AGRA

Between 2008 and 2018, Africa suffered an estimated $30-billion in losses caused by a decline in crop and animal production, as a result of floods, diseases, droughts and other shocks, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

With such increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, a result of the effects of climate change, and frequent pest and disease outbreaks, farmers must take any measures to enhance yields. This includes access to and planting quality seeds. 

Seeds significantly influence the quality and quantity of farmers’ output. The African Union Commission’s Seed Sector in Africa: Status Report and Ten-year Action Plan (2020-30) indicates that good quality seeds can potentially increase overall productivity by nearly 40%.

Clearly, it is critical that efforts to put quality seeds in the hands of smallholder farmers, who represent 70% of Africa’s agricultural production, are accelerated. A key measure to support this is the formalisation of seed systems being rolled out in many African countries by instituting legislation.

But there is still a long way to go. Informal seed systems still account for up to 85% of the seeds that are planted on the continent. In the majority of cases, farmers store a portion of seeds from their own harvests for the next planting season and sometimes trade with their neighbours. These practices expose farmers to admixtures of all sorts of seed, whose yield potential is compromised by exposure to pests and diseases, while farmers miss out on the benefits of improved seed. Despite these risks, using informal sourcing channels remains an attractive option for farmers, as the most affordable, easily accessible, and available route. 

The formalisation of seed systems aims to ensure that farmers only plant seeds sought from licensed seed producers that adhere to certain quality standards. Seeds must meet the characteristics of the prescribed variety and be free of pests and diseases. Only registered companies can be involved in the production, processing, packaging and distribution of seeds. This ensures that farmers have access to the right inputs and get value for their money. To illustrate this point, seeds of improved maize varieties could yield up to six metric tonnes a hectare, in comparison to 1.8 metric tonnes a hectare yielded by home-saved seeds. 

Policy interventions must be aligned to support all actors, ensure seed research is funded, seed production and markets are transparent, and the right information is disseminated to the farmer. Quality assurance, national planning and coordination of legal and regulatory frameworks must also function to support this. 

There will still be a place for informal distribution, which has been instrumental in sustaining farmers’ seed requirements, allowing farmers to access seeds of varieties and crops that are not offered by large-scale distributors. Most seed companies in formal systems still focus mainly on maize, and very few on self-pollinating crops such as legumes, and small grains like millets, sorghum and rice. Even less for vegetatively propagated crops like cassava, potatoes, yams and bananas. Yet, informal seed systems often lack critical data on potential yields, pests or disease resistance, or even required climate and soil conditions for growth, making it difficult to plan. 

Dr Jane Ininda is the head of seed research and systems development at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

Originally posted on https://mg.co.za/

The price at which farmers in Ghana purchase fertilizer has doubled compared to the prices they bought them during the 2021 farming season due to a global shortage of the commodity. The country’s agricultural sector is currently suffering from a deficit of 350,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer due to Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine. Ghana imports to meet almost all of its fertilizer needs, and the war is making it impossible for the commodity to come in from Russia and Ukraine, resulting in shortages, with the attendant hike in prices. 

Zakaria Abdulai, a 40-year-old farmer, and secretary to the local farmers cooperative union at Nangbagu in the Sagnerigu Municipality of the Northern Region of Ghana, says farmers have cut down on the size of land they are farming this season because of difficulty in getting access to fertilizer. “The fertilizer situation has really affected our farming. Not only me. But the farmers across the country. Last year, we bought fertilizer for 200 Cedis per bag. But this year, it has jumped to 400 Cedis per bag,” he said. 

“I used to farm 10 acres. But because of the high fertilizer cost, I farmed 4 acres (this season). But even the 4, I have still not yet applied fertilizer on the farm because of the prices. And this will affect my income and (my ability) to get food to feed my family, and not to talk of sending them to school,” he added. 

Abdulai was speaking when U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas Greenfield, visited the community to get a firsthand understanding of how the commodity price crisis, exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, is impacting farmers’ access to fertilizer.

