News Brief: Week of July 5th 2010

Another year with a surplus harvest of maize, the staple food, is good news for Malawi, but dry spells in the south have left around 700,000 people in need of food assistance.

The government and the private sector have the capacity to provide "all the maize needed for humanitarian response for the year, thanks to this surplus," the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET) said in its latest report. The bad news is that distributing the food aid has been delayed because funding has not yet been made available.

The multi-agency Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee identified 718,000 people who would need of food aid between March and June, but said the number of hungry could climb to 1.1 million by October.

By early July aid had still not reached those in need of it, and FEWSNET warned that food insecure families could resort to "desperate coping mechanisms" like harvesting water lilies on the Shire River for food, where people could drown and crocodiles lurked. Many others would become overly reliant on charcoal and firewood sales, which would have a long-term harmful effect on the environment.

Long-standing problem

The delay in distributing food aid, caused by a lack of funding for operational costs, has long been a problem in Malawi; the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) does not have a budget for this aspect of its response.

The FEWSNET report said the government was holding discussions with donors to set up a humanitarian response fund to be able to respond on time. Officials in the DoDMA told IRIN they would comment next week when they had some clarity.

The UK Department for International Development (DFID) told IRIN that it was "working closely with other development partners to ensure the [Malawi] government is able to distribute its grain reserves to those most in need".

In January, the Council for Non Governmental Organisations in Malawi , an umbrella body for NGOs, had urged the government in a statement to "consider mobilizing resources for relief operations other than wait until the ugly face of this [possible] catastrophe begins to take its toll on the people".

The case for cash transfers

The delay has given more impetus to an ongoing debate on whether people in need should be given cash transfers or food aid. "Cash transfers will enable the beneficiary to access food or any item quickly from the existing markets, rather than waiting for all the logistics to take place," Malawi's permanent secretary for agriculture and food security, Andrew Daudi, told IRIN in an email.

Once the beneficiaries had been identified, ATM cards could be distributed in the affected districts. "Even if the money is coming from outside Malawi, it can be deposited there and beneficiaries can access it in Malawi with minimum delays," he said.

The maize in the government's strategic grain reserve would have to be packaged for distribution, for which sacks would have to be bought. "District Commissioners have to meet, furthering the delays. Breakdowns of the identified vehicles cannot be ruled out." If dried beans, peas or other pulses had to be bought, cash transfers would also save time spent on tendering and sourcing, Daudi noted.

With money in hand, people could buy a variety of food such as vegetables, salt, oil, fish, or even meat, instead of depending on the typical food aid handout of maize and pulses, he wrote. "Let the beneficiary make a decision - this is what I feel. I could be wrong, but let us try it; if we fail, we'll make a U-turn."

On the other hand, officials question why the country should give people money to buy food when there is a surplus. The government is expected to announce a decision on funding for operational costs funds next week, but aid workers said cash transfers might still be rolled out in some of the affected districts by October.

DFID, a long-time advocate of cash transfers, told IRIN that it has been assisting the Malawian government to develop the use of cash transfers to address food shortages. DFID provided more than US$1.1 million for cash transfers to meet food shortages in 2006.

It is also providing more than $755,000 in cash transfers to people affected by the series of earthquakes that hit the northern Karonga district in December 2009 to rebuild and repair their houses.

Deadly fungus threatens global wheat crop

Source: Financial Times

London, England - 2 July 2010

“Plants get sick too.” Ronnie Coffman, a professor of plant breeding at Cornell University in the US, reads the sign at the campus laboratories every day on his way to work, a reminder that diseases afflict plants as well as humans...

Click here to read more.

World Food Prize Winner and Partnership Board Member David Beckmann Publishes Book

Source: Exodus from Hunger

June 2010

It is within the United States’ technical and financial power to help end hunger in our lifetime, if we set our hearts and minds to the task.

In fact, contrary to what many people believe, the world has made great progress against hunger and poverty over the last several decades. But too often the binding constraint is a simple lack of political will. As a result, one of the most powerful ways to effect change is often the most neglected—political advocacy.

In his powerful and hopeful new book, David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World and winner of the 2010 World Food Prize, looks at the causes of hunger, presents case studies of countries that have made great strides against it, and puts a human face on the problem by sharing stories of people who are, quite simply, hungry every day.

The problems can seem overwhelming, but Beckmann lays out a clear and workable plan for effectively using political channels to make great progress.

Beckmann not only challenges us to get involved, he shows us how.

Read more about Rev. David Beckmann's book here.

Podcasts Available: Transatlantic Taskforce on Development: Dialogues in Asia

Source: German Marshall Fund

GMF's Aid and Development Program releases two podcasts following a series of discussions held in Asia on food security, aid, and development.

In Part 1, GMF Senior Transatlantic Fellow Jim Kolbe speaks with Max Lawson, Head of Development Finance and Public Services at Oxfam Great Britain. They analyze the discussions held in Tokyo and what role the Japanese government may play in helping advance food security and more effective development policies.

In Part 2, Kolbe speaks with Carol Lancaster, Dean of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and professor of Politics at Georgetown University, about the Chinese model for aid, and the potential areas for cooperation between the United States and China.

For more information on GMF's Aid and Development Program, please click here.

***

The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a non-partisan American public policy and grantmaking institution dedicated to promoting better understanding and cooperation between North America and Europe on transatlantic and global issues. GMF does this by supporting individuals and institutions working in the transatlantic sphere, by convening leaders and members of the policy and business communities, by contributing research and analysis on transatlantic topics, and by providing exchange opportunities to foster renewed commitment to the transatlantic relationship. In addition, GMF supports a number of initiatives to strengthen democracies.Founded in 1972 through a gift from Germany as a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance, GMF maintains a strong presence on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to its headquarters in Washington, DC, GMF has seven offices in Europe: Berlin, Bratislava, Paris, Brussels, Belgrade, Ankara, and Bucharest.

Africa needs investment, not charity: UN Chief

Source: AFP

Libreville, Gabon - 1 July 2010

Africa needs investment and not charity as its "big cat" economies begin to move and political stability emerges, UN chief Ban Ki-moon told the Gabon parliament Friday.

"Inflation has fallen almost everywhere in Africa, a new private sector is being born. We observe a new political stability. It is a big change," the UN secretary general told the deputies and ministers.

"Africa does not need charity, Africa needs investment and partnership," he said.

"This is the hour of Africa. It is time to consider sub-Saharan Africa as one of the biggest emerging economies of the world. Like the economic tigers of Asia of the past, the big cats of Africa are emerging."

The UN chief said the World Cup under way in South Africa was also good for the continent.

"I am not a football expert but I already know who is going to win the World Cup. It is the African people," he said to applause.

Ban urged for the same enthusiasm over goals scored in the football event to be shown in meeting the UN's millennium development goals, which include benchmarks on ending poverty and hunger, and promoting education.

The UN chief said Gabon had seem "some progress" on eliminating corruption and bad management, but it needed to ensure its parliamentary elections due next year were honest.

"Elections open to everyone, free, honest and transparent, play a clear role in the maintenance of peace and stability.

"Africa has seen too much election fraud, too many unconstitutional changes of government, too much manipulation of the law," he said.

The Gabon opposition does not recognise the 2009 presidential elections -- won by Ali Bongo Ondimba, son of strong-arm president Omar Bongo Ondimba who died last June after 41 years in office -- alleging they were rigged.

Analysis: Does Africa really need new idealism?

Source: Scidev.net

28 June 2010

African innovation policy needs pragmatism and cooperation, not the wave of idealism sweeping through development science, argues Linda Nordling.

Perhaps it is a fear that aid from the financially-tumultuous North might be squeezed. Perhaps it is a growing frustration at rich countries' failure to keep their promises to the world's poor. Whatever the cause, a wave of idealism is sweeping through the innovation policy debate, accompanied by that idealist writ — the manifesto.

This month, the Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability (STEPS) Centre at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom published a manifesto seeking more equitable and sustainable outcomes from science and innovation in the developing world (see Manifesto calls for bottom-up science in poor countries).

It comes on the heels of the Indian 'Knowledge Swaraj' manifesto, published in December 2009 by the EU-funded Science, Ethics and Technological Responsibility in Developing and Emerging Countries project.

And in September, the Nairobi-based African Technology Policy Studies (ATPS) network will publish a third manifesto, making similar demands in Africa.

Revolutionary enough

'Manifesto' conjures images of revolutionaries in smoky bars plotting to overthrow their leaders. Today's manifestos are more peaceful, aiming to influence, rather than tear down, the powerful. But they still attack the motivations behind science and technology investments in developing countries.

The STEPS manifesto, published on 15 June, says that rising investments in research and development (R&D) have failed to benefit the poor. In India, for example, high-tech centres such as Bangalore exist alongside peasants still living as they did a century ago.

It blames a greedy focus on financial — rather than developmental — results from science investments; and the exclusion of poor people from science and innovation decision-making.

The STEPS manifesto's remedy is a 'new innovation politics'. Communal decision-making would allow a focus on outcomes, rather than inputs such as R&D spend.

The manifesto suggests countries establish 'innovation fora' to debate technology investments and choices more broadly. And it wants funding for scientific 'centres of excellence' to give way to support for science that addresses local needs.

Such research may not be published in top international journals, or come up with a money-spinning new drug, but it could have greater trickle-down potential, it argues.

A step further

The ATPS manifesto will go a step further in promoting the 'domestication' of science in Africa, says ATPS executive director, Kevin Urama.

He says that Africa's confidence in its own science — traditional knowledge — dropped with colonialism and the arrival of Western science traditions. He argues that this cultural loss underpins Western-sponsored science's inability to improve the lives of ordinary Africans.

Farmers who are used to getting their wisdom from elders may not heed the advice of educated youngsters from the cities. The knowledge systems simply do not match up, says Urama.

Science must be different in Africa, he says. The trappings of international, or Western, science — the pressures to publish in top international journals and travel to international conferences — gets in the way of science that can contribute to development, he argues.

African science policy structures must also change to bring science closer to ordinary Africans, he adds. "At the moment, these are carried out by elites in the North talking to elites in the South — people who have been educated in the North," he says.

But is it useful?

Both STEPS and ATPS make valid points about the barriers preventing investments in science and technology from tackling poverty. But is idealism really what Africa needs?

Manifestos, by definition, offer radical fixes for ingrained and often systematic problems. They might lure politicians into believing in 'magic bullets' that will deliver immediate improvements.

Most importantly, they might inspire policy u-turns where smaller modifications, or a bit more patience, could yield better results. For example, the STEPS manifesto's condemnation of 'centres of excellence thinking' may tempt African ministers to withdraw support for those already set up under the continent's Consolidated Plan of Action in areas like biology and water science, so undoing years of investment and network-building.

African governments should read the manifestos pragmatically, not idealistically. They should not rush to create whole new structures for supporting this kind of innovation and science, but explore how existing policy channels can provide what the documents call for.

Getting connected

For example, a key stumbling block that must be addressed is isolation among African policymaking organs. The pan-African New Partnership for Africa's Development agency is being restructured to address this problem. Hopefully it will link science programmes more closely to related policy areas such as environment, health and resource management.

Similar consolidating efforts should be encouraged in organisations such as the Addis Ababa-based African Union. And the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) should be better connected to the ministerial councils for finance, education and agriculture, among others.

A good start for AMCOST would be to re-name its 'Decade for African Science', set to start next year, the 'Decade for African Science and Innovation'. And then get other ministries to join.

Journalist Linda Nordling, based in Cape Town, South Africa, specialises in African science policy, education and development. She was the founding editor of Research Africa and writes for SciDev.Net, The Guardian, Nature and others.

Education Summit Tackles Challenges in Africa

Source: Allafrica.com (BuaNews)

Johannesburg, South Africa - 3 July 2010

FIFA hopes to use an education summit organised by President Jacob Zuma next week to gather support for its '1 Goal education for all' campaign.

Zuma has called the global education summit to tackle education challenges in Africa at the time the attention of the entire world is on South Africa. 1 Goal is a coalition of 100 organisations from 100 countries established last year to raise awareness about the millions of children who are not in school. The initiative, chaired by Queen Rania of Jordan, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and FIFA President Sepp Blatter, aims to get all children across the world to school by 2015.

Director of the campaign Owain James says 1 Goal had already attracted more than 12 million signatories and has the support of many international players. "We are delighted that president Zuma has shown his support for this and called this summit, we see this as a strong opportunity to bring together politicians and the soccer family to tackle this very important issue of education," James said on Saturday.

"The summit will afford the world's leaders a critical opportunity to highlight challenges and accelerate achievements in the global education sector and we are delighted it taking place at the time South Africa is organising its first FIFA World Cup," he said.

Former Manchester United striker Quinton Fortune, Bafana Bafana Captain Aaron Mokoena and Brazilian football legend Pele, are just some of the stars behind the 1 Goal campaign. It also enjoys the support of more than 60 football clubs including Barcelona, Manchester United and Inter Milan.

Fortune, who also had a stint in the Bafana squad, said he was very honoured to be part of the campaign. "We have so many difficulties that we need to overcome and I believe through education we can overcome all those challenges. I was very blessed to have studied and got my education in England and I hope every child can be able to get that chance and not just only from the African continent," Fortune said.

An estimated 72 million children around the world are said to have no access to quality basic education - more than half of them are girls. Zuma's summit is scheduled to take place on the last day of the World Cup on 11 July and several heads of state have been invited to attend.

Freedom of movement to help pastoralist lifestyles

Source: IRIN News

Nairobi, Kenya - 30 June 2010

Pastoralists across East Africa are set to benefit as the region’s national borders are relaxed amid joint efforts to mitigate the risks associated with their migration.

"With the coming into effect [on 1 July] of the common market protocol, pastoralists like the Maasai, the Pokot and the Somali who do not believe in borders as they have kin in more than one country will enjoy better freedom of movement across the borders," Augustine Lotodo, a member of parliament in the East African Legislative Assembly, told IRIN on 30 June.

The protocol allows free movement of people, goods, services and capital across the East African Community’s five members: Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi.

On 29 June, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA Kenya), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) launched Security in Mobility (SIM), a regional initiative aimed at reconciling pastoralist livelihoods and security needs with broader regional security priorities.

Lotodo, who attended the SIM launch, said: "This Security in Mobility initiative is one of the best things to happen to pastoralists in a long time. During colonial times, pastoralism was respected and they were allowed to move around freely but after independence, border restrictions hampered their way of life.

"Security in Mobility ensures that pastoralist communities can continue their traditions and culture while at the same time integrating modern aspects such as health and education."

Jeanine Cooper, head of OCHA Kenya, said pastoralists and their livelihoods were under threat due to a combination of factors, including environmental degradation, resource-based conflicts, changing land tenures, poor governance and restrictive cross-border policies.

Mark Bowden, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, said many pastoralists were no longer safe during their migration and stay in "foreign territory" and that there was no formal framework to guarantee their security.

Access to markets

Choice Okoro, OCHA Kenya's Advocacy and Outreach Officer, told IRIN: "Through the two years of the Security in Mobility consultations with pastoralists across Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia and Sudan border areas, access to markets was highlighted as one of the major challenges pastoralists face.

"Included in our SIM approach is the call for better support and facilitation of pastoralism across borders. This will require facilitation of pastoralists’ access to markets."

The protocol “covers three countries of interest to the SIM process: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. We are looking at similar processes that will begin to facilitate the reconciliation of pastoralists’ markets and mobility to regional economic priorities in the other countries that border Kenya in the Horn of Africa - Somalia and Ethiopia and Sudan," Okoro said.

Climate change

SIM officials say that in 2009, almost 10 million people in the region, including three million pastoralists, were at risk of starvation due to drought.

According to SIM, the effects of climate change and its impact on pastoral communities are now more conspicuous than ever, with evidence pointing to increasing levels of migration and conflict over often scarce resources.

"Vulnerability, a lack of preparedness and appropriate, timely and relevant responses to natural disasters has left millions in need of humanitarian assistance," the agencies said.

The process calls for national and cross-border action to help pastoralists cope with the rising impacts of climate change and urges governments to facilitate safe passage across the borders in the Horn and East Africa regions.

"The Security in Mobility approach for intervention calls for response to pastoralist issues through a joined-up approach that captures provision of humanitarian assistance; provision of basic services such as water and sanitation; facilitated migration and comprehensive security initiatives," the agencies said.

"Mobility is usually associated with conflict and this risk needs to be recognized and managed down," the organizations recommended. "Pastoralists are frustrated with current humanitarian aid policies and want sustainable and transformational solutions."

Well adapted livestock key to sustainable productivity

Source: Scidev.net

2 July 2010

The genetically diverse and "exquisitely well adapted" traits of Africa's livestock should be better harnessed to meet the continent's needs.

Seventy per cent of Africa's rural poor keep livestock and 200 million people depend on the animals for their livelihoods.

African livestock breeds have successfully survived, and adapted to, an extraordinary range of diseases and climate changes. But they are currently being displaced by "exotic" breeds imported from the developed world.

This trend — reflecting a drive to increase short-term productivity — seriously threatens long-term sustainability. As the uniquely adapted indigenous breeds are replaced by these ill-adapted ones, the genetic diversity of the livestock population is reduced. Such a decrease will limit farmers' ability to selectively breed their animals to increase future productivity.

To combat this, genomic and geo-environmental data must be combined to better understand African livestock adaptations, and resulting information used to guide choices about breeding programmes to improve productivity and development sustainably.

This will involve scanning the genomes of a number of animals living in different habitats, to assess all of the variation seen around an individual trait. Researchers can then identify specific regions of the genome linked to productivity traits, such as milk production.

