would die on contact with the maize. Within five years you can wipe out all the striga seeds."

Bokanga said BASF gave the right of research to an institute in Kenya but without power to commercialise. "AATF had to negotiate with BASF that now agreed to commercialise. The research institute does not have the resources to commercialise and we got a company to do it and we paid for producing the seeds. We also got non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to test the seeds," he further said. The Striga problem for maize cultivation is most severe in Nigeria than anywhere else. It is estimated that over 800,000 hectares of maize land in Nigeria are infested with Striga. Kenya has only 200,000 hectares infested. The results in Kenya show that by disseminating the IR maize varieties in Striga infested fields, farmers can harvest an additional one ton of maize per hectare. Therefore, if the IR maize varieties are disseminated in the 800,000 hectares infested with Striga in Nigeria, the additional maize harvest would be at least 800,000 tons of maize valued at US$ 1.2 billion! This is the expected impact that the introduction of IR maize varieties would make in Nigeria.

He said that the striga-free programme would come to Nigeria in 2007. He noted that if a farmer keeps seeds for planting there would be no increase in productivity, adding that key to technology transfer is giving the farmer access to output market.