Ambassador Greenfield announced fresh support to help deal with the problem and urged other donors to support too. “We have just provided U.S. $2.5 million to support production in this region… The U.S. $2.5 million will support just those farmers dealing with the fertilizer (crisis)… And while the U.S. is the largest funder, we need others to step up to the plate to provide funding so we can deal with this crisis,” she said. 

Ambassador Greenfield said Ghana has the capacity to produce fertilizers locally and urged the country to take advantage of local resources to do so. “The resources on this continent are here, and we have to take advantage of the resources, so there is not that dependency on fertilizer and grain coming from as far away as Ukraine and Russia,” she said. 

The farmers showcased to Ambassador Greenfield a demonstration field set up by the partners with support from USAID. In this field, the farmers are getting practical hands-on experience in good agronomic practices, including how to use fertilizers efficiently. Zakaria says farmers have learned practices that have helped them double their farm yields, thereby earning more money to take care of their families. “This is a one-acre farm we are standing in. With this, I can get 30 bags of maize. But when we farm the normal way we used to farm, I may not be able to get even 10 bags. Because we use improved seeds and apply the right amount of fertilizer,” he explained. 

AGRA Ghana Country Manager, Juliette Lampoh-Agroh, said the demonstration fields are helping farmers deal with food insecurity challenges. “If they are going to cultivate even one (1) acre, they need to get optimal yield from the farm fields. And that is the essence of the demonstration field we have here. So, we have optimal use of inputs to get adequate yields, such that hopefully, we can avert the looming food crisis that is coming upon us. This is one of more than 17 demonstration farms that we have in the northern sector. And we look to expand the support we have for farmers through partners and the support of USAID,” she said.  

Lampoh-Agroh predicts the new U.S. $2.5 million investment by USAID will make a huge difference. “AGRA will be working with African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) and YARA to ensure scarce fertilizer reach at least 100,000 smallholder farmers. AGRA’s role is to ensure we have the systems on the ground so the fertilizer can reach the required smallholder farmers. We will also ensure they are using the right seeds and using the right agronomic practices,” she said. 

Nana-Aisha Mohammed, Ghana Country Manager of the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) noted private sector participation is key in resolving the fertilizer crisis. “At AFAP, our main role is to work with the private sector to intervene. At the beginning of the crisis, we started engaging with the private sector to introduce new alternative fertilizers… We are also looking at how farmers can more efficiently use fertilizers by promoting new varieties of inputs and seeds that can generally require less fertilizer usage,” Mohammed said. 

The partners say they are ready to do more to support the smallholder farmers once they get adequate funding. 

The impact of a series of crises is exacerbating vulnerabilities in Africa’s food systems. Things will get worse unless mitigating actions are taken now to safeguard Africa’s food security.

From 5-9 September, African and global business leaders will meet in Kigali, Rwanda, for the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), the continent’s most influential gathering around Africa’s largest economic sector – agriculture and food systems. 

This year’s AGRF is probably the most significant since the Covid-19 pandemic, which not only heavily affected the 2020 and 2021 editions of the AGRF, but also the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. Covid-19 has confirmed that we need to reform our food systems. “Building back better” will not be enough; we need to rethink how we produce, distribute and eat food, and to do this, African political and business leaders must think and act differently, and be willing to set different agendas that transform their food systems.

The 2022 State of Food Security and Nutrition report paints an alarming picture of Africa’s agri-food systems transformation efforts. Despite unprecedented efforts by African heads of state and government to drive regional change through country Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programmes (CAADP), the report indicates that 35m more people were affected by hunger in 2020 compared with 2019, before the Covid-19 outbreak, with an additional 15m in 2021. 

The report further shows that 20% of Africa’s population was facing hunger in 2021, compared with 9.1% in Asia. It is in Africa where the population affected by hunger has increased the most compared to other continents. This is of major concern and should worry anyone.