Such an approach will require increased funding and multidisciplinary research, but it will also offer great benefits in tailoring indigenous African livestock to both the current and future needs of African societies.

Link to full article in Science

Sahel: Short of cash rather than food

Source: IRIN News

Dakar, Senegal - 30 June 2010

The ongoing food crisis in the Sahel is actually a purchasing power crisis: there is food in the markets, but the poorest households cannot afford it. "Cash transfers need to be immediately organized to allow families to buy food," said Bakari Seidou, food security advisor to Save the Children UK.

Limited agricultural productivity has forced the poorest, a third of rural households in Niger, Mauritania and Mali, to rely increasingly on markets rather than on their own production, even in normal years. "They can only cover one-third of their food needs through their production, except in more fertile areas in the south," said Seidou.

"The market is their main source of food, but they need money. Their main source of cash is their labour: they earn an average of 20 cents a day per person; even if there is food available on the markets, they can not afford it."

Qualitative household economic surveys by NGOs and national early warning systems from September 2007 to May 2010 in rural areas in Niger, Mali and Mauritania looked at where and how households found their food, their source and level of income, and the proportion used to pay for food and basic services, including health and education.

Key findings include

Substantial wealth gap: in agricultural areas, the richest earn from nine to 15 times more than the poorest; even though they only represent 15 percent of households, the richest own more than half the cultivated land and cattle.

Chronic food shortages: the poorest families are unable to meet their food needs, especially during the lean season from May to August, even in years when good rain brought healthy production; moreover, in agricultural areas the protein-deficient cereal diet is poor in nutrition.

Insufficient agricultural production: the poorest families have insufficient earning power; more than 50 percent of household income comes from paid labour, but significant numbers are unable to secure work locally and are forced to migrate or sell their land to buy food and pay debts.

More than half the income of the poorest goes to food: even in agricultural areas, food purchases eat up more than half of family income; any food price increase means a family may eat less, consume food of poor nutritional value, or cut education and health expenses.

Cattle cash: sales of cattle are the main source of income for richer families; milk from the cattle provides a more balanced diet. A recent study in Niger by Save the Children UK showed that cattle owners could have a proper diet at half the cost of what those who did not have animals would have to spend.

Small farmers should get on the "land grab" bandwagon

Source: IRIN News

Johannesburg, South Africa - 30 June 2010

If you are a small farmer in a developing country, and there is a big agricultural land investment deal going down in your neighbourhood, you could become part of it and make money in several ways, said a new UN-backed study. A growing number of "land grab" deals, especially in Africa, have hit the headlines of late.

The study - Making the most of agricultural investment: A survey of business models that provide opportunities for smallholders - examined agricultural investment models that have included small farmers and suggested changes to make sure the poor were not short-changed; more than 70 percent of people living in developing countries are small farmers.

To make these models work you need strong policies in place and vigilant governments to "police" the deals, said Sonja Vermeulen, deputy director of research at the Denmark-based Challenge Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security, one of the study's two authors.

Vermeulen and her co-author, Lorenzo Cotula, a senior researcher at the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development, started researching the issue after looking at some of the deals for another UN-backed paper in 2009.

"We found that many of the land investment deals were taking place in irrigated and well-serviced areas, for instance in the Office du Niger area on the Niger River in Segou, Southern Mali, which has a high irrigation potential, is well-connected to markets, and is a focus area for large-scale land investment," said Vermeulen.

The researchers found that "as negotiations for large-scale land acquisitions evolve at rapid speed, the impression is that some countries are approving plantation-based projects without strong ideas of alternatives."

The study does not suggest that the only option small farmers have is to partner with big investors, or that large-scale plantations are not the way to go. "In some instances, plantations may be the best option for the investor, host country, and the local community," said the paper.

"For example, in areas with very low population densities and little local capacity to engage in agricultural production, it may be difficult to establish business models that include local ownership and operation."

The models

A business model "is the way in which a company structures its resources, partnerships and customer relationships ... to create and capture value – in other words, a business model is what enables a company to make money," the authors noted.

"Business models are considered as more inclusive if they involve close working partnerships with local landholders and operators, and if they share value among the partners." The study reviewed models that include contract farming, sharecropping and joint ventures.

The sticking point in any deal including small-scale farmers is usually land ownership - in many African countries the land is owned by the government but is sometimes administered by the community.

Some countries are reluctant to privatize landownership. Tewolde Egziabher, who heads Ethiopia's Environmental Protection Authority and is effectively Minister of the Environment, said there were concerns that if land were privatised, small-scale farmers could sell their holdings and move to urban areas, where they could end up destitute.

Vermeulen said these were "sensible" concerns; land was often the only asset the small-scale farmer had, and selling it was usually the last resort of a farming family. This had happened in India, where land has been privatized; the farmers ended up working as labourers, living in slums in urban areas.

South Africa's land reform programme was using a good model, Vermeulen said, in which the government encouraged joint ventures between local farmers and agribusinesses.

In one such scheme, the farmers became share-holding employees; in another, previously disadvantaged people were helped to enter into competitive commercial agriculture - the government paid for the land, which was held by a community trust owned by the beneficiaries, and management of the farm was outsourced.

Yet Vermeulen and Cotula said even this model was not without flaws, and cited studies showing that some management companies had found ways to conceal profits. "Of 88 shared equity agriculture schemes established in South Africa between 1996 and 2008, only nine have declared dividends."

The study underlined the need for "strong support" to enhance the capacity of small-scale farmers as "decision-makers within business structures, including support from third party independent advisors, on a non-profit basis."

East Africa: Kibaki Sets off Common Market

Source: AllAfrica.com

Nairobi, Kenya - 30 June 2010

The East African Community on Wednesday took a giant leap as member states simultaneously launched the Common Market Protocol.

The protocol, which was signed on November 20, last year, allows free movement of goods, services, capital and labour in the bloc. It comes into effect at midnight.

Setting off the common market, President Kibaki on Wednesday evening ordered the waiver of work permit fees for all East Africans coming to Kenya.

"I am directing the Minister responsible for Immigration to waive fees on work permits for all East African citizens," the President said.

He also directed Attorney-General Amos Wako to use Parliament to harmonise conflicting laws with EAC countries for the smooth implementation of the protocol.

Speaking at Nairobi's Kenyatta International Conference Centre, the President said the expanded market will increase opportunities for trade in goods and services.

Pact shatters barriers to free flow of goods

Life will soon be much better for East Africans with the coming into effect of the Common Market Protocol on Thursday. The protocol will bring down barriers to movement of labour and goods in the region in what experts are saying will be a boon to the people of the bloc.

Although analysts say it may take up to two years for the benefits of the protocol to trickle down to the citizens, it is one of the most significant developments in the region.

Ugandan teacher

A Ugandan secondary school teacher working in Kenya, for example, will be able to join the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet). This is one of the provisions outlined by the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol, allowing workers of nationalities other than the host, but from within the community, to join trade unions in the countries where they work.

Other benefits expected to accrue are lower prices due to enhanced competition and job creation. "With the free movement, lowly paid workers will discover better paying prospects across borders," Prof Inonda Mwanje, the executive director of the Africa Public Policy Institute argues.

This would not only trigger competition for the best workers within the bloc's labour market, but also improve pay and working conditions. Movement by citizens of a partner state in search of greener pastures in another country within the community just got easier. Those who have hitherto been considered "foreigners" but hail from within the community will enjoy new preferential status, equivalent to the local people.

Upon retirement

Upon retirement, the workers will also enjoy social security benefits such as pension and health insurance within their adopted countries, just like the citizens of that country. "Partner states shall ensure non-discrimination of the workers of the other partner states, based on their nationalities, in relation to employment, remuneration, and other conditions of work and employment," the protocol indicates under the article on free movement of workers.

However, it will take time before this translates into action due to the drawn out process that involves amending the Labour Relations Act, in the case of Kenya, and other national laws. "We will have to amend our constitution to embrace workers from other countries," says Mr Akello Misori, the acting secretary general of Kuppet.

Mr Misori explains that presently, the union's membership is drawn from individuals employed by the Teachers Service Commission, exclusively Kenyan. For this process to conform to the protocol, a possible change of name to reflect the diverse nationalities may be necessary.

This would also pave the way for closer collaboration among unions within the region. Presently, in the case of Kuppet, for instance, the collaboration within related bodies is through a global organ, Education International, based in Brussels. Prof Mwanje notes that since the protocol does not address itself to detail on effecting the provisions on labour issues, it is upon the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) and its equivalents within the region to harmonise labour laws.

East Africa Common Market Opens

"This process will define more clearly how a worker moving into another country within the community will be treated," Prof Mwanje says. Nationality will no longer be a basis for recruitment; the competitiveness of the services that individuals provide will be the determining factor.

And cases where workers from other EAC member countries are discriminated against will be a thing of the past. And the process of getting official clearance to begin working upon moving to another partner state is much easier. Upon presenting a valid travel document (or electronic national identity card, in cases where it is accepted) and a contract of employment, besides declaring all the information required upon entry and exit, a pass for temporary movement will be issued free, and will be valid for six months to allow time to obtain a work permit.

However, enjoyment of all these benefits is not automatic. The partner states still retain the right to admission, according to the protocol: "The free movement of workers shall be subject to limitations imposed by the host partner state on grounds of public policy, public security, or public health."

East Africans Celebrate the Common Market

Source: Allafrica.com (Daily Nation)

1 July 2010

We welcome the East African Common Market. Granted, what is being celebrated today has not come with all the freedoms associated with such an entity.

A common market comes with free movement of people and elimination of work permits, with free movement of capital across borders, and the right of citizens to start businesses in any town or location within the region. But what we are proclaiming today does not do so.

Yet what has happened still represents a major milestone in the process of integrating the region economically. It is a statement of political commitment to complete a long journey.

Today, the phenomenon known as globalisation is forcing continents and regions into forming unions, free trade areas, preferential trade arrangements and all manner of economic groups.

The Europeans have the European Union, the North Americans, the North American Free Trade Area, the Asians, Asean Free Trade Area, and the South Americans, the grouping known by the acronym, Mercusor.

In committing to a common market, East Africa is setting the pace. What has been created is but one of the building blocks towards a future continental trade bloc as envisaged several years ago in the Lagos Plan of Action.

Indeed, Africa has several of these building blocks in different stages of economic integration. The South African Development Co-operation (SADC) is evolving into a customs union.

Comesa, the single largest economic grouping on the continent, will be a fully-fledged customs union in a matter of months. Ecowas, the economic grouping for West African countries, is growing rapidly.

The multiplicity of trading blocs is not without problems, though, due to overlapping membership, especially when it comes to negotiating reciprocal concessions on tariffs.

Merger proposals

Tanzania is a member of both SADC and EAC. Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are members of both the EAC and Comesa. Madagascar, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mauritius are members of both SADC and Comesa. There is a strong case for rationalising the membership in trading blocs.

Following Comesa's decision to adopt EAC's common external tariff trading arrangement, there have been proposals to merge Comesa and EAC. The region's leaders must pursue this idea seriously.

Many groupings have collapsed because of grumbling by smaller economies, to the effect that they only served the interest of the larger economies. They complain that regional blocs commit them to importing low-quality goods from their regional partners rather than from more efficient global producers.

They may continue to grumble. But as the success so far has demonstrated, trading blocs can only succeed when they embrace the principle of asymmetry -- when the economically stronger partners agree to accommodate the fears of their weaker partners.

When the customs union was signed in 2005, Kenya, the regional economic power, agreed to grant its neighbours several concessions. While all the imports from Uganda and Tanzania were allowed in duty-free, the two neighbours were allowed to charge duty on a number of Kenyan exports.

The countries of East Africa are joined by geographical proximity, by language and shared historical bonds. We celebrate the birth of the common market, and thank the region's political leaders for doggedly negotiating one protocol after another and agreeing to reciprocate concessions at every stage.

East Africa: Fails to Sign EPAs Due to Disagreements

Source: AllAfrica.com

KAMPALA 30 June 2010

The signing of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the East Africa Community and the European Commission has been pushed to November.

Mr Silver Ojakol, the commissioner International Trade at the minsitry of Trade, announced at a meeting organised in Kampala last week by the Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (Seatini). Both the EU and EAC referred the signing to November after failing to agree on article 15 and 16 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The two articles limit EAC member states from instituting taxes on exports.

Export taxes function as an important development tool that can be used for revenue generation. But most importantly it can be used to create incentives to add value to local products rather than exporting them in their raw form; thus an instrument for promoting industrialisation and employment creation.

The agreements that seek the creation of a free trade area between the EU and EAC, have come under heavy criticism from Civil Society Organisations for being non committal on sensitive issues like intellectual property rights and movement of labour among others.

Mr Nathan Irumba, the chief executive officer of Seatini told Daily Monitor on the sidelines of the meeting that the pacts' call for the 80 per cent liberalisation is untenable since African firms cannot compete with the largely industrialised Europe.

Liberalisation vs growth

He said: "Liberalisation has to follow development and not the other way round adding that all big economies opened their markets after reaching a certain level of development." Mr Irumba cautioned EAC member states to be concerned by demands of extensive and premature liberalisation policies being pushed by the European Union.

In recent years, president Museveni has repeatedly voiced his aspiration to transform Uganda from a peasant to an industrialised economy, which as he says can only be achieved with improved trade both within and outside the country.

Burkina Faso: Vital role for local food

Source: IRIN News

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - 6 July 2010

Local food – like sesame, tamarind and certain leaves – is a vital tool in the fight against malnutrition, say aid workers training families in northern Burkina Faso.

Communities who know the nutritional value of local food, and have the means to conserve and use it, are far less vulnerable, say the NGO Eau Vive and local health workers.

“Nutritional foods are all around us, right here,” said Balima Léopold, health worker in the town of Dori, northern Burkina, who has worked with Eau Vive to show villagers how to incorporate locally available ingredients into meals. “For example, there are leaves rich in vitamin A for making a good sauce for children.”

Health workers train local women in making porridge fortified with foods including tamarind, soumbala (a local bean), fish and baobab fruit, Koné Blandine, a midwife and nutrition trainer in nearby Gorom-Gorom, told IRIN. The women in turn teach fellow villagers. Eau Vive also shows people how to get the most nutritional value out of milk from their livestock.

“A lot of milk is produced in the Sahel region [where most families raise animals] from July to September,” Eau Vive country director Juste Hermann Nansi told IRIN. “But most people discard any surplus for lack of a way to conserve it.” The NGO – as part of a three-year “sustainable food security” project funded by the European Union – is teaching villagers to make a cheese that keeps longer than milk and provides a nutritious supplement to meals.

Local products properly conserved can help improve the nutritional value of meals particularly during the dry season, said Maïmouna Sanon/Traoré with the European Union in Burkina. "The use of local foods is appropriate in Burkina's Sahel region because they are at hand, adapted to people's eating habits and accessible to the most vulnerable... The ultimate goal is to prevent malnutrition."

Food aid dependency

For Eau Vive's Nansi and health workers in northern Burkina the promotion of local foods is also a way to combat dependence. "The Sahel region regularly faces drought, water shortages and malnutrition, and this has meant almost perpetual outside assistance. That affects people's mentality," Nansi said. "If our approach proves effective people will have less need for outside help to fight malnutrition."

Eau Vive and health workers said initially it was difficult to get villagers motivated about their approach.

“We asked them to come to our demonstration with local ingredients,” nutrition trainer Koné told IRIN. “At first they were disappointed that we were not coming with bags of food but in time they have seen that they have good nutritious foods at hand.”

Health worker Balima said: “Education is the only means to show people that they must not count on outside aid.”

Monotonous diet

Still, nutrition experts say local diets are generally deficient in essential nutrients, and local food promotion projects have yet to be applied on a large enough scale to broadly reduce malnutrition.

“A lot of communities in this region have a tendency towards a very simple monotonous diet and we are always working to increase the variety of foods they use,” said Robert Johnston, nutrition specialist with the UN Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) West and Central Africa office.

Fortified products – produced either locally or outside – will continue to be an important tool in reducing child malnutrition in the region, he said. “You find [fortified spreads and fortified cereals] throughout West Africa,” he said, adding that an important role for UNICEF, the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization is to ensure that such products are safe. “I think most of us cannot see a way around the use of products to satisfy the micronutrient and nutrient needs of infants in the entire region.”

He said promoting a diversity of foods in infants’ diets is necessary and beneficial, but stressed that the foods should be accessible and already part of caregivers' feeding habits.

Eau Vive currently does nutrition work in 104 villages in northern Burkina; its activities include infant growth monitoring, and education on malnutrition’s causes and treatment.

A 2007 Eau Vive study in the region showed that families did not understand children's nutritional needs, Nansi said. "Many do not make the link between what people eat and their health." He noted that hygiene and access to water play a considerable role in proper nutrition and well-being. "It is not enough to solve the issue of accessibility to food."

Kenya: Country in Drive to Claim Regional IT Hub Status

Source: AllAfrica.com

NAIROBI 1 July 2010

There seem to be a quiet but strong movement positioning Kenya as a regional IT powerhouse.

This is the message that I picked up from the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) breakfast meeting with leaders of the Ministry of Information and Communication last week.

The meeting was organised by KEPSA to debrief the non-IT private sector players on the ministry's programmes and plans.

And listening to Bitange Ndemo, the permanent secretary in the ministry, one could not help but be pleased by the enthusiasm, commitment and focus that seems to be taking shape.

It all starts with Vision 2030, which identifies information technology as a strategic pillar together with agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and financial services.

Now, note the difference here, its no longer business process outsourcing as it was originally.

It's Information and Communication Technologies.

