6th Forum for the Future of Agriculture (FFA 2013)

Bob Zoellick, former president of the World Bank

Akin Adesina, Minister of Agriculture, Nigeria

5th March 2013. Brussels. 6th Forum for the Future of Agriculture. Following last year's successful event which saw over 1200 participants join distinguished speakers and interesting debates and discussions, the sixth edition turned the spotlight on Meeting the Food & Environmental Challenge and focused on Africa. Last year the focus was on Brazil.

Themes included Africa's new ways for food production and economic development, reform of the Common Agriculture Policy hanging in the balance, protection of the consumer, and the challenges around resource extraction, efficiency, and waste.

Discussions were moderated by BBC's Stephen Sackur, and Matthew Dempsey from the "Irish Farmers Journal".

Paolo De Castro, Chair Agriculture and Rural
Development Committee, European Parlement

International decision makers including President Barroso of the European Commission, and Bob Zoellick, former president of the World Bank, headlined the event. The debates seeked to uncover how best to boldly reconcile crop production with ecological preservation.

As world population hits the seven billion mark on its way to 9 billion by 2050, and Africa approaches critical mass in its capacity to become an agricultural powerhouse, FFA panellists examined what these issues and others mean for the future of EU agriculture and the balance to be struck between production, ecology and EU consumer well-being.

Speaking to the FFA, committee chairman Paolo De Castro, an Italian Socialist MEP, said the committee vote had yielded a confusing result and some of it would need to be changed in the plenary. This included a provision that would allow farmers to receive ‘double payments' – from both CAP direct payments and rural development funds, something not allowed under the rules of th World Trade Organization.

“We made some mistakes,” he said. “So in the next plenary we will adjust some problems.”

After changes made by the Lisbon treaty, this will be the first time the Parliament has exercised co-decision powers over the CAP, which remains one of the most unpopular EU policies with the public. Environmental campaigners have said that, without the greening element proposed by the Commission, the new CAP for the budgetary period 2014-20 will not be publicly acceptable.

But De Castro denied that watering down of the greening measures meant the CAP would lack legitimacy with the European public.

The CAP reform would have legitimacy, he argued, because of the increasing worldwide demand for food, the growing concern for food security, and the recognition that Europe's potential for agriculture had to be increased.

Retrospective review of private and public sector agribusiness investments in Africa

Investments in Agribusiness: A Retrospective View of a Development Bank’s Investments in Agribusiness in Africa and East Asia. Research paper

Authors: Geoff Tyler and Grahame Dixie

Date of publication: 10/2012

Organization of reference: World Bank

While there are some very good and very bad agribusiness investments the general view is that the majority create a mixture of positive and negative impacts. 

The positives are mainly related to economic development in terms of jobs and access to markets, but often also include some investments in social infrastructure, improved access to rural infrastructure, the transfer of useful technologies and skills, and in a smaller number of projects, increased production of staple foods. 

The negatives are most often associated with a lack of consultation with the communities concerned, limited transparency, an absence of mechanisms for resolving disputes, and issues involving land rights – especially informal land rights. Negative impacts may also be seen in irresponsible environmental practices and in the social and economic consequences if the investment fails. 

In view of these concerns over the risks associated with increased interest in larger-scale investment in agricultural land, a retrospective review of a large number of private and public sector agribusiness investments was commissioned to generate objective empirical knowledge about outcomes; to differentiate between alternative business models; to provide insights into the likely correlates of success and failure over time; and to deliver this knowledge into the public domain.

This study analyses the experience of the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) as an investor in commercial smallholder and estate agriculture and agro-processing in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia and the Pacific between 1948 and 2000."

Announcement:6th Forum for the Future of Agriculture (FFA 2013)

5th March 2013. Brussels. 6th Forum for the Future of Agriculture. Following last year's successful event which saw over 1200 participants join distinguished speakers and interesting debates and discussions, the sixth edition turns the spotlight on Meeting the Food & Environmental Challenge and will focus on Africa. Last year the focus was on Brazil.

Themes will include Africa's new ways for food production and economic development, reform of the Common Agriculture Policy hanging in the balance, protection of the consumer, and the challenges around resource extraction, efficiency, and waste. 

Discussions will be moderated by BBC's Stephen Sackur, and Matthew Dempsey from "Irish Farmers Journal". 

International decision makers including as President Barroso of the European Commission, and Bob Zoellick, former president of the World Bank, headline the event. The debates seek to uncover how best to boldly reconcile crop production with ecological preservation.

As world population hits the seven billion mark on its way to 9 billion by 2050, and Africa approaches critical mass in its capacity to become an agricultural powerhouse, FFA panellists will examine what these issues and others mean for the future of EU agriculture and the balance to be struck between production, ecology and EU consumer well-being.
.

Africa can help feed Africa

October 24, 2012. WASHINGTON –A new World Bank report says that Africa’s farmers can potentially grow enough food to feed the continent and avert future food crises if countries remove cross-border restrictions on the food trade within the region. According to the Bank, the continent would also generate an extra US$20 billion in yearly earnings if African leaders can agree to dismantle trade barriers that blunt more regional dynamism.