Number of people likely to be in food crisis or worse in 2022

Crises beset Africa

Amid the onslaught of the Covid-19 outbreak, Africa has to battle other crises: 

First: Increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns threaten Africa’s food and water security. The El Niño-induced drought during the 2015-16 cropping seasons across the Southern African countries led to higher-than-normal temperatures and erratic and low rainfall. The 2019 devastating floods in the greater Horn of Africa, the 2019-20 invasion of desert locusts in Eastern Africa, and the current looming climate-induced famine in the Horn of Africa, for example, have made Africa an exposure and vulnerability hot spot for climate variability and climate impacts.

Second: Around 2019, there came the rise in oil and gas prices – that saw a surge in crucial food commodity prices that saw an over 89% increase in price of major cereals and about a 109% in rise in fertiliser prices all just in 2 years. 

Third: And now the Russia-Ukraine crisis is further exacerbating oil and gas prices and increasing global food prices. 

The implications for these crises are more severe and Africa and its leaders need to act differently. We are now witnessing the largest cost-of-living crisis in a generation, and people’s capacity to cope is diminishing. 

Real incomes are falling and the countries’ revenues and ability to respond are declining. Without robust actions, these changes are pushing citizens and could potentially result in social and political unrest in many countries.

We need action now

The impact of these crises on existing vulnerabilities in Africa’s agri-food systems could be heightened unless mitigating actions are taken now to safeguard Africa’s food security and speed up the recovery of the agricultural sector. 

This is the moment for governments to consolidate the progress made and leverage existing structures and frameworks, including strengthening the CAADP process by adopting a more systemic view of food system transformation that goes beyond the current CAADP ambition of agricultural growth and transformation. 

National governments need to take a holistic and integrated food systems approach. After the UN Food Systems Summit, we are seeing a few countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi and Rwanda making this shift to design food systems strategies and plans. This is important because a critical lesson from these crises is that food systems cannot be compartmentalised; multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approaches and coordination will be essential in tackling future pandemics. 

Most families in Africa are feeling the pinch. Household budgets are shrinking as affording a daily meal has become a challenge for most households in Africa. The FAO has estimated that 53% of poorer household income is spent on food compared to 20% for richer households. 

Poorer households spend about 16% of their incomes on housing while 4% is spent on transport. Families cannot send their children to school and the poorest households are the most affected, especially women and girls. 

Turning crisis into opportunity

There is a general feeling that Africa is blaming the US and other Western countries in Europe for the sanctions on Russia as the source of food insecurity. In fact, Africa is blaming itself for allowing itself to be dependent on the rest of the world for food imports – a phenomenon Africa can change. 

Africa should turn this into an opportunity to produce its own food and export rather than relying on the rest of the world for food imports. Ethiopia, for example, can produce enough wheat to feed itself rather than spend $0.7bn annually to import wheat from Russia and Ukraine. 

While appreciating the short- and long-term solutions being proposed by international organisations such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the United Nations and others, African leaders need to turn this crisis as an opportunity and wake-up call to act differently and without hesitation push for reforms on the continent and at country level.

• The complexities of African food systems require government support with a dedicated and consistent oversight at president or prime minister level, ready to make tough decisions, deal with vested interests, and inspire others to set bold ambitions. Business as usual will not deliver the desired change.
• While it may be structurally challenging to redesign the agriculture public service system, leaders need strong multidisciplinary local teams with the technical expertise and ability to accelerate implementation with a governance and operating model that rewards a high-performance culture while tracking progress using performance indicators and evaluation metrics that leverage scorecards such as the African Union’s Biennial Review dashboard.
• Africa leaders need to accelerate intra-regional trade through implementing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and other regional trade agreements in the continent. This will not only enhance and ease the moving of food from surplus to deficit regions but will also ease the movement of fertiliser being produced on the continent to trade in the rest of the world.
• Leaders must put in place policy incentives to create efficiencies in the supply chains such as electronic-based, private sector-driven and government enabled input subsidies and supply approaches.
• African leaders need to deliberately work to protect consumers during the ongoing crises by establishing stimulus packages and strengthening social safety nets while supporting governments facing fiscal constraints.
• African leaders must establish and strengthen functional strategic food reserves critical to always be ready to stabilise food supplies and prices to support domestic approaches. This is notable for ensuring food security in times of crisis.
• Lastly, taking a food systems lens has also taught us that leaders need to scale up and enhance investments in areas such as climate adaptation, conservation farming and regenerative agriculture to increase productivity in strategic food surplus producing regions across the continent while protecting the environment.