Now, according to Dr Ndemo, a lot of work has already gone in and the Ministry is on its way to achieving its Vision 2030 targets and in some cases already ahead of schedule.

I cannot confirm or deny this. What I know though, is that the ministry has steered quite a number of projects that could fall into the Vision 2030 scheme of things.

First, infrastructure. There has been tremendous improvement in the development of ICT infrastructure in the country and we are already seeing the difference.

Connectivity has ceased to be an issue, especially in urban centres.

Connectivity prices have gone down considerably, and these will continue to fall as more people start using the abundant bandwidth that ISPs are holding.

Mobile Internet has grown to some unbelievable levels in the past one year, exciting the mobile operators to invest heavily in their data products.

Dr Ndemo said his ministry has changed strategy on the digital villages project and has partnered with private sector entities including Safaricom and Cisco to roll these out.

Already more than 500 digital villages have been rolled out, according to the PS, and the target is to have a digital village in each village.

So, in terms of infrastructure and connectivity, we seem to be in a good place.

The only issue here is what feeds into that infrastructure.

And this seems to be the biggest headache that the ministry and its agencies seem to be grappling with.

But what wowed me was the declaration that the ministry was focused on making Kenya the regional ICT hub and reclaim the position from Rwanda.

With good infrastructure, an able workforce, good policies, I think this is chicken feed.

There is so much buzz in the air that all the ministry needs to do is flick a switch, and boom... digital Kenya, comes to light.

Kenya: Short-term gains of price controls outweighed in long term, say analysts

Source: IRIN News

Nairobi, Kenya - 30 June 2010

If a new bill seeking price controls on maize, wheat and other essential commodities is implemented, it may benefit the poor who have been priced out of food in the short term but is unsustainable in the long term, warn analysts.

Kenya’s parliament recently passed the Price Controls (Essential Goods) Bill, which is awaiting presidential approval.

"The goal of having low stable prices is noble; it benefits the poor and supports growth. However, I do not think that price controls are the best policy option," Dickson Khainga, head of the macroeconomics division at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), told IRIN. "Kenyans have gone through a regime of price controls and it did not help investment and productivity.”

Price controls in the 1990s were dogged by claims of manipulation, corruption and political interference.

“Price controls would most likely drive out investment given that in most of these sectors, producers are [also] asking for higher prices,” added Khainga. Foreign direct investment in Kenya has been increasing and experts fear price controls will lead to massive job losses as investors shift to neighbouring countries where they can make a profit.

The practice by small-holder farmers of hoarding maize harvests to protest against low prices is common. There are also concerns that farmers may switch to more profitable crops, which would reduce supply.

Maize prices rose by up to 130 percent in Nairobi in 2009 after several failed harvests. In addition to poor weather, poor infrastructure and high input costs have continued to drive up essential commodity prices. According to a World Bank economic update for December 2009, power outages and transport bottlenecks were blamed for close to a 10 percent reduction in sales in the manufacturing sector.

“The final [commodity] price is a factor of many things in the whole chain of production,” Betty Maina, chief executive of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), said.

“If you are a miller and the price of maize is high and the cost of electricity is also high and you are not able to sell it [the maize flour] at a decent profit, there is a possibility of shortages,” said Maina. “If the input costs are high and the output costs are set too low - there will be a problem.”

Though price controls hold the promise of protecting groups struggling to meet price increases, economists are sceptical about them due to their distortion of resource allocation.

Price controls are often imposed to check inflation; Kenya’s overall inflation has, however, been declining from 19.5 percent at the end of 2008 to below 5 percent at end-2009, according to the World Bank update.

Concerns

Among the arguments for the bill is that it seeks to cushion the vulnerable against cartels. “…Maize and wheat millers are a cartel that makes supernormal profits and should not, therefore, be allowed to control the grains trade in its entirety,” wrote commentator Kwendo Opanga in the 26 June Daily Nation.

However, KAM’s Maina said: “If there is suspicion of collusive competitive behaviour there are anti-trust, anti-competitive behaviour laws. Kenya’s monopoly and prices [commission] should [prevent] any collusive behaviour.”

There are also quality concerns as manufacturers cut costs to sell at lower prices. The government can fight quality deterioration through product standard specifications and enforcement - but this would add to expenses.

The emergence of black markets due to shortages is also a concern, as are other expected costs from queuing, tie-in sales and subsequent commodity rationing.

While some analysts are calling for keener price regulation by the commission as opposed to price controls, others are urging a balance whereby there will be price controls but at levels that do not drive out business while making products available to consumers.

Mixed response

A retailer in the Ruaka area of Kiambu, in central Kenya, Lameck Mwalumba, expressed mixed feelings: "It may be beneficial if everybody sells at the same price. Then it will be up to the individual shopkeeper to retain his customers.

“However, if the price is too low there may be a higher demand than the supply. These should balance.

“But how does this relate to things like COMESA [the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa],” Mwalumba asked. "We might be excited about something that will harm us later."

Cheaper quality imports from neighbouring markets where prices are competitive would further upset local production, for instance.

KIPPRA’s Khainga said: “[Implementing] price controls is treating the symptoms and not curing the underlying disease; in the long run it is not sustainable and is not consistent with regional integration and globalization.

“The focus should be on increasing agricultural productivity, encouraging production and consumption of so-called 'orphan' commodities such as millet, sorghum, cassava etc [to diversify consumption patterns] and enhance private sector competition."

Kenya: How a Patched Village Has Turned Cassava Into a Money Maker

Source: Allafrica.com (The East African)

Nairobi, Kenya - 28 June 2010

As one descends the winding road down a hill overlooking a remote Mukuyuni village in Kenya's Makueni District, a receding forest gives way to fields of lush cassava plants.

The Green Valley Multipurpose Co-operative, a farmers' group in the village is debunking the myth that cassava is a crop for the poor and is grown only by subsistence farmers.

With support from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), the co-operative has put up a cassava processing plant at the Mukuyuni trading centre, to add value to the crop.

The farmers are demonstrating that the cassava not only has great potential to end food insecurity, but also to create wealth and drive rural development.

Co-operative chairman Peter Kiteme explains that although the processing plant was set up in 2008, crop failure delayed its operation until last year when the region recorded an impressive cassava harvest.

"A severe drought made it impossible for us to start operations, but we expect full operations to pick up in the next six months," he said.

Already, the group is selling cassava flour and cassava gari to villagers at Ksh60 ($0.77) and Ksh120 ($1.54) respectively.

The majority of residents are turning to cassava growing with the assurance they can process the tubers.

"The demand is huge. We cannot pretend that we can meet it," Mr Kiteme said.

Fortunately for Mr Kiteme and other farmers in the region, the challenge of meeting the demand for cassava will ease soon, following the launch of a three-year programme that is geared towards increasing the value of cassava for food and industrial us by encouraging production and processing at village level.

Dubbed "Cassava Village Processing Project," Agra and Farm Concern International launched the initiative in Nairobi last week.

The project targets 30,000 small holder farmers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

About half of the cassava produce will go to industrial use.

In the initial phase, communities will be mobilised to set up 120 village processing units like the one in Mukuyuni village, which will be called "commercial villages."

The villages will help farmers produce the tuber on commercial scale as well as become semi-processors who will be linked to animal feeds manufacturers.

Although the use of cassava in the feed industry is relatively new in this region, research by the International Fund for Agriculture Development-Food and Agriculture Organisation has shown that using the tuber as a substitute for maize can reduce the cost of feed by 20-30 per cent.

Feed manufacturers need a consistent supply to maintain the feed formula and stabilise prices.

The project will provide a reliable source of raw materials to the feed industry since cassava is available throughout the year.

"We always thought that cassava is a worthless crop. This new approach is a turnaround for our villages because we will earn some money from selling the crop," said Everlyne Oswat, chairlady, Moyo Safi Women Group in Busia, Kenya.

Anne Mbaabu, the markets director at Agra told The EastAfrican that the project will expand the role of cassava from a staple food for human consumption in this region, to an efficient industrial crop like it is in developing economies of Asia, Latin America and other African countries.

The "Commercial Villages" will be mobilised to manage village saving schemes.

Farmers will also be linked to financial institutions that offer credit for purchase of improved seeds.

Already, Agra has partnered with Equity bank in Kenya, Standard Bank in both Tanzania and Uganda and National Micro-Finance Bank in Tanzania to ease access to credit for small holder farmers and agribusinesses working along staple food value chains.

Tanzania set to attain 10pc growth in agriculture

Source: Daily News

6 July 2010

Tanzania is set to attain 10 per cent growth in agriculture sector from the current six per cent.

The Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda, said in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday that the government was also planning to increase the budget of the sector from 7.9 now to 10 per cent of the national budget.

He was responding to concerns from various stakeholders when he chaired the roundtable discussions that took place in Dar es Salaam ahead of Tanzania signing the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) compact on Thursday.

The signing of the compact makes the country follow the footprints of Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda that had signed it earlier, with Kenya envisaged to sign it in a course of a year.

CAADP is the African Union (AU) programme endorsed by all African Head of States in Maputo Mozambique in 2003 as an agricultural framework under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) which is the AU's economic development programme.

"We are determined to give agriculture the priority it requires which include increasing the budgetary allocations to at least 10 per cent in the very near future. We have experienced some of the gaps in the past and that is why programmes like Kilimo Kwanza are now in place," he said.

Speaking before the discussions, the Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Mr Stephen Wasira, said the implementation of CAADP in the country follows the success of other programmes like the Agricultural Sector Development Programme for Tanzania Mainland and Agricultural Strategic Plan (ASP) for Zanzibar both guided by the broad National Framework Vision 2020 and 2025.

He said although both programmes addressed the challenges facing the sector in holistic manner, there were still some gaps identified by the task force during the review on the existing country framework.

"In this regard, through CAADP compact, the government will prepare and implement investment plans, will continue to be in line with existing National frameworks and the CAADP pillars," he said.

Mr Wasira made the assurance that the CAADP framework would allow Tanzania to bring all the agricultural initiatives under one umbrella, thus bringing more coherence and predictability for farmers, the government, development partners and other stakeholders.

The framework, he added, was also likely to attract more private investments into the sector.

Making their contributions, agricultural stakeholders said for the agriculture to sustainably grow, the government should get rid of donor dependency and focus more on injecting enough funds as well evaluation and monitoring the financial needs of the existing agricultural programmes under implementation.

They also called for the government to improve agricultural infrastructures in rural areas including introducing after sale services of farm equipment like power tillers.

"It is also important to strengthen farmers' organizations and private sector financing for the sector to prosper," said Mr Salum Shamte who is the chairman of the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT).

The Country Representative of the European Union, Mr Tim Clarke, said emphasis should be put on cultivation of maize which is a staple food consumed by the country's large population as well extensive researches on other main crops.

"I have noted that maize production has been slow for the past years. I think more resources should be directed on how to improve it even further," he said.

President Jakaya Kikwete is expected to grace the signing of the CAADP compact on Thursday.

Tanzania: Govt - We'll Stress Irrigation Farming

Source: Allafrica.com (The Citizen)

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania - 2 July 2010

Tanzania will heavily invest in irrigation schemes to realize its green revolution dream stipulated in Agriculture First initiative popularly known as 'Kilimo Kwanza' in Kiswahili, a senior government official has said.

A senior engineer with Water and Irrigation ministry, Mr Othman Omar, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that, if significant investments were made in irrigation farming, 'Kilimo Kwanza' would likely revolutionise the country's economy.

"No matter how expensive it is to construct irrigation schemes, the government has no option but to heavily invest in the schemes. We understand that through the schemes, 'Kilimo Kwanza' will be implemented effectively and the economy will be invigorated," Mr he said. Mr Omar was speaking at the Tanzania National Business Council's (TNBC) pavilion, which advocates 'Kilimo Kwanza', among others.

The government, he said, had designed a system whereby every ministry, including the Regional Administration and Local Government, is directly responsible for implementing the initiative by, among others, financing construction of irrigation schemes. "The government has divided the country into seven zones to simplify the 'Kilimo Kwanza' administration," he explained.

Presenting his ministry's budget estimates in Parliament last week, the Water and Irrigation minister, Prof Mark Mwandosya, said the fourth phase government had managed to increase irrigated land from 264,388 hectares in 2005 to 331,490 to date.

He said the government would in the 'Kilimo Kwanza' spirit rehabilitate and construct 25 irrigation schemes for 18,000 hectares this financial year. "This will also involve construction and rehabilitation of eight irrigation dams with the capacity of storing sufficient water to irrigate 3,250 hectares," he said.

Uganda: Researchers Paving Way for Female Rural Farmers

Source: Allafrica.com (The Monitor)

30 June 2010

Rural famers, mostly women will soon smile if a group of science researchers at Makerere University finalise a report detailing ways of making rural extention service work for the rural farmers.

The scientists from the Faculty of Agriculture in conjunction with the German based Research Institute, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Humboldt University of Berlin, have been carrying out a research geared towards obtaining knowledge in the areas of economic and social services plus rural infrastructure that can allow the rural poor to make use of agricultural innovations.

The five year project conducted in four countries including Uganda, India, Kyrgrzstan and Guatemala is also aiming at making sure rural farmers benefit from agricultural innovations whose markets are well integrated for purposes of transforming the lives of the rural poor as well as their well-being.

According to Dr Bernard Bashaasha, an Associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agro business, in the Faculty of Agriculture, Makerere University, the main objective of this project that has been running for the last three years is to pay special attention to the role of collective action among farmers by encouraging them to form associations, producer organisations, cooperatives and self help groups for purposes of accessing services and financial support that may be offered by the government.

The researchers have so far visited over 20 districts of Mpigi, Masaka, Ntugamo, Bushenyi, Mbarara, Bududa, Mbale, Soroti, Gulu, Lira and Kaberamaido where they carried out a survey to get a clear picture of the activities the rural farmers are engaged in as well as the challenges faced by them.

According to Dr Bashaasha, although the project is addressing various issues farmers are faced with, its major emphasis is geared towards women who are the major contributors in the agricultural sector.

"When we went out to carry a survey in the various districts, we found out that there is still some imbalance in relation to gender issues because access to various services provided by government and other stakeholders is still being dominated by men. But the activities of producing the farm products are done by women but the marketing aspect is dominated by the men," Dr Bashaasha said.

The researchers therefore said that there is need for women farmers to form groups for purposes of having access to financial support from government projects such as Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (Saccos) and access to farm inputs from the Uganda National Advisory Service (Naads). They also encouraged the women to embark on marketing the produce just as the men do.

One study found that although female extension services were likely to provide advisory services to female farmers, only 12 per cent of extension workers were women, a significant constraint because more than half the country's farmers are women.

The State Minister of Agriculture, Henry Bagire urged the government to give support to the rural women in terms of service as well as economic support since they are the ones who contribute the biggest input to the economy of the nation in terms of agriculture.

He said that his ministry usually encourages the Naads officials to consider women groups when distributing the farm inputs and in the health sector pressure was put on government to construct health centres with maternity facilities in every sub county so that pregnant women do not walk more than five km to access maternity service.

Apart from empowering the rural women, the researchers are also focusing on issues of how the cooperative unions should be revived for better marketing process of the agricultural products.

They are also addressing issues of how to make group based agricultural finance, work. This is basically where farmer groups can apply and obtain group loans as well as private sector provision of Agricultural services in order to invest in their farm activities.

COMESA Infrastructure fund to be fully operational and to be chaired by Rwanda

Source: COMESA

7 July 2010

Rwanda has taken over as the chair of the COMESA Fund from Mauritius. Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Hon. John Rwangombwa becomes the Chairman of the Fund. The elections that brought in Rwanda as chair, took place at the 5th COMESA Fund Ministerial Meeting held in Kigali, Rwanda, on 30th June, 2010.

This was preceded by the 9th meeting of the Technical Committee of the COMESA Fund. The COMESA Fund with two different windows infrastructure and adjustment facility was established to facilitate integration, and mobilize resources for development projects in member states. The COMESA Secretariat will work with the minister to come up with the chairman’s work programme.

Speaking to the media, Hon Rwangombwa, said he intends to mobilize increase in membership of the Fund among Member States pointing out that not all the 19 COMESA Member States have joined.

“One of my priorities will be increasing membership, and to ensure that we will come up with clear and viable projects that will enhance regional integration,” the Minister said.

The fund already has a functional adjustment facility that addresses costs that may arise from implementing regional integration measures. The adjustment facility has taken off well and last year Rwanda and Burundi became the first countries to benefit from the facility. They received Euro 10.3 Million and Euro 4.4 respectively, equivalent to 65% of the anticipated loss of revenue for June 2009- July 2010 as a result of the alignment of their tariff structures to those of the East African Community Common External Tariff within the Customs Union.

According to Hon Rwangombwa, this year the government of Rwanda will carry out an assessment of the revenue loss to claim the remaining 35 percent compensation from the Fund.

The fund also encompasses an infrastructure window intended to mobilize resources for the construction and maintenance of infrastructure, and for addressing some of the limited productive capacity of its individual Member states.

“Identifying the key infrastructure projects that are required to deepen regional integration is also a priority,” Rwangombwa said.

The Infrastructure window however has moved slightly slower. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 5th Ministerial Meeting on the COMESA Fund the COMESA Secretary General, Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya emphasized the need to be clear on what the region wants the COMESA fund infrastructure window to look like. Hon Rwangombwa and Mr. Ngwenya in their speeches at the opening of the 5th Ministerial meeting on COMESA fund expressed optimism that the Infrastructure Fund will soon be fully operationalised.