According to the new report―Africa Can Help Feed Africa: Removing barriers to regional trade in food staples ― rapid urbanization will challenge the ability of farmers to ship their cereals and other foods to consumers when the nearest trade market is just across a national border. Countries south of the Sahara, for example, could significantly boost their food trade over the next several years to manage the deadly impact of worsening drought, rising food prices, rapid population growth, and volatile weather patterns. 

With many African farmers effectively cut off from the high-yield seeds, and the affordable fertilizers and pesticides needed to expand their crop production, the continent has turned to foreign imports to meet its growing needs in staple foods.

“Africa has the ability to grow and deliver good quality food to put on the dinner tables of the continent’s families,” said Makhtar Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa. “However, this potential is not being realized because farmers face more trade barriers in getting their food to market than anywhere else in the world. Too often borders get in the way of getting food to homes and communities which are struggling with too little to eat.”

The new report suggests that if the continent’s leaders can embrace more dynamic inter-regional trade, Africa’s farmers, the majority of whom are women, could potentially meet the continent’s rising demand and benefit from a major growth opportunity. It would also create more jobs in services such as distribution, while reducing poverty and cutting back on expensive food imports. Africa’s production of staple foods is worth at least US$50 billion a year.

Moreover, the new report notes that only five percent of all cereals imported by African countries come from other African countries while huge tracts of fertile land, around 400 million hectares, remain uncultivated and yields remain a fraction of those obtained by farmers elsewhere in the world.

A new World Bank report says Africa's farmers can potentially grow enough food to feed the continent and avert future food crises if countries remove cross-border restrictions on the food trade within the region. According to the Bank, the continent would also generate an extra US $20 billion in yearly earnings.

Related:

The report was released on the eve of an African Union (AU) ministerial summit in Addis Ababa on agriculture and trade. The African Union unexpectedly postponed the Joint Conference of Ministers of Agriculture and Ministers of Trade scheduled to take place on 1st and 2nd November in Addis Ababa just four days before it was due to start.

A press release announcing the postponement said new dates will be communicated soon. (Source: ECDPM October 26, 2012: Lost opportunity to build bridges: African Ministers of Agriculture and Trade meeting postponed)

Participants at the meeting
on food safety.

Related:
29-30 October 2012. The African Union (AU) aims to institute a food safety authority as well as a Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF), so as to boost trade competence and avert food-borne diseases. This was announced at the opening of a two-day workshop in Kigali.

Prof. Ahmed El Sawalhy, the Director of the AU’s Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AUBAR), which organised the workshop, observed that the establishment of the authority would boost trade and uplift the living standards of Africans, especially those in rural areas.

The workshop attracted food safety specialists and managers from member states and representatives from regional economic communities and the African Union Commission.

The Kenya Climate Innovation Center (CIC).

26 September 2012. The World Bank will provide US$15 million over the next five years to the Kenya Climate Innovation Center (CIC). The Kenya CIC is expected to support approximately 70 sustainable climate technology business enterprises within its first five years and is projected to create over 24,000 jobs over ten years.

Through offering financial and other services to climate entrepreneurs, the climate innovation center will facilitate Kenya in reaching several of its environmental goals, including the promotion of clean energy, locally-developed products like high efficiency stoves.

These include reduced CO2 emissions, increased climate adaptation and resilience, and access to clean energy and water. In addition to environmental achievements, the center is also expected to promote economic and social objectives.

Kenneth Ndua, founder of start-up Fawandu, is an entrepreneur who is developing a domestically produced, high-efficiency stove that simultaneously cooks and sanitizes water through boiling.

“I want to provide clean water and cooking to 24,000 households, and create 550 jobs, 400 of which will be for women. The support of the CIC would help me to commercialize and rollout of our products at the national level,” he says.

The CIC is supported by the World Bank’s infoDev in partnership with the government of Denmark and the Britain’s UKAid. The CIC is an innovative model to accelerate locally owned, locally developed solutions to climate change. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving climate resiliency, it will accelerate business in high-growth sectors such as renewable energy, agriculture, clean water, and energy efficiency. 

Cook Stove in Kenya, a local solution to a global problem

Informal stakeholder consultation on agriculture research in Africa

Prof. Monty JONES (FARA)

20-22 March 2012. Brussels, organized by the European Commission Directorate General for Development and Cooperation - DG DEVCO. Improving the quality and effectiveness of development cooperation with African agricultural knowledge organisations: Informal stakeholder consultation.

In order to improve the quality and effectiveness of development cooperation with African continental and sub-regional agricultural knowledge organisations, the European Commission organized an informal stakeholders consultation which brought together representatives of African agricultural knowledge organisations, of the Development Partners, and EC/EU experts.