Prioritising structural transformation that is green, inclusive, and resilient will ensure that no one is left behind and Africa is better prepared for the next crisis.

Originally posted on: https://african.business

Last week, leaders from Africa and the Americas convened for the first-ever Africa-Americas ministerial summit, which brought together ministers of agriculture; national senior officials in the fields of environment, science and technology; heads of international organizations, and private sector representatives from 40 countries on a common platform to discuss strategies for collaboration in advancing a food system transformation. 

Under the theme “Building Bridges for Cooperation in Agrifood System Transformation”, the leaders arrived at a common position for cooperation in the promotion of sustainable agricultural productivity in confronting hunger and malnutrition. 

The summit came just weeks after the Food and Agriculture Organization released its State of Food Insecurity and Nutrition in the World 2022 report, which showed worsening hunger and malnutrition in Africa, spurred by emerging challenges like the Covid pandemic and climate change and the ongoing financial crisis.

With the Americas facing seemingly similar challenges as Africa, the ministerial summit came at the right time to share the knowledge and expertise that the former are using to stay ahead of their food system transformation goals. This is with regards to building on the momentum of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit in addressing the shocks and stresses on food systems through a leadership that recognizes the need to deliver results for farmers, agricultural SMEs and other food system stakeholders. 

“We need to harness the opportunities available from the latest science, technology and innovation in food systems, including advancements in adaptive breeding, circular economy, alternative proteins; biology and chemistry,” said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President at AGRA. 

Dr. Kalibata further provided direction on the action that must be taken to address the worsening effects of climate change.

“We know that our agri-food systems are some of the greatest drivers of climate emissions, when they could be one of its solutions. We need to explore nature positive production models as we look to achieve our goals, finding ways to compensate our farmers and businesses for sequestered carbon and improved agricultural practices,” she said.  

Leaders from the Americas committed to sharing with Africa the strategies they are using to transform their agricultural productivity, to such an extent that the region produces one out of every three tons of food traded in the world.

Manuel Otero, the Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), emphasized the need for collaboration between Africa and the Americas in achieving global food system goals. 

“Africa is very powerful, and we have to remain united because we share many similarities. We must continue to reinforce our ties in strengthening agri-food systems through decisive action in the areas of food, environmental and energy security,” he said. 

For two days, the leaders exchanged their experiences in accelerating agri-food transformation, as they derived a partnership that would quicken the resolution of the emerging food, fertilizer and financial crisis, and climate change. 

• H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn was in Zambia on a three-day visit that saw him attend the fourth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms
• H.E. Dessalegn met with H.E. President Hakainde Hichilema, Hon. Agriculture Minister Mtolo Phiri, and COMESA leaders

LUSAKA, Zambia: July 19, 2022 – Former Ethiopia Prime Minister, and Board Chair of AGRA, H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn has urged Africa’s leaders to collaborate in addressing the triple-threat problem – climate change, COVID-19, and the Russia Ukraine Conflict – that has recently worsened the continent’s food security situation.

He was speaking during the fourth Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms, in Lusaka, Zambia on Sunday.

Citing the latest Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, which showed that 60% of the world’s poor now live in Africa, H.E. Dessalegn highlighted the need for quick action.

“There is a sense of urgency here if we are to transform the continent’s agriculture and food systems, we need to join forces across countries and regions. We need to build systems and institutions that can deliver the agriculture sector, markets, and trade to our farmers with the strong capacity and expertise to match” he said.

He further urged Africa’s institutions and development organizations to team up and together support the solutions needed to lift the continent out of the rut that it is currently stuck in.