“I know there have been many meetings on the improved operational guidelines of the COMESA adjustment facility as well on the establishment of the COMESA infrastructure fund, As we all know, these funds are key ingredients to deepening our regional economic integration and I have no doubt that by the end of this meeting we will have taken the required decisions to fully operationalise the COMESA Fund as required” Minister Rwangomwa told the gathering.

Speaking at the same ceremony, COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya stated:

“It is heartening to at last report to you that we are making steady progress on the design and implementation of the COMESA Infrastructure Fund, although I would say that, in my opinion, we have taken far too long in getting this fund operational. This can be seen with the very fast progress we made in designing and establishing the Tripartite Trust Account. The Tripartite Trust Account was conceived of in April 2009 and within one year the Fund has been established, we have over GBP37 million in the Account, the Investment Committee has met twice and we are preparing bankable projects. It is, therefore, possible to move quickly on the establishment of the COMESA Fund, but only if we are clear on what we want and what the structure of the fund should be”.

Mr Ngwenya expressed optimism that under the chairmanship of Rwanda, the fund shall be fully operationalised “Rwanda is an inspiration to many of us in their commitment to regional integration and this commitment would seem to be prevalent in all sectors, from economic integration to the use of technology, especially ICT. I am sure that I speak for all of us in saying that we look forward to the guidance and direction Rwanda will be able to offer to the development and operationalisation of the COMESA Fund as chair”

The COMESA Secretary General underscored the need for the regional bloc to implement the infrastructure fund and support the adjustment facility.

“Effective structures need to be set up for the Infrastructure Fund. We now need to expand the support of the adjustment facility that will see increased support and more effective implementation of regional programmes at the national level,” he said.

Ngwenya pointed out that investors, including pension funds and sovereign funds, have shown interest in the Fund.

“It is clear that there is considerable interest shown by investors in African investment opportunities. We need to translate this good–will into hard cash and to do this, we need to have a portfolio of bankable projects,” he said.
The COMESA Fund currently is worth 70 million Euros with the largest donor being the European Commission.

East African Power Pool (EAPP) Gets a Boost
Source: COMESA

7 July 2010

On 29 June 2010, USAID/East Africa announced the launch of the Powering Progress . This two year, US$ 2.5 million initiative will provide capacity building and technician assistance to the EAPP, a specialized institution under COMESA towards its goal of improving access to affordable, clean energy through regional electricity trade exchange.

The Launch of the project took place at Laico Umubano Hotel, Kigali Rwanda. COMESA Secretary General Mr Sindiso Ngwenya attended the launch and addressed the gathering. Others who addressed the launch were Dr Candace Buzzard, Director USAID/East Africa and Mr Peter Kinuthia who represented the East African Community.

Speaking at the launch , the COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya , pointed out that in Africa, and in the COMESA region in particular energy is scare and expensive despite the huge energy potential that the continent is endowed with, adding that the high energy cost has always been an impediment to achieve competitiveness and pro poor economic growth.

“As you are aware the installed capacity of electric power of the COMESA region is about 38000 megawatts of which about 73 % is thermal and 26 % is hydro. The effective generation is less than the installed capacity by more than 20 per cent due to a combination of factors such as drought, lack of maintenance and rehabilitation” said Mr. Ngwenya.

“The percentage of population that has access to electricity in most COMESA member States, with the exception of Egypt (99 %) and Mauritius (99 %), varies between 8 to 12 % for Uganda, Rwanda and Malawi, 15-25 % for Ethiopia and Kenya, Zambia, Swaziland and Sudan are in the range of 20-35 % and Zimbabwe 41%. This means that a high percentage of population is waiting for power supply”.

Mr Ngwenya thanked USAID for support the powering pool project as this will enhance the provision of power in the region. Through the Powering Progress, USAID /East Africa will help increase EAPP’s capacity to exploit clean and renewable energy recourse, harmonise regional policies and regulations for improved cross border trade, increase private sector investment in electricity by addressing specific policy and regulatory barriers, and improve the technical and finantial performance of EAPP member utilities.

New Cocoa Agreement is a Sweet One, say Producers

Source: AllAfrica.com

GENEVA 5 July 2010

The new international cocoa agreement will provide a positive shake-up in the cocoa market and ensure better prices for stakeholders, including small farmers.

It also strengthens the participation of civil society and the private sector in the cocoa industry, according to Guy-Alain Emmanuel Gauze, Côte d'Ivoire's ambassador to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva and president of the UN cocoa conference.

The conference, which ended on Jun 25 in Geneva, negotiated an agreement which will replace the current one in 2012. The global export value of cocoa beans for 2009/2010 is estimated at some 10 billion dollars. Côte d'Ivoire is the main producer in the world - 40 percent of total production - with Ghana in second place.

Gauze regards the new agreement as "objective and balanced" as it strengthens the role of the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) and puts in place measures to achieve fair prices for the suppliers, including small farmers, transporters and exporters, and the consumers, including value-adders, importers, industrialists, negotiators and buyers.

ICCO is the organisation that administers and supervises the operation of the agreement.

Ghana expresses similar sentiments to Côte d'Ivoire about the new agreement: "I am happy and satisfied. I hope that member countries will ratify the treaty as soon as possible," says Anthony Nyame-Baafi, minister counsellor at the permanent mission of Ghana to the UN in Geneva.

"The concerns of producing countries have been taken into consideration. The agreement contains an elaborate definition of the objectives of a sustainable cocoa economy and promotes development projects. And, very importantly, it enhances market transparency."

Gauze stresses that, "you cannot define a marketing strategy if the market is opaque. You need data on world production and consumption, stock variations, and trade in derivative products such as butter, powder and liqueur."

Therefore, countries have agreed to create an economic committee that will examine statistical data, consumption, production, stocks and everything else that contributes to price determination. Producing and consuming countries, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and the private sector will be represented on the committee. Gauze calls it "a huge novelty".

Cocoa has been one of the rare soft commodities, together with coffee, that has resisted the effects of the economic and financial crisis of 2008-2009. In 2009, prices increased between 30 and 60 percent on the London and New York markets.

"Financial markets have invested in agricultural commodities and prices have gone up," explains Gauze. "This happened partially because of the decline in supply from producing countries and the increase in demand in emerging economies."

Gauze regards the investment in commodities as "a good thing because it drives prices up. But extreme speculation is dangerous since it can bring prices down. We have to see how to react to extreme speculation, perhaps by regulating markets."

Côte d'Ivoire has put policies in place to ensure that price increases benefit small producers too.

"In Côte d'Ivoire, cocoa represents 35 percent of national exports. When prices are good, the country earns a lot of money, so small farmers must be compensated too. In all producing countries, governments are aware of that. Prices paid to small producers have been on the rise for the past four to five years," says Gauze.

Nyame-Baafi adds that, "this accord should ensure fairer prices for Ghana's producers because the importing countries have given the assurance that there will be transparency in data, from both private and public sources. Our farmers will have up-to-date information on consumption of cocoa and the use and prices of the main products."

His hope is that this new development will boost the income of farmers and even contribute to the achievement of the millennium development goals.

Another significant advancement is that the new agreement forbids the use of alternative products, not only of cocoa butter, as the current one does, but also of all other derivatives - liqueur and power - and of cocoa bean.

Producing countries are particularly satisfied with this provision, continues Gauze, as it will boost production and increase prices. "On the international market, the price of cocoa butter is already three times higher than that of shea butter and four times that of palm oil."

The agreement strengthens the cooperation between member countries; NGOs; the private sector; funding agencies such as the Bretton Woods institutions; and development agencies such as the Common Fund for Commodities, an inter-governmental financial institution established within the framework of the UN.

Cocoa does not belong to governments alone any more, states Gauze. "All those who have expertise in sustainability are welcome as long as they make valuable contributions. Producing countries, by accepting the concept of sustainability and the proposal by consuming countries to include NGOs, have proven their political courage."

West Africa: EU Votes 6.5 Billion Euros for ECOWAS Nations

Source: AllAfrica.com

ABUJA 5 July 2010

The European Union has offered to make available 6.5 billion Euros for financing programme initiatives in West African countries under the Economic Partnership Agreement Development Programme over a four-year period (2010-2014).

This came just as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), yesterday said the economy of the countries in the region has witnessed some measure of growth.

The Authority of ECOWAS acknowledged the EU gesture in a communique issued at the end of its thirty-eighth Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS held last Friday in Sal, Republic of Cape Verde, under the chairmanship of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is also Chairman of the group.

The sub-regional organisation underscored the need to mobilise additional resources and to meet the region's priorities and make them available for all West African countries.

It also stressed the need for early conclusion of an agreement with the EU within the context of a larger dimension of economic development.

"This will allow the West Africa region to find the uniqueness of its trade regime vis-à-vis Europe. It stated that this conclusion is essential to a compromise on market access, adequate financing for the EPA Development Programme (EPADP) and resolution of persistent points of divergence.

The ECOWAS Heads of State and Government asked the negotiators from both regions to agree on a market access offer based on a trade opening rate that safeguards the region's tax revenue and development capacity. The communique, while stressing the need for sufficient and appropriate level of the EPADP financing, which is the main tool of the EPA development dimension, re-affirmed the need to conserve the independent resources of regional organisations

The authority had in its assessment of the economic trend in member countries noted that there has been a partial recovery of regional growth during the first half of 2010.

It urged member states to continue their efforts in consolidating these gains notably through the strengthening of economic reforms, acceleration of macroeconomic convergence and taking ownership of regional programmes by translating them into national development plans.

The Heads of State and Government also reviewed political and security situation in the region, including the process for the consolidation of democracy in member states and expressed concern on the violation of constitutional legality in some countries.

In particular, they regretted that not much progress was realised in the fight against impunity in Guinea Bissau, including the resurgence in drug trafficking.

To this end, the Heads of State and Government expressed opposition to the appointment of Brigadier General Antonio Indjai, under whose watch the coutry was plunged into the current crisis.

ECOWAS leaders urged the Guinea Bissau authorities to create the necessary environment that would mobilise the international community to support the crucial Security Sector Reform Programme (SSRP).

Ex-President Accuses G8/G20 of Abandoning Africa

Source: AllAfrica.com

TORONTO 2 July 2010

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki has launched a blistering attack on the G8 and G20 summits in Canada, accusing the summit leaders of abandoning Africa and conveying a "message of despair" to the world's poorest region.

Mbeki, a key leader in earlier G8 plans to help Africa, said the summits demonstrated that Africa has been relegated to the sidelines of the global development agenda. This is a tragedy and a violation of the G8's earlier commitments, he said.

"The difference is that in Canada in 2010, as opposed to Canada in 2002, the rich of the world conveyed the message that Africa had once again drifted to the periphery of the global development agenda," Mbeki said in a commentary published by a Johannesburg newspaper.

While millions of Africans have been celebrating the successful hosting of the World Cup in the past few weeks, the summits in Canada showed that "the richest in the world were communicating to Africa a contrary message of despair," he said.

Over the past decade, he said, the developed world has "regressed" in its attitude toward Africa. He said evidence of this backsliding was clear at the G8 summit and the G20 summit in Toronto last weekend.

In its final communiqué, the summit of the eight leading industrialized nations "made only a passing reference to its own Africa Action Plan," he said.

The G20 summit, meanwhile, "maintained a deathly silence about it." In effect, the wealthy nations "walked away" from their commitments to Africa, he said.

He noted that the G8 at Muskoka emphasized the "global development challenge facing the world as a whole." This means that Africa has lost its central place in the development agenda, he said.

Mbeki played a key role at the G8 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in 2002, when the Group of Eight created its Africa Action Plan and adopted a statement about "the special needs of Africa."

Speak Out on Misrule, Urges Botswana's President

Source: AllAfrica.com

LUSAKA 5 July 2010

Botswana President Ian Khama has asked African leaders to speak out against their colleagues that make their citizens suffer because of poor political leadership and bad management of national resources.

Speaking when he officially opened the 46th Zambia International Trade Fair in Ndola, about 300 kilometres north of the capital Lusaka, President Khama said the time was long overdue for Africa to rid itself of the ugly past of political instability and poor governance. President Khama, respected in Zambia for standing up against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's misrule, said anything short of good governance was unacceptable.

He said in a democratic dispensation, elected leaders owe a duty to their citizens to uphold the principle of good governance, democracy and the rule of law as a guide to deliver on their mandate.

"Let me emphasise the need for all of us to work together in promoting democracy and maintaining political stability in the region as this quality creates conducive environment for trade and investment," said President Khama. "In this day and age, we can no longer afford to patronize one another and watch and do nothing while people suffer as a result of poor political leadership and bad management of national resources."

The Botswana leader urged Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries to improve the quality of their goods and services to make them competitive on the international market.

He said Zambia and Botswana must diversify their economies to lessen their long stand dependence on mineral sector.

Kenya: East African Projects Win Energy 'Oscars'

Source: AllAfrica.com

LONDON 4 July 2010

Two East African projects were among five international winners of the green "Oscars" announced in London last week.

The overall winner of the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy 2010 was D.light Design, a joint Tanzanian and Indian project supported by the UK charity Christian Aid.

Also among the five winners was Sky Link Innovators, Kenya, selected for, in the words of the judges "its' strong commitment to popularising the use of biogas as a viable source of fuel to protect Kenya's disappearing forests and for providing rural communities with access to a clean, cheap and safe alternative for cooking".

Deforestation is ravaging rural Kenya as people strip forests for vital cooking fuel. Yet biogas, produced from animal and human waste, is a viable alternative.

What is lacking is training and awareness. Sky Link provides both via a network of local entrepreneurs. Some 200 domestic biogas plants and six large-scale ones in schools and a prison have been installed, benefiting at least 5,200 people.

Impressively, wood use has been reduced by 800 tonnes per year resulting in an estimated 1,100 tonnes a year reduction in carbon emissions as a result of the project.

D.Light design was selected for "its passion and dedication to the cause of ridding the developing world of the health and pollution problems associated with the use of kerosene lighting through the design, manufacture and promotion of durable and affordable solar lanterns".

Significant role

Another African award winner was the Rural Energy Foundation, which was selected for its "significant role in expanding and increasing the take-up of solar energy in sub-Saharan Africa".

All the winners received over £140,000 in prize money for their pioneering work and saving thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide through the innovative use of sustainable energy technologies.

The Ashden Awards were founded in 2001 to promote the work of innovative projects in the field of sustainable energy.

Uganda: Government to Promote Agro-Processing

Source: AllAfrica.com

KAMPALA 30 June 2010

The Government is to focus on the purchasing of agro-processing equipment in the financing of this year's Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP), a minister in the prime minister's office has said.

David Wakikona, the state minister for Northern Uganda Reconstruction, indicated that the Government had set aside sh123.6b through the budgetary allocation in the financial year 2010/11 towards the implementation of the PRDP this year.

Agriculture, according to the minister remains the backbone of Uganda's economy because of improving people's livelihood through provision of food and money.

"We have set aside sh100b and our development partners Norway, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden have contributed sh23.6b," Wakikona said.

He said a number of special projects and activities of Non-governmental Organisations would be implemented in Northern Uganda, putting much emphasis on agriculture and road construction to ease produce transportation among others.

"We have significantly funded agricultural activities for some time, people are now able to harvest, get money and food. The only missing link in wealth creation agro-processing that adds value to what they produce," he told a press conference on Friday

The minister explained that the Government had released sh100b last year above the draft medium term expenditure framework allocations towards the recovery interventions in the 40 districts of Northern Uganda that have risen to 55 this year.

"The resources allocated to the local governments were committed in the four sectors of water, health, education and roads.

"From the reports I have received over 1,000kms of roads have been opened, 772 classrooms were constructed, 275 teacher houses and 203 health workers houses were also constructed.

This is in addition to providing safe water mostly through sinking of bore holes in the region especially in the areas of return.

"During the second year we shall continue to focus on these areas but expand to cover areas of livelihood and agriculture focusing on food security in the region," stressed Wakikona.

Government has also received a loan of $100m to implement the activities of Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) 2 in all PRDP districts as well as a grant of 35m euros from the European Union to finance livelihood programmes and revamp agriculture in Northern Uganda and Karamoja.

"The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) has also provided 100m pounds for recovery interventions in Northern Uganda," he added.

He said the government is optimistic that Northern Uganda will receive significant transformation by the end of the three years of PRDP implementation.

Nigeria: Federal Government Committed to Food Security, says Minister

Source: AllAfrica.com

ABUJA 29 June 2010

The Minister of State for Agriculture, Alhaji Nojeem Awodele, has reiterated the Federal Government's commitment to the successful implementation of its various agricultural programmes aimed at ensuring food security.

He told newsmen yesterday in Abuja that government was not insensitive to the challenges of the high cost of foodstuff, stressing that necessary measures were being put in place to address the problem.

"Government has a responsibility to alleviate poverty and promote development, and there is no other way of achieving these than by being committed to agricultural development.

"Government is determined to redouble its efforts in agricultural development," he added.

Awodele said government had approved the release of 45,000 tonnes of assorted grains for distribution to Nigerians, while other measures were taken to ensure food security.

He said necessary logistics would be provided to ensure that the grains were evenly distributed across the countrty by approved buying agents.

Awodele announced that about seven companies would be involved in the production of jute bags and transportation to ensure effective distribution of the grains.

He also expressed government's concern over the high cost of condiments and associated commodities, which he attributed to high demand, mostly in the southern part of the country.

The minister said government was making efforts to boost production and give priority attention to post- harvest contigency measures to guard against losses and increase in prices.

African Union Commission and IFDC Sign Memorandum of Understanding

Source: AllAfrica.com

29 June 2010

The African Union Commission (AUC) and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding today at the African Union Commission headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Her Excellency, Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, the AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, and IFDC President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Amit Roy represented their respective organizations at this important event.