Dan KISAUZI & Silim Mohamed NAHDY
(AFAAS) ; Paco SEREME & Harold
ROY MACAULEY (CORAF) ;
David NIELSON (World Bank)

David NIELSON, Melissa BROWN, Bremala
MALLI & Juergen ANTHOFER (WB)

The objectives of this meeting were to:

• share experiences of African continental and sub-regional leading organizations linked to agricultural research, advisory services, and tertiary agricultural education on how these organisations have contributed to the objectives of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) under the Framework for African Agricultural Productivity (FAAP);



Carolyn GLYNN & Philip CHIVERTON
(Swedish University of Agricultural 
Sciences)
Nicoliene OUDWATER 
(AgriCulture ETC Foundation)

• dialogue with representatives of African continental and sub-regional organisations, Development Partners organisations, and EC/EU experts on the key lessons learnt through such processes – what worked well and less well and why;
• looking to the future, discuss how such processes might continue to be strengthened into the future and scaled up where appropriate, share views of African organisations on their future role in their mandate areas and discuss this with representatives of the Development Partners organisations and EC/EU experts.

The outcomes were:

Aissetou Drame YAYE (ANAFE), Adipala
EKWAME (RUFORUM), Ramadjita TABO
& Adewale ADEKUNLE (FARA)

• raised awareness of the value of African continental and sub-regional leading organizations linked to agricultural research, advisory services, and tertiary agricultural education in support to the objectives of CAADP;
• shared experience on key initiatives of African continental and sub-regional leading organizations linked to agricultural research, advisory services, and tertiary agricultural education to advance African agriculture;



Patrick TAWONEZVI & Mwape
BWANALI (CCARDESA)

• deepen understanding of the challenges and opportunities of African continental and sub-regional leading organizations linked to agricultural research, advisory services, and tertiary agricultural education to support the objectives of CAADP;
• recommendations made to donors and Development Partners organisations on how to increase effectiveness of their support to agricultural research, advisory services, and tertiary agricultural education in support to the objectives of CAADP.

Agricultural Innovation Systems: An Investment Sourcebook

by:  The World Bank

Agriculture and Rural Development Series
English; Paperback; 680 pages; 8.5x11
Published February 21, 2012 by World Bank
ISBN: 978-0-8213-8684-2; SKU: 18684
This book can be downloaded here (8 MB)
Research, education, and extension investments, while usually necessary, are often insufficient alone to bring knowledge, technologies, and services that enable farmers and entrepreneurs to innovate. Efforts to strengthen research systems and increase the availability of knowledge have not increased innovation or the use of knowledge in agriculture at the pace or the scale required by the intensifying and proliferating challenges confronting agriculture. Agricultural Innovation Systems: An Investment Sourcebook contributes to the identification, design, and implementation of the investments, approaches, and complementary interventions most likely to strengthen agricultural innovation systems (AIS) and to promote innovation and equitable growth. The Sourcebook provides a menu of tools and operational guidance, as well as good practice lessons, to illustrate approaches to designing, investing in, and improving these systems.

Managing the ability of agriculture to meet rising global demand and to respond to the changes and opportunities will require good policy, sustained investments, and innovation—not business as usual. Experience indicates that aside from a strong capacity in R&D, the ability to innovate is often related to collective action and coordination, exchange of knowledge among diverse actors, incentives and resources available to form partnerships and develop business, and an enabling environment. While consensus is developing about what is meant by 'innovation' and 'innovation system,' no detailed blueprint exists for making agricultural innovation happen at a given time, in a given place, for a given result. That said, the AIS approach, which looks at these multiple conditions and relationships that promote innovation in agriculture in specific contexts, has moved from a concept to a subdiscipline with principles of analysis and action.

Drawing on approaches that have been tested at different scales in different settings, this Sourcebook emphasizes the lessons learned, benefits and impacts, implementation issues, and prospects for replicating or expanding successful practices.

The Sourcebook reflects the experiences and evolving understanding of numerous individuals and organizations concerned with agricultural innovation, including the World Bank. It targets the key operational staff who design and implement lending projects in international and regional development agencies and national governments, as well as the practitioners who design thematic programs and technical assistance packages. The Sourcebook can also be an important resource for the research community and nongovernmental organizations.

Growth and Productivity in Agriculture and Agribusiness: Evaluative Lessons from World Bank Group Experience

Enhanced agricultural growth and productivity are essential if we are to meet the worldwide demand for food and reduce poverty, particularly in the poorest developing countries. Between 1998 and 2008, the period covered by this evaluation, the World Bank Group provided $23.7 billion in financing for agriculture and agribusiness in 108 countries (roughly 8 percent of total World Bank Group financing), spanning areas from irrigation and marketing to research and extension. This was, however, a time of declining focus on agricultural growth and productivity by both countries and donors.

The cost of inadequate attention to agriculture, especially in agriculture-based economies, came into focus with the food crisis of 2007–08. The crisis added momentum to an emerging renewal of attention and stepped-up financing to agriculture and agribusiness at the World Bank and International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as at several multilateral and bilateral agencies. World Bank financing rose two and a half times from 2008 to 2009, although this increased lending seems to have been accompanied by a decline in analytical work, which this review finds valuable in achieving results. This evaluation seeks to provide lessons from successes and failures in the Bank Group’s activities in the sector to help improve the development impact of the renewed attention. More >