“We need better coordination among our organizations, with dedicated capacity for RECs (Regional Economic Communities) and between the African Union Commission and the Africa Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) to be able to respond to the challenges at hand,” he said, while offering AGRA’s support, which comprises over 200 experts from 29 African countries to support the process.

H.E. Dessalegn met with H.E. President Hakainde Hichilema to discuss his country’s progress in transforming the national pathways to food systems established during last year’s UN Food Systems Summit and strategies for a sustainable transition.

The conversation also addressed Zambia’s role in regional food trade and the support required of AGRA. H.E. Dessalegn further used the opportunity to invite H.E. Hichilema to the AGRF 2022 Summit, set for September 5 – 9 in Kigali, Rwanda.

Separately, H.E. Dessalegn met with Zambia’s Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Mtolo Phiri for discussions on the country’s priorities for agricultural transformation. He later engaged leaders from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on matters related to regional integration, and AGRA’s role in supporting the process.

-ENDS

About AGRA

AGRA is a farmer-centered, African-led, partnerships-driven institution that is working to transform smallholder farming from a solitary struggle to survive to a business that thrives. In collaboration with its partners—including African governments, researchers, development partners, the private sector and civil society— AGRA’s work primarily focuses on smallholder farmers – men and women who typically cultivate staple crops on two hectares or less. AGRA is now recognized across the continent as a strong voice for African rural development, a prosperous agricultural economy, and for supporting thousands of small African businesses and millions of African families to improve agriculture to ensure food security and improve their livelihoods.

More information: https://agra.org ; Rebecca Weaver, rweaver@agra.org;

Inadequacy and fragility of food systems becomes more apparent with every food crisis. The question we must answer is “Where do we go from here?”. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA, discusses these issues and more.

The food price crisis of 2007 to 2008, Covid-19, the Russian war against Ukraine, and climate change have exposed the fragility of food systems. The greatest risk lies in refusing to learn from lessons of the past.

At the start of 2022, we were already facing the prospect of a food crisis. Even before the first Russian tank rolled across Ukraine’s borders on 24 February, food prices had tipped record highs as the world struggled to recover from Covid-19 to repair disrupted supply chains and soaring fuel and gas prices. But a conflict involving two of the world’s largest wheat exporters, and major producers of fertilizer, maize and vegetable oil, have inevitably driven prices even higher and, once again, pushed the issue of global food security into sharp focus.

Russia and Ukraine together account for roughly 30 per cent of the world’s wheat and barley exports, a fifth of its corn trade and almost 80 per cent of sunflower oil exports. Most of their wheat production is imported by countries in the Middle East and Africa, with some 50 countries depending on Russia and Ukraine. Warfare and port blockades have reduced these exports, and supply uncertainties have already pushed wheat prices to around $11 per bushel, a level last seen in 2008. The FAO food price index soared to a record high in June.

The situation is further compounded by rising energy prices, and disruptions to the supply of fertilisers, the prices of which are already fluctuating at levels unseen since the global financial crisis because of higher gas prices. Russia and Belarus produce more than a third of global potash. Russia is also the world’s biggest exporter of fertilizers and the war with Ukraine has disrupted the export of fertilizers and driven up prices for natural gas, which is an important ingredient of nitrogen-based fertilizers. Fertilizer prices (DAP) are surging towards 1000 USD per ton, with a significant increase in the last 6 months, and a 40% jump since the invasion. This will hurt rich and poor farmers alike, due to the clear link between rising costs and reduced production.

The US-based Center for Global Development estimates that higher food and fuel prices will push 40 million more people into extreme poverty.

Lower income households, who were already spending between 60 and 80 per cent of their earnings on food, face stark choices, including how many meals to eat in a day.

In Tunisia, the fear of food shortages combined with the imminent arrival of Ramadan, caused panic buying and emptied supermarket shelves. Kenyans are protesting rising food prices on social media with the hashtag #lowerfoodprices. Thousands of maize farmers in Ethiopia have been protesting soaring fertilizer prices. And let’s not forget that it was rising food prices that led to the 2019 Sudan coup and the Arab Spring rebellion of 2008.