The Memorandum of Understanding formalizes the collaboration between the AUC and IFDC in their mutual goal of transforming African agriculture. The organizations will work together on technical assistance missions dealing with policy and market development and there will be an exchange of information on agricultural, economic and social development issues.

In her statement on behalf of the AUC, Her Excellency, Commissioner Tumusiime, said, “We remain committed to forging and managing strategic partnerships in support of the efforts of our Member States in taking the agricultural and environmental agenda forward.”

The AUC is part of the African Union, Africa’s premier intergovernmental organization, representing 53 independent states. The Organization of African Unity was established in 1963 and became the African Union in 2002.

“The Commission and IFDC share the same vision for African agriculture – a transformed agricultural sector that provides the basis for sustainable growth and prosperity, food security and poverty reduction on the African continent,” said Roy to the invited guests.

Dr. Oumou Camara, IFDC scientist – economist, is seconded at the African Union Commission headquarters and works closely with the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture.

IFDC is a public international organization addressing critical issues such as international food security, the alleviation of global hunger and poverty, environmental protection and the promotion of economic development and self-sufficiency. IFDC is committed to soil fertility management and agricultural development in developing and transitional economies. The non-profit Center was established in 1974 in response to the food and energy crises affecting the world at that time. To date, IFDC has provided assistance to more than 100 countries.

Funded by bilateral and multilateral donors, IFDC’s headquarters are in Muscle Shoals, Alabama (USA). IFDC has two divisions in Africa: the North and West Africa Division (NWAFD), headquartered in Lomé, Togo; and the East and Southern Africa Division (ESAFD), based in Nairobi, Kenya. There are currently IFDC projects in 23 countries on the African continent.

Kenya: USAID to Support Regional Food Security

Source: AllAfrica.com

NAIROBI 29 June 2010

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will spend Sh920 million to support market linkages initiative (MLI) that seeks to promote trade in staple foods in East Africa.

The two-year project aims to build food security and capacity with strategic partners to open up market access for small-scale farmers in Kenya with six other nations.

Dr Candace Buzzard, head of regional economic growth and integration said the objective is to increase income by integrating smallholder farmers into national and regional markets.

She said the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) member states spend approximately $19 billion (Sh1.5 trillion) on food imports annually though only $3 billion (Sh240 billion) is produced within the region.

"In many seasons, large quantities of food are produced in the region as a whole, too much of which spoils or is otherwise wasted after harvest because farmers can't store it or can't find markets," she said.

Ms Buzzard said MLI's aim is to expand grain storage system, improve skills of farmers in post-harvest handling, strengthen market institutions and promote shared learning among stakeholders.

The Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa a specialised Comesa agency that will share good practices with governments in Kenya, Uganda, Southern Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, the Kivu region of Democratic Republic of Congo, and Malawi.

MLI project director Anthony Ngosi said $5.75 million (Sh460 million) grant will help traders and processors to upgrade storage facilities and train farmers on how to deliver staple foods that meet market standards.

Demand for World Bank Group Support Tops $72 Billion as Developing Countries Face Continued Financing Gaps

Source: World Bank

WASHINGTON 1 July 2010

The World Bank Group committed more than $72 billion in fiscal year 2010, an unprecedented level of Bank Group assistance for developing countries as the world faces a fragile and uneven recovery.

In FY10 (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010), the Bank Group supported an estimated 875 projects to promote economic growth, overcome poverty, and promote private enterprise, with record commitments in education, health, nutrition, population, and infrastructure providing much-needed investments in crisis-hit economies.

This assistance was provided in loans, grants, equity investments and guarantees to help countries and private businesses contending with significantly diminished private capital flows in the wake of the global downturn. Private flows are forecast to recover only modestly from $454 billion in 2009 to $771 billion by 2012, still far below the $1.2 trillion in 2007. Overall, the financing gap of developing countries is projected to be $210 billion in 2010, declining to $180 billion in 2011—down from an estimated $352 billion in 2009.

“Our developing country partners needed the Bank to be fast, flexible, and innovative in the face of the global economic crisis, and I’m very pleased we were able to respond with record levels of assistance,” said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick. “The harmful effects of the crisis on the poorest will be felt long after the global economy rebounds, and I believe it is critical that we are able to provide such strong support for social safety nets, infrastructure, and the private sector, in order to protect the poor and lay the foundation for recovery and growth.”

Commitments from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)—which provides financing, risk management products, and other financial services to countries—hit an unprecedented $44.2 billion, up sharply from the previous record of $32.9 billion in FY09. Fast-disbursing Development Policy Loans, providing critical balance-of-payments support amid financing gaps, comprised nearly 47 percent of the overall total for FY10. Disbursements for Development Policy Loans kept pace with commitments approved, disbursing 85 percent of operations approved since July 2008 (excluding deferred drawdown operations).

Commitments from the International Development Association (IDA), which provides interest-free loans and grants to the world’s 79 poorest countries, rose to a new record high of $14.5 billion in FY10, from $14 billion in FY09.

World Bank (IBRD and IDA) commitments for social protection—including safety net programs for the poorest and most vulnerable—are estimated to reach at least $3.6 billion in FY10. Financing for infrastructure, a critical sector for job creation and future productivity, surpassed FY09’s $18 billion, and is estimated to reach more than $22 billion in FY10. FY10 also saw education commitments at an all-time high of around $4.5 billion, up from $3.4 billion in FY09; and record support for health, nutrition and population, which is estimated at $4 billion, up significantly from $2.9 billion last year. As the institution made these unprecedented commitments, with total FY09/10 Bank Group commitments at over $130 billion, the IBRD faced capital constraints, and shareholders agreed in April 2010 to the first major capital increase in 20 years.

Disbursements from IBRD and IDA – an important measure of impact on the ground – also reached record levels, and are expected to be around $40 billion, up from $28 billion in FY09, due to concerted and sustained efforts by Bank Management and staff to respond more quickly to client demand.

IFC, the largest provider of multilateral financing for the private sector in developing countries, provided a record amount of financing to businesses in developing countries, strengthening their ability to cope with uncertain global economic conditions. Preliminary and unaudited data as of June 29 indicated IFC investments totaled almost $18 billion, marking an increase from $14.5 billion in FY09. That included an estimated $12 billion in commitments made on IFC’s own account and more than $5 billion mobilized from other investors to supplement IFC financing. Resources mobilized from other investors included $235.8 million raised by IFC Asset Management Company (AMC), a wholly owned subsidiary of IFC that acts as an independent manager of third-party capital. The number of IFC investment projects rose to more than 500 as of June 29, an increase of about 12 percent over FY09. Expenditures by IFC Advisory Services are expected to reach about $300 million.

IFC also maintained its strategic focus on the poorest countries and regions—especially sub-Saharan Africa, where IFC investments climbed to slightly over $2 billion as of June 29, a record. IFC investments in the 79 countries eligible to borrow from IDA totaled more than $4 billion. Nearly half of all IFC projects, and about 60 percent of Advisory Services project expenditures, were in these countries.

“In an unpredictable economic landscape, IFC directed significant financial resources into regions of the world where we could do the most good,” said Lars Thunell, IFC’s EVP and CEO. “We mobilized capital to address the major development challenges of our time. We leveraged our global expertise, developing innovative products and services to help our clients succeed. We catalyzed investment in emerging markets, demonstrating to investors that development and commercial success can go hand in hand in these markets.”

IFC’s achievements included several groundbreaking transactions and projects designed to create opportunity for people in the poorest countries and protect them from economic uncertainties. The IFC Capitalization Fund and the IFC African, Latin American, and Caribbean Fund—both managed by AMC—invested about $175 million in Africa’s Ecobank, which has the largest geographical presence in the region, to help expand access to credit in the poorest countries. IFC also invested $20 million in Leapfrog Financial Inclusion Fund, the world’s first commercial microinsurance fund. The fund is expected to help 25 million people in Africa obtain insurance.

The Bank Group’s political risk insurance agency, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) issued $1.5 billion in guarantees, up from $1.4 billion in FY09. “Despite subdued investor confidence and reduced FDI flows this year, MIGA continued to support investments that create jobs, provide basic infrastructure, and offer lending services to the real economy," said MIGA's Executive Vice President, Izumi Kobayashi. "We have stepped up to assist recovery and growth in developing countries during undeniably challenging times."

Commitments from the World Bank Group to sub-Saharan African countries—the Bank’s top priority—rose to $13.85 billion in FY10, up 28 percent from $9.9 billion in FY09. This included $7.2 billion from IDA, or 49 percent of total IDA commitments; $4.3 billion from IBRD; a record $2 billion from IFC; and $345 million in MIGA guarantees for projects in the region. IBRD and IDA disbursements in sub-Saharan African countries stood at $6 billion in FY10.

Despite the severity of the global crisis, the downturn did not result in an emerging market sovereign debt crisis of the type seen in the 1990s and 2000s, thanks mainly to prudent macro-economic management and debt management on the part of developing countries. In addition to financial commitments, the Bank assisted governments and sub-national entities in reducing their vulnerability to market volatility through technical assistance and by making risk management tools available to them. In FY10, the volume of risk management transactions executed by the Bank increased more than threefold compared to pre-crisis levels as member countries sought to more actively manage the risk on their debt portfolios.

East Africa: Poor Road, Railway Network Holding Back Integration

Source: AllAfrica.com

NAIROBI 1 July 2010

Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) are still seen as major hurdles to the smooth transaction of business in East Africa despite the Common Market Protocol.

The situation has been compounded by poor infrastructure which will deny member States full benefits of integration. East African Community secretary-general Juma Mwapachu says efforts to promote regional trade would be futile if markets are not accessible.

"It is not possible for our nations to realise the full benefits of regional integration where there is no reliable infrastructure," he said in Arusha last week. Mr Mwapachu told a meeting on improving fertiliser supply in Africa that the removal of infrastructure-related barriers -- both physical and non-physical -- was critical for the smooth flow of trade in the region.

Among the key barriers are customs and administration documentation procedures, immigration procedures, cumbersome inspection requirements and police road blocks. EAC partner States, he said, should urgently mobilise their resources as well as seek donor support to upgrade their run-down transport networks.

Good physical infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, inland water ways, airports, energy and telecommunications were essential for a well functioning customs union and common market. Mr Mwapachu said enhanced cross border trade and economic ties were milestones in the integration process.

He told delegates drawn from fertiliser supply firms from various parts of Africa and beyond that farmers should be made the leading beneficiaries of the common market. The on-going improvement of transport infrastructure would give adequate attention to a balanced development of major highways and railways.

Rural feeder roads should also be developed to ensure optimal use of major infrastructure, he said. His remarks on the barriers did not surprise many in the five EAC member countries -- Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. For years the barriers have posed a serious obstacle to intra-regional trade, increasing the cost of doing business.

Consultants hired by EAC last year said that administrative hitches associated with the trade barriers had not been dealt with firmly by regional leaders. They said the existing framework for monitoring NTBs was not only ineffective but did not deal with ad hoc administrative cases which arose in the course of cross border trade.

"This is because it takes long to constitute the committee meetings or for respective revenue authorities to exchange information in order to resolve emerging NTB issues," they said in their report to EAC High Level Forum on Customs Union. The consultants proposed the establishment of rapid response units within the ministries of trade in member States to facilitate "faster and more effective" means of dealing with cross border trade hitches.

"In addition, this will allow the national NTB monitoring committees to deal with structural, as opposed to day-to-day operational issues", they said in a report titled; An Evaluation of the Implementation and Impact of the EAC Customs Union. They further proposed that officials of the ministries of trade from all the five member States should oversee reported cases of NTBs and resolve disagreements which may arise.

Liberia: Ellen Unveils Government's Next 'Major Priority'

Source: AllAfrica.com

1 July 2010

Following Tuesday's historic debt cancellation against Liberia by the World Bank and the IMF, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Wednesday morning told the nation that her administration's next challenge remains the restoration of infrastructure particularly roads.

"Right now we are very concerned about our primary roads...We have to try to pave them...that's our major challenge now as a government," President declared yesterday during a live phone-in talk show broadcast on major radio stations in Monrovia, including the UN radio which covers the country.

President Sirleaf said should the government take any loan (now or later) it would fully use it for infrastructure development of which the country and people are in dire need.

Making special emphasis on road, the Liberian leader said her administration was very concerned about major feeder roads including the Gbarnga (Bong County)-Voinjama (Lofa County) and the Fish Town (River Gee)-Harper (Maryland County) routes.

These are among the most deplorable roads in the country, especially during the rainy season like now.

The deplorable conditions of these roads, especially in the south east, often abort free movements of people and goods and services and cutoff people in those regions from the Monrovia, thereby creating thorny economic realities for the masses.

The Liberian leaders said the best solution to the problem was the paving of these roads.

Debt relief, combined with Liberia's strategy to encourage investment, offers the country a chance to rebuild.

According to her, even when the Ministry of Public Works rehabilitates them, they become mud-spattered and impassable to vehicles during the rainy seasons.

President Sirleaf said the paving of these roads would increase mobility, attract investments and boost employment opportunities, thereby changing the lives of the people.

President Sirleaf said with the staggering debt burden gone, the government will also use its resources to undertake development projects such as building of schools and health facilities across the country.

"[Therefore] anything [money] we borrow will be for infrastructure, roads in particular," President Sirleaf who told Liberians Tuesday evening to celebrate because of the debt US$4.9Bn debt relief, said.

Difficult Reforms

"Today is a great day for Liberia! We have reached the HIPC completion point," the President stated in her nation-wide address, when the good news came from Washington.

"When we came into Government, Liberia owed a staggering US$4.9 billion debt. Just to explain what that means: Our budget for 2009-2010 is US$350 million. To settle that US$4.9 billion debt, we would have had to pay our creditors our entire budget for 28 years!" the President noted in her 1,106-worded statement, speaking for the least man in the street to understand.

Previous Liberian governments had borrowed from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), other countries, and companies, and had not paid back any of the loans.

"Since the 1980 coup d'état, followed by our 14-year civil war, none of our loans were serviced, and so the interest and the penalties grew and grew," the President noted.

"My Administration," she told the nation, "inherited this huge debt, which has been hanging heavily around the country's neck. From the day I came into office, I promised to do everything in my power to put our economic and financial house in order, and to get this unbearable burden, which was holding back our recovery and development, off our backs.

"To get to where we are today, our Government was forced to carry out difficult reforms. The two largest international institutions we owed money to - the World Bank and the IMF - prescribed tough medicine which we had to swallow, but which enabled us to better manage our economy and our finances," President Sirleaf said.

Not Over Yet

President said in her nation-wide address attributed the success of debt relief to "the way we tightened our belts and conducted ourselves, by not borrowing from anybody and spending only the revenues we collected, including your taxes, the World Bank and the IMF have just announced that we don't have to pay them back."

She said as of Tuesday, June 29, 2010, Liberians were well on their way to shedding the massive debt the country owed.

She however warned: "But it's not over just yet. Next month, we have to go before another institution, the Paris Club, to ask them to cancel the rest of our debt."

The Government if Liberia, she disclosed owes Kuwait US$12 million and the Paris Club will, too, have to finally cancel all the debts Liberia owes it.

"Back in 1978, I personally went to Kuwait and signed that loan myself, for US$6.7 million. We built the Cape Mount road from that money, and that road is still good today," the Liberian leader disclosed. "But because we didn't pay back the loan, the debt has grown to US$12 million. The Kuwaitis want to come back to help us with other roads, once we settle this matter."

The President said Tuesday's debt cancellation set a new stage in the country's history and relationship with the international community.

"By this announcement, the world is saying it can trust Liberia again. Because we have regained that trust, others will want to invest in our development priorities - our roads, our power-generation capacity, our ports, as well as our mineral and agricultural sectors."

She said this also means the Government will be able to do more through its own budget by creating badly needed jobs, by building roads, bridges, providing more electricity and more water, which will improve the lives of our people.

The Government, she intimated, will have to do this carefully by putting the new money we have into activities that will produce more money and more jobs so that we do not get our country in big debt again.

East Africa: Nation to Build Port Along Indian Ocean

Source: AllAfrica.com

KAMPALA 30 June 2010

Tanzania has offered Uganda land bordering the Indian Ocean as a solution to address problems related to being land-locked, bolstering the process of East Africa Community (EAC) integration.

The land, which is next to Port Tanga situated on the northern coast of Tanzania and close to Kenyan border, will speed up transportation of goods and supplies destined for exports and imports.

"This land will link us to the sea. It is upon us to look for the money and build a port facility there because the land is available," Eriya Kategaya, the Uganda's first deputy premier and minister in charge of EAC affairs told Business Vision in an interview.

When the project materialises it will have answered the problems associated with relying on Kenyan route which include congestion in Port mombasa, which has been the main gateway.

The long chain of transportation makes Uganda vulnerable to any problems arising along the way, and immediately results into delays in supplies delivery causing shortages and artificial price hikes.

EAC member states - Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi - are set to effect the common market begining today.

However, the market which has about 130 million people with a combined measurement of goods and services produced in the block at about $70b faces bottlenecks like dilapidated roads, railway lines, and acute energy shortage, key requirements for investments.

"The challenges are there but we are collectively working on them to ensure that we grow the regional economy as well as attract investments," Kategaya explained.

"We are looking at increasing power generation and ensuring connectivity within the region. Kenya and Uganda have agreed to build a modern railway system as well linking the two countries."

The premier observed that there was still a need to harmonise the taxation policies and create a common currency which will facilitate trade in the bloc.

"This is going to be important. At the moment it is really cumbersome to transact. We will try to work on a time-table that by 2012 we establish the common currency," Kategaya pointed out.

On the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), he called for the East African states to endorse the deal but "in phases."

"EPAs will give us a sure regime of trade because at this moment we are just on good will and you cannot depend on good will. It is not good," the premier said.

"We can agree on phased-out basis since we have time to try and catch up with our European partners."

The EPAs are a scheme to create a free trade area between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) countries.

They are a response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with World Trade Oorganisation (WTO rules.

Kategaya argued that aid cannot develop the EAC bloc but trade and working hard. "The mentality of depending on hand-outs is not workable because there is no historical example of donations developing or transforming poor countries," he said.

"Most countries develop from borrowing, saving and had their own programmes. But donors stipulate conditionality."

Kategaya said the security and stability was key to improve investor confidence in the EAC block. "We need political stability for both local and foreign investors. Stability will increase investor confidence."

He urged Uganda to specialize in agriculture, and education in order to be competitive in the region. "Modernise agriculture and process the raw materials by adding value," he said.

"This will create high prices for the commodities as well as creating jobs.

The geo-position of Uganda is strategically located. This requires us to improve on communication, roads and transport because we are centrally-located."

Full, equal participation of women key to tackling hunger

Source: FAO

NEW YORK 1 July 2010

Tackling hunger requires moving from talk to action in ensuring that women farmers have equal access to agricultural resources and an equal voice in decision making at all levels, FAO said this week, as a high-level UN meeting put gender equality and women's empowerment at the top of the agenda.

Women grow more than half of the world's food, yet often lack access to resources such as agricultural inputs, land, financing, technologies, training and markets.

At a side event jointly organized by FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) during the Annual Ministerial Review of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), participants examined how to overcome critical gaps in the advancement of rural women.

The event, From Dialogue to action: how to promote the empowerment of rural women in agriculture, looked at efforts in a number of countries to take action on critical issues facing rural women.

Count women in

For Liberian Minister of Agriculture Florence Chenoweth, the key to ensuring effective targeting of scarce resources is improved agricultural data collection.

Sex-disaggregated statistics have enabled the government to more accurately target training and inputs to the rural women who produce more than 50 percent of the country's food, she said.

Now, says Chenoweth, "When the trucks leave Monrovia, our capital, for the field, the seed rice says ‘women'. The fertilizer says, ‘women'. The portion that we have calculated to go to those women is targeted and it is written."

In 2009, the country saw a 43 percent increase in the production of staple crops rice and cassava, Chenoweth said. "So we know that those women were getting some benefit."

‘Front and centre'

Patricia Haslach, Deputy Coordinator for Diplomacy of the US Department of State's Feed the Future initiative, said that women are "front and centre" in the U.S. Government's development strategy.

"When women earn more income, they spend more on food and their children's health and nutrition," said Haslach. "By investing more in women, we amplify benefits across families and generations."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has an addendum to the age-old proverb: "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime," Haslach said.

"If you teach a woman to fish, she'll feed her whole village."

Feed the Future's women-centred approach is not about "giving preference for the sake of giving preference. It's about being effective in implementing our strategy," Haslach said, adding that a robust monitoring and evaluation system would ensure assistance that is "agile, adaptive and evidence-based".

Contributors, not beneficiaries

"Agriculture is production. Production is power, and power is ownership, entitlement," said Neriede Segala Coelho, a grassroots leader and farmer from Brazil.

"As long as women are seen as submissive and restricted to the role of recipient and beneficiary, agriculture will continue to have a large gap," said Coelho. "When women sit at the table to make decisions, the process takes a different shape."

Coelho said that as a result of women's participation in a consultative process in her own community of Pintadas, cisterns were built to store water in every house, and drip irrigation and other low-cost, appropriate technologies were introduced to improve production and women's living conditions, generate income and use resources more sustainably.

Supporting Haitian women

Myrta Kaulard, WFP Country Director for Haiti, discussed how IFAD, FAO and WFP were working together to strengthen Haitian women's access to adequate food and nutrition, income-earning opportunities, and basic services and infrastructure by integrating social investments, such as water and sanitation, health and education into agricultural and rural economic programmes.

Summing up the discussion and stressing the importance of concerted action, Cheryl Morden, Director of IFAD's North American Liaison Office, called on an African adage: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

The UN food agencies hope that the economic empowerment of rural women will figure prominently in September's UN Summit to review progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including MDG 1 to end poverty and hunger and MDG 3 to promote gender equality and empower women.

FAO Deputy Director-General Jim Butler encouraged participants to support FAO's 1billionhungry project, urging governments to make eradication of hunger a top priority.

DeLauro on the Fiscal Year 2011 Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA Appropriations Bill

Source: Office of Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro

WASHINGTON DC 5 July 2010

Thank you. Today I am proud to present the subcommittee’s recommendations for the 2011 Agriculture FDA Appropriations Committee Markup. I look forward to working with all of you today and as we move forward on this important legislation in the weeks ahead. While we will no doubt have our differences, as we do every year, I know we can and will work together to do what is best for the American people.

Before I begin, I want to thank Ranking Member Kingston and all of the Subcommittee Members here today for all of their hard work, patience and dedication in moving this legislation forward. Over the course of over a half-dozen hearings, I believe the Members of this committee have done an exemplary job in performing their oversight duty by asking the hard questions.

And of course, thank you to Chairman Obey for his steady hand and clear vision at the helm of this important process. Chairman Obey, we are going to miss you.

As in years past, we have approached this agriculture appropriations knowing that we must do everything possible to fulfill our responsibilities to the American people. That means protecting public health, supporting domestic agriculture, improving nutrition, strengthening rural communities and conserving the environment.

These are the same goals that were embodied in the Recovery Act we passed last year, which provided funding to programs in the Department of Agriculture to help restart our economy, create jobs, reinvest in the nation’s infrastructure, protect and support families, farmers, and communities across America.

I do not need to tell anyone in this room about the importance we have all placed on living within our means. And by investing in innovation and making careful choices among competing priorities, this $23 billion FY 2011 agriculture appropriations bill we present today stays $204 million below the FY2010 enacted level and $27 million below the President’s request. We have taken a long and careful look at last year’s appropriations, made cuts where possible, and made sure that all of our resources are wisely invested in programs that work and that pay real dividends for the American people. This has resulted in some hard choices along the way. I will tell you that, due to the tough economic situation, I agreed to something that I had not previously wanted to do, which was a proposed fee increase from 2 percent to 3.5 percent in the 502 guaranteed home loan program. We are protecting low and very low income borrowers from the fee, but we are still saving about $120 million there. Combined with some careful cuts here and there, this gave us some money to address our other important needs. Among these cuts are the following:

• $27 million from USDA buildings and facilities and $13 million from the USDA APHIS Avian Influenza Program as compared to FY 2010.

• $15 million from the FNS SNAP employment & training program, because the program will not utilize all available funds.

• $18 million and $17.5 million cut from the FSA and NRCS Common Computing Environments, based, on program redundancies and continuing problems with IT infrastructure. In last year’s bill, we included language to ensure we can “benchmark” USDA’s use of these and other IT funds in the bill. Now we are following through on those benchmarks.

• We cut $476 million from the administration’s request from WIC, which was a particularly hard cut, but is justified in that food costs did not increase as much as predicted and participation has come down.

• And we have zeroed out funding for the voluntary National Animal ID System (NAIS). We have spent over $147 million on this program since 2004. And six years later, we still have not seen a clear plan from USDA on successful implementation, even after they shifted to a more fragmented system in 2010. While the administration asked for $14.2 million for this program, we do not feel it is a good use of resources to fund NAIS until the agency develops a clear plan for a mandatory system with measurable goals, long-term funding levels, and a plan for successful implementation.

So we have gone through last year’s bill with a close eye, and tried to trim the fat wherever possible. And as a result, we believe that this bill moving forward is now both leaner and stronger. And we also believe that we have crafted a bill that helps our government to better serve the American people. It is our task to do the people’s business, and we are all here – Republican and Democrat – to fulfill it. Let me now explain some of the important funding choices we have made in this bill, and why.

FDA: The Food and Drug Administration is always one of the most important agencies under our purview, particularly given that more than 20 cents of every dollar spent by American consumers is on an FDA-regulated product. Our legislation gives the agency $3.773 billion for oversight of foods, drugs, medical devices, pet food, cosmetics, tobacco products, vaccines, and more. That is approximately $214 million above last year’s bill, and $535 million when you factor in user fees.

I believe there is strong leadership at the FDA under Commissioner Hamburg. But I remain concerned about the existing structure at the agency, especially as it pertains to drug safety.

So we have included targeted resources to help make a difference in this area, including an additional $65 million for staff to review generic drug applications, drug company ads targeted at consumers, and, for the first time to my knowledge, an increase specifically for review of drug company ads to doctors. We are also funding more safety reviews for drugs already on the market, more inspections of foreign drug facilities, and providing more funds to safeguard clinical trials and improve the oversight of imported foods. For example, the bill includes:

• A $15 million increase over the request for the office of generic drug

• A $3 million increase for the review of direct consumer ads

• A $2 million for the review of communications to medical professionals in the Division of Drug Marketing and Communication

• A $7 million increase over the request for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health

• A $16 million increase over the request for the center and field activities in the Center for Food Safety and Applied nutrition related to imported food safety.

In addition, we have included report language that we worked on with Sen. Grassley and Congressman Hinchey that outlines the need to create an independent office on post-market drug evaluation. Thank you Congressman Hinchey for your leadership on this issue. As we learned from the hearing the subcommittee held about the Avandia case, there may be an inherent bias when those that approve drugs continue to play a role in determining their safety in a post-market environment.

We have also included report language that we worked on with Congresswoman Emerson that directs FDA to provide a report on the status of developing standards for a track and trace system for prescription drugs, one that would document all parties involved in the prior sale, purchase, and trade of a given prescription drug beginning with the manufacturer. This is critical to improving the security of the drug supply chain from counterfeit or other substandard products and to protecting consumers. Thank you Congresswoman Emerson for your work and leadership on this.

FSIS: The bill also fully funds the President’s request at $1 billion for the Food Safety Inspection Service, which, as you know, is responsible for the safety of our meat and poultry.

In this area, I want to highlight the language which will establish a science-based panel that is supported by a wide range of stakeholders to analyze the food safety system at FSIS and develop recommendations on how to modernize it.

As we all know, this modernization is both desperately needed and a long time coming. To develop the language on this process, we worked with a wide variety of stakeholder groups, including leading members of industry such as Cargill, Perdue, Sara Lee, and Tyson; consumer groups such as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Consumer Federation of America, Safe Tables Our Priority, and Food and Water Watch; and key unions such as the American Federation of Government Employees and the United Food and Commercial Workers.

To get all of these groups in one room together several times and on the same page together is no small task, and to have them working together to craft a responsible and well-thought-out reform process is a particular achievement. I want to especially thank Mr. Kingston for his leadership on this.

Nutrition. In addition, this legislation makes significant investments in improving the nutritional status of all Americans. Of course, we are fully funding participation in SNAP (“food stamps”), WIC and the child nutrition program:

• SNAP is funded at over $68 billion with a $5 billion reserve. This is just over the administration’s request, and 17% or nearly $10 billion increase above 2010.

• WIC is funded at $7.1 billion (2% below last year), including infrastructure, evaluation, and actual distribution. As I said, we were able to fund WIC at two percent below last year’s level without cutting the benefits received, mostly due to the fact that food prices and participation did not increase at the expected rate.

• And the child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch program receive $19 billion, on par with the administration’s request. This includes a reserve fund of $1 billion to support the pending and crucially important reauthorization of our child nutrition programs.

After all, millions of American families rely on these crucial programs, particularly in the current economy. To take just one example, one in eight adults, and one in five children, now receive food stamps, with an additional 2.7 million more participants in the coming year. So underfunding these areas would not only be irresponsible and inhumane, but deeply and negatively impact millions of American families struggling to get by, and make it that much harder to achieve the economic recovery we really need right now.

In addition, to confront both the double-edged problem of hunger and obesity now facing our nation, the bill provides an increase over fiscal year 2010 of $95 million for nutrition research, outreach and education efforts.

The First Lady’s new Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which aims to reduce the number of food deserts in urban and rural areas and increase the supply of healthy foods available to people that live in those areas, is included here at $40 million.

For a number of structural reasons, such as lack of capital and high development costs, 23.5 million people nationwide live in low-income communities that do not have access to a large grocery store within one mile of their home. My district became acutely aware of this problem earlier this year when a major grocery store in the center of New Haven closed. Efforts to address these “food deserts” are underway in several states, and the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative in particular has been cited by the First Lady as a model for her program.

Created in 2004 as a public-private partnership, the FFFI has helped build or improve 83 supermarkets and fresh food outlets in underserved rural and urban areas in Pennsylvania, providing more than 400,000 residents with improved access to healthy food and creating or retaining more than 5,000 jobs. In addition, the FFFI was designed to be flexible enough to support a variety of food retailers, including full-service supermarkets, small stores, and farmers markets.

The $40 million we have put in here for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative represents a down payment for taking this successful program nationwide. These funds will be distributed by USDA as loans and grants to provide financial and technical assistance. They will focus on access to healthy foods in underserved communities, demand and retail outlets for farm products, and the availability of locally and regionally produced foods. Simply put, this is exactly the sort of innovative and already proven successful new program we have tried to make investment priorities in this bill.

Also in the nutrition area, I want to briefly mention another new initiative, the Farm-to-School Tactical Teams, which are funded at the administration’s request of $2 million. A joint effort of the Agricultural Marketing Service and Food and Nutrition Service that was developed as part of the recent Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, these teams will help interested school administrators transition to purchasing more locally grown foods – by facilitating communication between stakeholders, assisting schools in accessing local markets, providing technical assistance in the development of Farm to School activities. This is a win-win for both our farmers and our children.

International food aid. Moving to the issue of food access overseas: In keeping with the growing importance of food security efforts in our diplomatic and national security strategies, as underlined by the State Department’s new Feed the Future initiative, we have also increased funding for another vital nutrition program – the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.

As many of you know, this is a highly successful program of school feeding and related programs to children in poor countries around the world. We have allocated $266.5 million for McGovern-Dole, $57 million over the President’s request, 27% over the FY2010 funding, and 167% over the FY2009 appropriation of $100 million. This is another area for which I want to thank Ms. Emerson for her leadership.

We are also providing funding for our own Food and Nutrition Service at USDA to provide technical assistance to support McGovern-Dole. We have also fully funded the Food for Peace program, PL480 Title II, at the request and 2010 level of $1.69 billion. And, to encourage agricultural innovation here and around the world, we have raised funding for the Borlaug Scholarship, an educational fellowship program for international agricultural scientists, by $2 million to $4 million in total.

Research. Speaking of which, we know for a fact that neglecting basic research is never a smart or sustainable path to prosperity. So, we have continued to make sound investments in agricultural research.

Perhaps most notably, we have provided $312 million, a 19% increase over last year’s level, for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, which promotes competitive research on agriculture issues.

That is part of a total budget of $1.36 billion for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a 1% increase over 2010 and the request. Along with AFRI, this money, as you know, covers a wide range of important programs, including the Forestry Research Program, Improved Pest Control Research, Sustainable Agriculture, the Sun Grant Program, and the Hatch Act.

We have also funded the Agricultural Research Service at $1.2 billion, a 3% decrease from FY 2010, and the coming Census of Agriculture, taken every five years for data on the agricultural economy, at the administration’s request of $33 million.

Rural development. In terms of our investment priorities closer to home, one of the innovative new ideas we have included in this legislation, at a funding level of $176 million, is the administration’s Regional Innovation Initiative proposal.

In order to increase the economic viability of rural communities, this Initiative seeks to promote a regional outlook in the planning and coordination of rural development programs at USDA. While USDA Rural Development is expected to provide leadership for this initiative, the Agricultural Marketing Service is also expected to participate. And some of the supporting programs include the Business & Industry Guarantee Loan Program, the Rural Business Enterprise Grant Program, and the Intermediary Relending Program.

Just as the First Lady’s HFFI has its roots in successful programs in Pennsylvania and other states, this Regional Innovation Initiative is a proposal that Secretary Vilsack has spoken of very highly, based on his experiences with a similar state initiative as Governor of Iowa. And like HFFI, it is a successful state idea that we are proud to take national in this legislation.

Conservation. In an approach similar to the Regional Innovation Initiative, we are also providing $12.5 million for the new proposal by NRCS for Strategic Watershed Action Teams. The idea here is to maximize the cost effectiveness of NRCS technical and financial assistance by doing concentrated work in high-priority watersheds.

For APHIS, which deals with our ever growing list of plant and animal pests, we are providing $880 million.

Also in the conservation area, we restored funding for the Resource Conservation and Development Program, which operates in more than 375 counties around the country. Even though it was proposed to zero out the program, NRCS, to its credit, did come up with a fairly strict set of criteria for each RC&D council, including annual work plans, biannual audits, five year plans and so on. We are asking NRCS to keep us apprised of the implementation of these reforms and of any deviations from the plan laid out by NRCS.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission. And to ensure that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission can continue to fulfill its role in overseeing the commodity markets, we are providing the President’s full request for $261 million. This will give CFTC the staff and the resources to carry out both its ongoing work and the new mandate of financial reform.

Oversight. Finally, one area that we all have a keen interest in on the subcommittee is oversight. I have often said that the Inspector General at USDA is our eyes and ears. And something I have learned is that while it is sometimes easy to get an agency to agree to reforms and cost-savings proposed by the IG, it is quite another thing to get them to actually implement what they agree to do.