The food crisis of 2007-8 suggests important lessons for us to mitigate a food crisis this year. First, remember that cooperation between countries matters, sending important signals to markets that governments and the private sector take the problem seriously. Second, take concerted action to trade more, easier, faster. Allow food to be traded and attack non-tariff barriers that are the most serious limitations to trade. Africa has shown leadership in the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area – these principles must be fast tracked to allow as friction-free trading system as possible. Third, governments and development partners should urgently plan for the social and humanitarian consequences of a food crisis. Social safety nets should be strengthened at least temporarily, and humanitarian aid planned for the most vulnerable. Last and perhaps most importantly, governments and partners must go back to basics: that African economies and livelihoods are built on agriculture. More than 70 per cent of the population is involved in farming, but the vast majority of these are smallholdings with significant exposure to environmental and economic shocks. These farmers and their contributions can be transformed by shorter value chains that share some of the value with farmers, a digital revolution that puts farmers, and strong government agenda and support.

African farmers, if given the opportunities that their European, Asian and North American counterparts have, can increase massively their productivity and grow their businesses.

An emergency plan to build support for farmers now can send important signals to markets and increase production this year. Give farmers access to productive, climate smart seeds, the knowledge they need to become more productive, and innovative financial tools to invest. Then help them get their products to market. Proven models are already used by many partners – millions of farmers can be lifted quickly in this way.

At the same time, soaring fertilizer prices must be addressed with urgent action to increase efficiency. AGRA has promoted technologies that can reduce cost to the farmer including the use of blended fertilizers, as we already see in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. The same is true in the use of micro-dosing. Both give much more ‘bang for the buck’ and can be much more environmentally friendly. This is also an opportunity to promote greater use of farmers’ traditional practices of regeneration and organic fertilization.

We learned from the last food crisis that we should not be afraid of a food crisis. What we should be worried about is lack of action once we understand the problem. Governments should lead and coordinate, private sector should target investment on proven solutions, and unlock African farmers’ potential.

Originally posted on https://www.weltohnehunger.org

In the last five years, Africa has endured several shocks and stresses – from locust and Fall Army Worm attacks to droughts in Eastern Africa and floods in Southern Africa.  Most of us thought that COVID-19 was the last straw and we prayed that the camel’s back would hold.  And it nearly did for most countries until the current Russia Ukraine crisis that has fueled multiple crises; conflict, fuel and food.  The real challenge and the reason the camel’s back is now breaking, is the debt burden that Africa countries are sitting with. For these countries, stepping forward to support the private sector, farmers or vulnerable communities is not something they can do – however much they might want to.

The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is worsening the situation by limiting the supply of fertilizer – a critical agricultural input, and without which the continent’s next few harvests will be severely compromised. Africa was already not using enough fertilizers and as a result still grapples with low yields.  Total lack of fertilizers is likely to have catastrophic impact.

Yet the biggest threat for the continent remains climate change, which has drastically shifted rainfall patterns and accounts for the perennial droughts and floods being experienced around the continent.

“Africa’s biggest challenge is the frequency and ferocity of climate change … . Climate change on top of the RUC is going to have dire implications on food security in the months ahead,” said, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA.

Dr. Kalibata was speaking at an African Dialogue Series webinar that brought together policy and decision makers, civil society, experts, and the academia to discuss the strategies for building resilient socio-agricultural food systems, with a leaning on nutrition.

A turnaround away from the looming climate change and nutrition crisis, according to Dr. Kalibata, is pegged on how quickly and effectively adaptation plans are implemented, starting with financing.

“The annual adaptation costs in developing countries are estimated at $70 billion and African countries need to spend up to 9% of the cost of their GDP for adaptation programs…except now when coming out of COVID-19, many of them are suffering a huge debt burden, and are not investing as they should”…”It is really important that we continue thinking about how to increase our adaptation budgets and that countries come through on their promise on adaptation,” she said.

Her remarks further drew from the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, which saw 49 African countries commit to transform their food systems through national pathways. As these countries start to unfold their pathways it is clear that sustainable and equitable food systems strategies will have to be anchored in climate adaptation. 