We asked the USDA OIG to look into what has been happening on implementation of their recommendations and they found that there are 557 recommendations that have been pending for a year or more after agencies agreed to implement them. The agencies with more than 50 are: RD (84); Risk Management (70); NRCS (66); and FSIS (52).

We call out these agencies by name in the report and direct them to give us a plan to close these open issues by September 1st. And we specify that we reserve the right to call before us any agency that does not submit its report on time.

So, taken in full, I am proud of what we have come up with this year. I believe this is responsible legislation that emphasizes affordability, rewards innovation, reflects our national priorities, and will work to create the conditions for a robust economic recovery. I look forward to working with all of you today to move this bill toward full committee.

Each subcommittee member and their staff has been fully briefed on the contents of the bill and each of you has a copy of the mark up notes including details about funding levels.

At this time, I would like to recognize Ranking Member Kingston to make comments if he wishes, after which, I will recognize Mr. Obey and Mr. Lewis for their comments.

Thank you.

Africa: Help out small farmers, report urges

Source: IRIN

NAIROBI 2 July 2010

Small-holder farmers, who make up almost all of Africa’s agriculture sector, need more support to reduce over-dependence on increasingly costly food imports, states a new report.

Policymakers should “strengthen the competitiveness of small-holder farmers, thus avoiding a rural exodus that would put pressure on the cities and lead to more food imports”, according to the 2010 technology and innovation report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

Developing countries’ net cereal imports rose from 39 million tonnes in the mid-1970s to 103 million in 1997-1999 and are expected to rise to 265 million tonnes by 2030, states the report. Countries also have to pay more for food: the price of Thai export rice almost tripled from US$362 per tonne in December 2007 to $1,000 in April 2008. Meanwhile, per capita food production in least developed countries (among which African countries are over-represented) has declined such that in 2003-2005 it was one-fifth lower than in 1970-1972.

Cost barriers

“When farmers are paying almost all their money in transaction costs there is no incentive to produce. There is a need to lower the barriers of cost for smallholder farmers,” Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, director of the monitoring and research division at UN-HABITAT, the UN Human Settlements Programme, said during the report’s launch on 1 July.

Lack of organization is also a problem. “A small producer does not suffer due to size but due to isolation… If a hundred of you put your produce together you are much more likely to get a bigger market and better prices,” said Oyelaran-Oyeyinka. Ethiopia recently launched a crop commodity exchange market to help farmers negotiate prices.

“One of the reasons [African] agriculture has not moved is we don’t have the surplus for value addition. We eat all [that] we produce,” he said. “We simply just produce the raw material and ship it out to somebody. What remains is about 20 percent of the value.

“The bulk of the profit is at the end of the chain; the farmers who produce get the least [returns],” he said, adding that farmers require a supportive physical infrastructure, a regulated environment, training and improved farming and soil conditions. “Unless you have all these in place, the farmer will just work for nothing.”

''A country that does not feed its people is in very big danger of losing its sovereignty.''

He called for pro-poor public policy, including price stabilization, modern input availability, a ready credit and market supply and land policies guaranteeing property rights. “Volatility in prices creates uncertainty in the minds of producers. If you are expecting 20,000 shillings [$250] for your harvest [and] suddenly mid-year the harvesting price drops to 5,000 [$62.50] the farmer is crippled,” he said.

Challenges

Land under irrigation remains low yet irrigation increases cropping intensity. “The 885 million hectares of currently available arable land in developing countries is as good as 1,770 million hectares, for instance, if it is used twice a year,” notes the report, adding that only one-fifth of such land was under irrigation in 1997-1999, of which 2 percent was in sub-Saharan Africa, compared with 40 percent in South Asia.

“It is a very dangerous thing to [just] depend on nature for your livelihood,” Oyelaran-Oyeyinka warned of rainfall dependence.

Guaranteed land tenure could be vital to helping farmers access credit and invest in the medium- and long-term productivity of the land, said the report.

Among other challenges is the growing switch to biofuels and its effects on food security, diversion of cereals from humans to feeding livestock – conversion of grain to meat – and rural-urban migration.

Oyelaran-Oyeyinka said: “There is no silver bullet – no quick fixes. There is a need to create an enabling environment for technology and innovation to decrease imports – through farmer support.”

Knowledge transfer and sharing is also important, he said. “We need to bring research out of the pilot stages and make it a business adapting it to Africa’s conditions.”

“A country that does not feed its people is in very big danger of losing its sovereignty.”

How to Prevent the Sahel's next food crisis

Source: IRIN

DAKAR 5 July 2010

Another food crisis is unfolding in West Africa's arid Sahel region, putting 10 million people at risk of hunger. Preventing such a scenario, or even better, avoiding it altogether, would be a noteworthy goal.

Tidiane Ngaido, a researcher at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), said early warning mechanisms and crisis prevention and management had made huge advances since the 1970s. "We no longer see catastrophes leading to large-scale migration and death; we now need to assess what works, and what needs to improve."

Yet even in years with average to above-average rainfall, a significant proportion of the Sahel's population is undernourished and some 300,000 children younger than five years die of chronic malnutrition, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"We need to bridge humanitarian and development interventions, and integrate all sectors. Crises are increasingly frequent and complex and go beyond the national and regional level; they need to be dealt with accordingly," said Patricia Hoorelbeke, the West Africa representative of Action Against Hunger/ACF International. The standard responses, or those crafted for past crises, are not a solution, she commented.

IRIN asked several experts and practitioners how to avoid recurring food crises in the region. Here are some of the points they highlighted.

Respond early

Look ahead and respond quickly. "There will always be years where the rains fail and harvests are bad. We are able to assess whether the harvests will be plentiful or meagre at the end of the rainy season. We need to react early with ... cash distribution, food for work, food subsidies or distributions to the most vulnerable so they make it through the lean season." - Dramane Coulibaly, food security coordinator, Permanent Inter-state Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel (CILSS).

Be systematic and talk to the decision-makers. "We can improve the early warning systems. In Niger the alert was timely, but that was not the case in Chad, where we were still vague in terms of data. The linkage with decision-makers is still missing; we knew from September [2009] that the harvests had failed, but did not act immediately." - Naouar Labidi, regional food security advisor, World Food Programme (WFP).

Include pastoralists. "We tend to focus on cereal production and forget about cattle. We need to assess the production of fodder and the availability of water and, in bad years, support stockbreeders before their livelihood disappears." - Jose Luis Fernandez, regional emergency coordinator, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Speak the lingo of the communities. "The information should help farmers decide when to plant. If the seeds are lost because they were planted at the wrong time, farmers have no money to purchase more. We are able to collect and analyze data, but we need to improve how it is shared. Science will only fully serve its purpose when it is shared with the communities in a comprehensible language." - Maboury Diouf, disaster risk reduction officer, International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC).

“Farmers can not rely on rain.”

Bet on prevention. "Today's catastrophes are yesterday's unaddressed vulnerabilities. Prevention may not be as sexy as a large-scale humanitarian intervention to draw the attention of donors, but prevention is cheaper than recovery. We cannot eliminate the risk, but we can make people less vulnerable. Floods and droughts happen in other parts of the world without leading to crises; here, the vulnerability is such that even a small hazard creates a large risk." - Carlos Munoz, regional disaster risk reduction advisor, Oxfam UK.

Focus on agriculture

Invest in productivity. Agriculture is the livelihood of 60 percent to 70 percent of Sahelian families, but productivity is low, said the CILSS. The FAO's Fernandez commented: "Even though some states, including Burkina Faso and Mali, have pledged to invest 10 percent of their gross national product in agriculture ... productivity remains very low due to deficient technology, declining land fertility, use of seeds of inadequate quality and quantity, lack of fertilizers, and poor water management."

Be climate-smart. "Farmers can use varieties of rice or cereals that are more resistant to droughts and floods, or help prevent desertification through planting shrubs and trees," Fernandez said.

And water-smart. "Most of the agriculture in the region is rain-fed. Farmers cannot rely on rain. It is crucial to invest in irrigation at a large and small scale," said Coulibaly, of the CILSS.

Remember the markets

Manage the markets. "If a family invests everything in cultivating their land, when the harvests come, they have to sell immediately; if everyone sells at the same time, prices go down,' said Hoorelbeke, of Action Against Hunger/ACF International.

Open the borders. "Markets need to be better integrated at a regional level and barriers to regional trade need to be lifted. We are seeing potatoes rot in regions of Mali while Ivory Coast is forced to import old potatoes from the Netherlands," said Coulibaly.

Diversify to boost local economies. "People need money. Vegetables can be rapidly grown, and a part of the production can be sold, which produces an income," said Fernandez.

Eat locally. "[In the Sahel], we don't produce enough of what we eat: rice! The millions given to rice-producing countries could be invested in our own agriculture. We may still need to import, but we could certainly make our local production more competitive and increase the irrigated areas," said Coulibaly.

Connect the dots. The availability of commodities does not mean that every village has food to eat. Remote areas also need to be accessible by road, Fernandez pointed out.

Cash is crucial. "There is food on the markets, but people have no money to buy it. This is a poverty problem. The poorest families can never eat and there is no social security net; there is no such thing as insurance or subsidies for farmers either. Sustainable livelihoods have to be developed," said Hoorelbeke.

Managing the cash is also crucial. Large sums received as remittances need to be used more strategically, said IFPRI's Tidiane Ngaido. "Everyone receives money, but it is immediately spent to buy basics such as medication, rather than being invested in increasing long-term productivity. Social security comes from the diaspora rather than the government."

Develop efficient land policies. "Land access is a problem in some countries. The land of some of the poorest [people] is too small to allow them to produce enough, and they have to work on other people's farms. Women cannot always own land," said Fernandez.

Implement universal healthcare. "Healthcare needs to be free for children below five [years of age] and pregnant and lactating women. When the health system functions, a crisis response can be quickly set up. Now, people will not even go to health centres because they think they will have to pay," Hoorelbeke told IRIN.

Analysis: Finding space for crowd-sourcing in humanitarian response
Source: IRIN

NAIROBI 5 July 2010

“Crowd-sourcing” is a new buzzword in the world of humanitarian information. The combined power of mobile phones, mapping technology and social networking can enable citizens in crisis to seek help, facilitate aid deliveries, bear witness to abuses and hold governments and aid agencies more accountable, advocates say.

Crowd-sourcing on platforms including Ushahidi, for example, took place on an unprecedented scale after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. According to those involved, the impact it had is undeniable: communities were able to report their needs while accurate street maps were created for humanitarians and search and rescue teams tried to save lives.

"Crowd-sourcing had been used in previous emergencies, such as the Wikis created to map Hurricane Katrina and bird flu, but none seemed to have a life beyond the particular incident," said Microsoft's Nigel Snoad, an adviser to the ICT4Peace Foundation. "But in Haiti, Ushahidi and its partners seemed to have a real impact on the way the humanitarian response worked."

Beyond Haiti

"There is real excitement in the humanitarian community about crowd-sourcing and what it can do for emergency humanitarian response," he added.

But, he says, there needs to be a meeting of minds, with the technology experts ready to develop tools that can contribute meaningfully to humanitarian response and traditional organizations such as the UN being prepared to embrace non-standard methods of handling emergencies.

"Technology developers can affect how and by whom their tools are used by the choices they make; they need to look at validation, protection of data, and so on, and they are doing this," he said. "And traditional actors like the UN have to learn how to bring [in] non-traditional actors and their work, how to channel them, advise them and link them to the humanitarian system while allowing them to remain independent.

"Crowd-sourcing not only brings speed to humanitarian work, it opens it up to allow more effective, non-traditional operators to engage with traditional systems of gathering information," Snoad added. "It would also be a great way to hold humanitarians accountable - to ensure that help promised is actually received."

Glenda Cooper, a fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism in Oxford, told IRIN: “The cliché is that the aid system is reluctant to welcome innovations like this – however, I think the reverse is true. Citizen journalism, social networking and crowd-sourcing have been embraced enthusiastically by many NGOs. In some cases, too enthusiastically.

"Just because you have a Twitter account, or have money to put into a new website, doesn't mean that you use it effectively. The real challenge for NGOs is to learn what they can use effectively – and whether they are duplicating other agencies' work unnecessarily."

Hitches and glitches

"It is important to realize that even in Haiti, crowd-sourcing didn't work perfectly - there are problems with validation and accuracy, and codes of conduct need to be developed... [for example] it is terrible to ask people to report their problems if there is no way to solve them," Snoad warned.

One of the main problems is the unverified nature of the information. “Anyone can now publish rumours or thoughts online, thereby bypassing an editorial process," said Guy Collender, senior communications officer at the London International Development Centre, an academic organization. "Proponents of crowd-sourcing recognise the concerns about the credibility of websites relying on information often generated by anonymous sources. However, they believe the risks of false reporting are more than cancelled out by accurate reports."

Ushahidi, which was created by Kenyans trying to track and mitigate post-election violence in 2008, is trying to address this with a new open source tool, SwiftRiver, which filters large amounts of incoming information to separate the wheat from the chaff using smart algorithms and human operators.

"Crowd-sourcing does not yet have an established standard such as quality control, ground verification or sustainability," said Akiko Harayama, an information analyst with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) New York familiar with the Haiti operation. "Crowd-sourcing is something new, and everything new requires some time to adjust and to improve."

Crowds of volunteers

The formation of partnerships is also critical, humanitarian workers have found. In Haiti, partners such as the SMS service, Mission 4636, students from the American Tufts University,the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the Google-affiliated disaster technology service, Innovative Support to Emergencies, Diseases and Disasters, Sahana, an open source disaster management system, local phone companies, conventional aid agencies and countless others pitched in. Agencies also closed the loop by devising tools to feed information back to the general population through SMS broadcasts and local radio programming.

"Without hundreds of individuals monitoring a variety of sources of information and mapping it, this crowd-sourcing operation wouldn't be possible - it is still primarily more about the human input, commitment, dedication and cooperation than about technology," said Ushahidi's Jaroslav Valuch.

"In Haiti, the network of volunteers providing information on the ground, and the number of people volunteering to make sense of this information, was unprecedented," said Snoad. "Communities on the ground played a huge part, and there is a definite need to find a place for them in the ownership of crowd-sourcing."

What next?

A crisis mapping conference in October at Harvard University will address lessons learned from Haiti and other disasters, developing a code of conduct for the technology community and the future of crisis mapping and humanitarian technology.

According to Valuch, for crowd-sourcing to be successful, there is a need for “lessons learned” processes; consultation with humanitarian actors; establishing links, protocols and partnerships before disasters happen; raising awareness about the potential as well as limitations of crowd-sourcing - such as verification of data - and training teams of humanitarian workers in using new crisis mapping tools and collecting their feedback.

Malawi: Small-Scale Farmers Latest Beneficiaries Under UN Local Purchase Scheme

Source: AllAfrica.com

2 July 2010

Malawi has become the latest country to join an innovative scheme by which the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) buys surplus from local farmers' organizations for its aid operations, thereby helping to boost agricultural production and incomes in developing nations.

This week WFP bought 50 tons of maize from the Grain and Legumes Association, a farmers' organization made up of over 95,000 smallholder farmers, as part of the agency's Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative.

Now launched in 21 countries, the initiative uses WFP's purchasing power to connect smallholder farmers to agricultural markets, helping them to successfully compete for bids and improve the lives of their families and communities.

The first-ever purchase in Malawi was made through the Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE), an emerging commodity exchange located in the capital, Lilongwe.

"WFP is working with the ACE to help them to sell their surplus by attracting more traders, leading to a more competitive and transparent market," the agency's Executive Director, Josette Sheeran, said in a statement, adding that WFP has already bought over 3,100 tons of food commodities through the exchange.

In addition to supporting the commodity exchange, the initiative is also buying directly from farmers' organizations and helping them meet market standards.

Farmers' organizations have used their profits to boost production and increase food security, including through investing some of their earnings in seeds and fertilizers for the next harvest.

It is estimated that by 2013, at least half a million smallholder farmers - mostly women - will have increased and improved their agricultural production and earnings thanks to the P4P programme, which was launched in 2008.

P4P is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Howard G. Buffett Foundation, European Commission, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Luxembourg, United States and Saudi Arabia.

Africa: AFC to Bridge Africa's Infrastructure Gap - CEO

Source: AllAfrica.com

4 July 2010

President and Chief Executive Officer of African Finance Corporation (AFC), Andrew Alli, at the weekend said the establishment of the organisation in May 2007 as an African-led financial institution was aimed at improving African economies.

Alli made this known in Lagos on Friday during a press briefing to formally present the AFC and its activities to members of the press. Highlighting operations of the organisation, he said AFC was into proactive acquisition, financing, managing infrastructure and industrial assets. This, he said, was aimed at bridging the infrastructural gaps that existed in African economic development.

"With an authorised shareholders' fund of $2billion and paid up capital of $1.1billion, private and public African institutions and individuals own 57 per cent of AFC," Alli said.

Giving further insight into the existence and operation of the organisation, the Chief Executive Officer said AFC was formed with an international treaty between independent sovereign states with its own charter and currently has six members, Nigeria, Gunea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Gambia and Guinea.

Alli added that the core areas of the organisation's business are power, energy, transport infrastructure, heavy industry, oil and gas, telecom and mining, which are capital intensive and have long period of gestation that may not attract funding from the conventional commercial banks.

He further stated that AFC is into equity investment, loans, co-investment, project finance, equipment finance, project development, project coordination, among others.

On the source of the organisation's fund, he said apart from equity participation with some African institutions, AFC also has a firm relation with organisations outside the continent such as the Islamic Development Bank, China African Development Fund, among others, adding that the strategy of having alliance with institutions outside Africa was aimed at bringing in necessary funds from the developed areas of the world to Africa.

Speaking on the African ownership of the institution, Alli said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) owns 42.5 per cent of the AFC, with plans for the CBN to water down its investment as time goes on, other Nigerian institutions that have equities in the organisation are the United Bank for Africa, First Bank, Access Bank, Intercontinental Bank and Zenith Bank.

Giving examples of some of the projects the organisation is currently involved in, Alli said that AFC is the lead investors in the $240million Main-One sub-marine Fibre Optic under -sea Cable System from Portugal through North Africa to Nigeria, the development of upstream gas production with the participation in the Seven Energy Limited gas project, participation in the Ghana's largest offshore oil field project, the $750million Ghana's Jubilee Field, Arik Airlines' acquisition of aircrafts worth $100million, Cenpower Generation Company Limited power project in Ghana, among others.

On why AFC did not assist some Nigerian ailing banks which incidentally are their shareholders, Alli said that the focused areas of AFC business is not in banks' acquisition, but in bridging infrastructural gaps that existed in Africa's development by bringing in needed funds.

Canada Invests $20m in African Science and Technology Capacity

Source: The Globe and Mail

WATERLOO 6 July 2010

At a time when the knowledge produced by a nation is increasingly seen as a ticket to prosperity, the Canadian government is taking a step beyond traditional aid programs, pledging $20-million for science education in Africa...
The funding will go to the Next Einstein Initiative, a unique project that aims to nurture and support the brightest minds in Africa through a network of research centres. Its founder is Neil Turok, the director of the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, who began the initiative seven years ago to develop the scientific capacity of Africa as a way to promote prosperity.

Canada's investment over four years will help support the existing African Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as three planned centres in Senegal, Ethiopia and Ghana. Prof. Turok said the investment is transformative because of its size - the next-largest contribution to the project was a $1-million gift from Google earlier this year - and because it sends a signal to other developed countries that traditionally have steered clear of directing aid dollars to higher education in Africa.

"This is an amazing opportunity that we must not waste," Prof. Turok said Tuesday after the announcement, which was one of two made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a visit to meet renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, who holds a distinguished research chair at the institute.
"The development agenda has emphasized primary education, health and very basic food and agriculture," said Prof. Turok, a native of South Africa. Directing money to some of the one million students who graduate from African universities each year, he said, gives them access to leading instructors on their own continent and provides the skills they need to continue their studies in Africa or abroad.

Since its inception, AIMS has graduated 252 scholars from 30 African countries and has attracted top lecturers from around the world. The program is designed to be a stepping stone to a scientific career, and so far 95 per cent of its students have gone on to further study, about three-quarters of them in Africa, Prof. Turok said.
Eric Takam is one of those students. A native of Cameroon, he spent nine months at the Cape Town centre after graduating from a Cameroon university with a physics degree and is now a PhD student at Simon Fraser University.

"It was definitely a bridge," he said of the program. "Without it, I might have gone on to teaching, but now I am doing research." He hopes to return home to continue his work in seismic exploration.

Mr. Takam and others in Waterloo for the announcement stressed that the best way to help African nations is to give people the knowledge they need to solve their own problems.

The Prime Minister echoed that feeling during his announcement. "Increasingly, the prosperity of nations is measured by the depth of their science expertise," Mr. Harper said, drawing a direct line between science and commerce. The money, which will come from Ottawa's foreign-aid budget, is in keeping with the government's renewed interest in Africa following Mr. Harper's promotion of maternal health as part of last month's G8 meeting in Ontario.

During the visit, which also included a brief meeting with Prof. Hawking, the Prime Minister also announced details of a new $45-million funding program for postdoctoral fellows in Canada, part of a string of investments in science and technology by the federal government to promote its innovation agenda.

The fellowships, named after Nobel Prize winner Sir Frederick Banting, were first announced in this year's budget and will provide $70,000 in annual funding to 70 recent doctoral graduates each year. They will be open to foreign students, and up to one-quarter of Canadians who receive the awards will be allowed to use them to study abroad.

The federal government is hoping to boost Canada's productivity by increasing investments in scientific research, a move it also is counting on to help it bring the country back from a growing deficit.
Prof. Hawking praised both investments by Ottawa. "By investing in young scientists, it is setting an example, which other countries would do well to follow," he said. He also said his first visit to the Perimeter Institute will not be his last. "I look forward to returning often, and being a part of this exciting scientific hub of activity."

The Perimeter Institute is an independent research centre devoted to theoretical physics that was started in 1999 by Research In Motion founder Mike Lazaridis. The institute is now expanding with a new wing named after Prof. Hawking.

Africa Needs Science Revolution

Source: SciDev.net

TURIN 7 July 2010

Africa needs more global science partnerships and a new generation of scientists trained to solve the continent's pressing problem of sustainable development, according to Mohamed Hassan, executive director of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS).

The continent needs to set up inter-disciplinary centres of excellence in areas of science and technology critical to its economic growth and sustainable development, Hassan said in a keynote address at the fourth EuroScience Open Forum, in Turin, yesterday (6 July).

These areas include biotechnology and its applications in agriculture and medicine, information and communication technologies, nanoscience, and the use of space technologies for exploring natural resources and monitoring the environment.

Centres of excellence could promote regional and international collaboration. They could also become innovation hubs that offer affordable technologies to help meet the continent's pressing needs, such as safe drinking water and renewable energy sources, Hassan said.

His main concern is the widening scientific 'knowledge gap' between Africa and the rest of the world. Africa contributes only 0.01 per cent of the world's share of international science publications in science and engineering and very few come from Sub-Saharan Africa, he said.

Other causes of concern include the high rates of brain drain because of poor working conditions and research infrastructure, unfulfilled promises of donor aid, and declining investment in science by national governments.

The centres of excellence could also help boost the capacities of African scientists and of science teachers, whose training should include basic science but also innovative teaching methods that promote independent investigation and problem-solving skills.

Africa needs urgently to revitalise its school and university education systems to develop a pool of skilled scientists in partnership with European universities, said Hassan.

"Each country deserves a top-class research university," he said. But to do this they need to connect research and education systems, set high standards for science education, and attract the best students to science.

He also suggested setting up science academies that foster scientific excellence. Africa accounts for just 17 out of 107 science academies worldwide, although seven of them have been set up recently.

Earlier in the week (3 July), Lidia Brito — director for science policy at UNESCO and the former science minister of Mozambique — told a session on advancing science in developing countries that European scientists need to "research for Africa and with Africa, and not just about Africa".

Mozambique to build new bridge over the Zambezi

Source: BBC News

8 July 2010

Mozambique's government has announced plans to build a $132m (£87m) bridge across the Zambezi River.

It will allow access to the inland province of Tete, and some of the world's largest coal deposits.

Construction of the bridge by a consortium of Brazilian and Portuguese firms is expected to start next week.

At present trucks have to cross the existing Samora Machel bridge one at a time, leading to peak time tailbacks of several miles.

Mozambique has launched a series of huge construction projects as the country recovers from a devastating civil war that ended in 1992.

Last year, the government said it had secured money to build a new railway linking mines in the north with Nacala port by 2015.

Regional corridor

Announcing the new bridge, government spokesman Alberto Nkutumula said that with coal reserves of an estimated 2.4bn tonnes, several international mining companies were already working in Tete province.

The new bridge will cross the Zambezi River at Benga, about six kilometres downstream from the Samora Machel Bridge.

Mr Nkutumula said the new bridge would allow traffic to move between Zimbabwe and Malawi, without going through Tete city.

"Our country is a corridor to and from landlocked countries for the circulation of people and goods," he said.

"This project will allow the rapid development of both our country and those of the hinterland."

Liberia: U.S. Agency Commits U.S.$15 Million for Land, Education and Trade Reforms

Source: AllAfrica.com

MONROVIA 7 July 2010

The Liberian government signed a grant agreement Tuesday with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), awarding U.S.$15 million to the country for what is called a threshold program grant.

The MCC is an independent U.S. government agency that assists countries deemed to be effectively pursuing economic and political reform. It provides grants to countries demonstrating a commitment to good governance, economic freedom and investments in their citizens. The grant for Liberia is for a three-year 'threshold program' focused on land rights and access, girls' primary education and trade policy.

"These areas represent key constraints to economic growth, identified by Liberians themselves as part of their own national development strategy," said Cassandra Butts, MCC senior advisor. She said the U.S. and Liberia partner on a number of fronts, including promoting democracy and good governance, and she thanked President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for supporting the program, calling the Liberian leader "a beacon of optimism for Liberians and a model of progress for all Africa."

Through the threshold program, the MCC provides limited support to countries that are on course to meeting its stringent eligibility criteria, which are required to qualify for the next level of assistance, a five-year, large-scale compact.

The MCC signing event, which took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Monrovia, was graced by a large U.S congressional delegation, most of whom looked delighted to be part of the occasion.

The chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Donald Payne (Democract-New Jersey), who spoke on behalf of the delegation, congratulated Johnson Sirleaf and the people of Liberia for meeting the "strict criteria which warrants the threshold agreement," and he highlighted the importance of the specific areas the grant money covers.

The delegation includes members of the House Democracy Partnership, chaired by Rep. David Price (Democrat-NC), which supports the development of democratic governments around the world.

Since the end of Liberia's civil war in 2003, land disputes have been a source of ongoing tension with worrisome potential to disrupt post-conflict peace. Payne welcomed the Liberian government's decision to prioritize land rights and access, warning that "until the land issue is resolved, we cannot have real true development."

Payne also endorsed the importance of girls' education and cited the president's fervent commitment to female education, quipping that Johnson Sirleaf told him girls in Liberia are now saying to the boys: "Don't tell me what to do, our president is a woman."

The U.S ambassador to Liberia, Linda Thomas Greenfield, admonished the Sirleaf administration to press forward with the MCC program towards the Compact stage, where she said the "true reward comes to those countries that actually cross the threshold."

She cited the case of Ghana, Liberia's west African neighbor, which is receiving U.S. $547 million from the MCC. "It's that kind of money that could make a real difference. It could build miles of roads, bring electricity to thousands of people, and make a real difference in the lives of so many Liberians," she said.

Out of the 19 MCC compacts signed to date, 12 are with African countries.

The ambassador acknowledged that the path to an MCC Compact is not easy, stressing that the MCC's byword is "accountability." She said the threshold program reflects U.S. confidence in and commitment to all that Liberia has achieved in five years. "Liberia now enjoys a free press, opened political debate, transparent budget, and ever-improving management of natural resources," she said.

For her part, Johnson Sirleaf thanked the congressional delegation for coming to Liberia and the Obama administration for continuing the MCC program, which was created by the United States Congress in January 2004 at the urging of former U.S. President George W. Bush.

She reiterated the importance of the grant's focus areas. Regarding land ownership, Sirleaf said she would like to see disputes resolved in a reasonable, rational and legal manner, adding that land redistribution may be a part of the resolution process.

The president also spoke of the establishment of the Liberian Education Trust (LET) that is providing scholarships for girls in order to breach the gender gap and is funded primarily by private institutions in the United States.

But there is more to be done, she said. "The problem is bigger than that, retaining them in school is the issue." While there may be many girls at the primary level now, she said, by the time they reach upper classes, they begin to drop out, due to poverty or sexual abuse. She said the MCC program will help her government tackle those problems.

Addressing the third MCC area, she said transitioning from a reliance on aid to economic growth built around trade is "our trade policy and Africa's long term ambition," adding that Liberia is committed to using its extensive natural resources to sustain its own development efforts.

Landmark UN Gender Entity Takes Form

Source: DevEx.com

8 July 2010

"Today's action will do more than simply consolidate United Nations offices; it will consolidate United Nations strengths."

-U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, describing the historic formation of the unified U.N. gender office dubbed U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment

In a move several parties see as an opportunity to give women a stronger voice on the international stage, U.N. member states unanimously approved July 2 the resolution creating a U.N. office dedicated to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment.

The U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, or U.N. Women, merges four existing U.N. offices that focus on women's issues.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the member states' action, which, according to him created "a stronger voice for women and for gender equality at the global level." His statement echoes that of U.N. Development Fund for Women chief Ines Alberdi, made during an exclusive interview with Devex, where she talked about expectations for the new U.N. entity.

U.N. Women goes beyond consolidating four U.N. offices, according to U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro, who will serve as interim head of the office. The entity will play several key roles, including supporting the Commission on the Status of Women and other intergovernmental bodies in creating gender-related policies and helping member states implement gender standards. It will also be responsible for holding the U.N. accountable for its commitments to gender equality and women's empowerment.

The creation of U.N. Women is the latest development in what appears to be a growing trend that sees donor countries and international organizations increasing their focus on women and gender issues. G-20 countries launched a maternal health initiative in their recent summit in Canada last June. The U.S. made women's empowerment a key part of its food security and global health initiatives and, in the U.K., Secretary of State for International Development Andrew Mitchell said women were a top priority at the Department for International Development.

The U.N. Economic and Social Council stressed, in a ministerial decision released last week, that achieving the third U.N. Millennium Development Goal on promoting women's empowerment and gender equality is essential to achieving all eight MDGs.

Tanzania adopts CAADP compact for agriculture sector development

Source: Tanzania DailyNews

8 July 2010

TANZANIA on Thursday signed the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) compact with President Jakaya Kikwete pledging for the country's more commitment to make agriculture a true accelerator of the economic development.

President Kikwete who witnessed the compact's signing ceremony in Dar es Salaam on Thursday, said the country had in the past failed to improve the sector due to many factors including application of poor technology, budget allocation and equipment but the current step will enable the country accelerate further.

Following the adoption of CAADP, Tanzania will now qualify for many advantages including the 50,000 million US Dollars (about 73bn) grant from the special fund contributed by G 20 countries for CAADP signatories.

"Although the African Union through New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) has recommended for the allocation of at least 10 per cent of the national budget for the sector, still the allocation won't be adequate considering many challenges facing the sector," the President noted.

Mr Kikwete said that through CAADP agreement, Tanzania will be more serious in making sure enough budgetary allocations are made complimenting other contributions from stakeholders and development partners.

He was confident however, that since the budget allocations have been significantly increasing from 3 per cent in 2005/2006 to nearly 9 per cent in 2010-2011, the country will soon manage to surpass the 10 per cent target set by NEPAD.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Mr Stephen Wasira, said the signing of CAADP compact will soon boost the country's agricultural programmes under implementation and that already it has applied for the G 20 basket fund.

"We will benefit by these funds basing on how we implement CAADP agreements and we are likely to keep on qualifying for the funding provided we remain compliant," he said.

The minister mentioned comprehensive investment plans in irrigation, merchandise, research development and extension services, use of improved agricultural inputs, and fast tracking the establishment of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).

Others are improvement of rural infrastructure, agro-processing and value addition, renewable natural resources, environment and climate change, promotion of private-public sector partnership, financial intermediation for small scale producers, processors and traders and capacity building at all levels.

"The government's commitment would in turn encourage the development partners, private sectors and non state actors to partner with the government to ensure that the targeted goals are accomplished," he stressed.

The Compact signatories included various Ministers representing the Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar as well representation of the Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Non State Actors and the Farmers.

Earlier, stakeholders met on Tuesday under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda, to review the CAADP framework and came up with the country's gaps and important areas that need intervention.

Those included inadequate participation of the private sector in agricultural policy formulation and implementation processes, inadequate incentive packages for increased investment in the sector and outdated policies like the National Trade Policy of 2003 and Agriculture and Livestock Policy of 1997 among others.

Enhancement of the private sector in small, medium and large-scale irrigation programmes as well as linking rural roads, electrification, communication and agricultural market to regional market network were part of the areas proposed by CAADP for improvement.

Partnership Seeks Fall Intern

The Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa was founded in 2001 and focuses on increasing the level and effectiveness of U.S. investments in Africa’s agriculture and rural development to help reduce hunger and poverty on the continent. The Partnership achieves its objectives by building consensus around strategic actions, forging public-private sector collaborations and promoting concrete policy changes needed to cut hunger and poverty in Africa, especially in the following strategic areas: capacity building for science and technology; agricultural markets and trade; infrastructure; and emergency assistance.
We are seeking full- and part-time interns for positions for Fall 2010.

Their responsibilities will include, but not limited to, the following tasks:
a. Assist with managing membership registration, database and outreach
b. Help with website development and maintenance;
c. Assist with external communication regarding Partnership events, report launches, media stories, news briefs and newsletters;
d. Assist in producing reports and list-serve mailing listings;
e. Translate documents (mostly English to French and vice versa);
f. Take notes in meetings, write summaries, and help with meeting logistics;
g. Work with the Administrative Assistant and Senior Fellow to plan and execute special Partnership events; and help with necessary follow-up activities; and
h. Conduct limited, web-based research tasks assigned for special projects; and help assemble and sometimes analyze previous studies and publications

Desired Qualifications:
a. Strong writing, research and communication skills.
b. Web development and maintenance skills strongly desirable.
c. Good organizational skills and attention to detail.
d. Good interpersonal skills, team-player, flexibility.
e. French language skills strongly desirable.
f. Knowledge about Africa and international development, or strong interest in learning about these issues.
Application instructions:

Application Deadline, Stipend & Time Commitment:
Apply by COB Friday, July 30, 2010. A small stipend will be offered depending on qualification and performance. A minimum commitment of 10 hours/week is required.

Start date: September 1st

Feel free to forward this announcement to your contacts. All applications (resume/CV, cover letter, and writing sample) and queries should be sent to our Senior Fellow, Dr. Daniel Karanja, at fax# (202) 488-0590 or karanjad@partnership-africa.org.

You can read more here.

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Washington, D.C. 20003

Telephone: 202-479-4501
Fax: 202-488-0590

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