“It is important that we follow up quickly and ensure that these countries come up with plans that translate pathways into priorities on food security, resilience and adaptation and better nutrition”… It is important that we move from dialogues to investment plans and flagships that give opportunities to countries to focus on attention on the type of investments they need to end hunger, improve resilience and better nutrition,” she said. 

Dr. Kalibata used the opportunity to invite key food system stakeholders to the AGRF Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, from September 5 – 9, where she noted that more deliberations will be made on how to fast-track Africa’s adaptation and nutrition transformation agenda.

“AGRF partners will be showcasing the first three or four countries that have prepared investment plans… my call is that we work together to support these countries efforts” she said.

“We must continue to work on coming through together; there is no part of the world that can survive this alone; we need to ensure that the communities that are most exposed to climate change, that are suffering from nutrition and lack of resilience can have a better life for their children, which can only happen if we come through on the adaptation promises made to date.” she added.

The session was moderated by AGRA’s Vice-president of Program, Innovation and Delivery, Aggie Konde, and had a keynote address from Cristina Duarte, the Special Adviser on Africa to the United Nations Secretary-General. Other speakers were Dr. Godfrey Bahiigwa, the Director of Agriculture and Rural Development at the African Union Commission; Lawrence Haddad, the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition; Robert Bertram, a director at USAID’s Office of Agriculture, Research and Technology; Dr. Bekele Shiferaw, the Lead Development Economist at the World Bank, and ILRI’s General Director, Dr. Jimmy Smith.

The disruptions on food systems caused by the COVID-19 and the current Russia-Ukraine crisis are just some of the latest issues that have brought to the fore discussions on the role of Strategic Food Reserves (SFR) in Africa. 

With support from AGRA’s Hub for Agricultural Policy Action (HAPA), a team from Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a tour from 16 to 20 May 2022, to study Kenya’s storage infrastructure, management models for public-private-partnership, institutional design, social safety nets, price stabilization mechanisms, and appropriate SFR stocks levels.

The tour is part of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development request for AGRA Technical Assistance  as the country seeks to build up grain reserves and develop strategic food stocks for timely response in times of food security crisis. The support aims specifically to assist Nigeria in determining optimal stock levels for the country’s SGR, to assess the existing storage infrastructure capacity and to develop partnership models with the private sector.

The Nigerian team was drawn from the country’s Food and Strategic Reserves Department and was led by the Agriculture Permanent Secretary Dr. Enerst Umakhihe.

After a meeting with AGRA President Dr. Agnes Kalibata on the first day of the tour, the team’s schedule included meetings and tours with various government and private facilities, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives, National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB), the Warehouse Receipt System Council and the East African Grain Council (EAGC).

According to the Dr. Umakhihe, maize and sorghum have been the main crops under the strategic grains reserve in Nigeria, with budgetary constraints and fluctuations in prices of commodities being the main challenges to optimum reserves.  One of the team’s key interests in the tour was the running of the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS), which Kenya has been running for the last two years.  Nigeria intends to establish a WRS as it reforms its SFR strategy.

AGRA, in partnership with the Eastern Africa Grain Council, supported Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives to develop regulations and other institutional frameworks to make the WRS operational in Kenya. 

Briefing the visiting team, WRS Council Board member Ms. Rose Mutuku said that the Council has already certified five National Cereal and Produce Board warehouses in Kitale, Eldoret, Nakuru, Nairobi and Meru.   

In these certified warehouses, farmers or traders are depositing commodities and are issued with a Warehouse Receipt which is then registered by the Council.  The depositor may use the receipt to trade with other buyers, finance institutions or input suppliers.

Apart from reducing post-harvest losses which currently stand at about 30%, the WRS is enabling small scale farmers to participate in a modern and efficient market with standard quality and weights.  The system is also creating flexibility, as farmers can plan to sell their commodities when the prices are favourable.  As a commodity exchange system, it will also play the role of stabilizing prices.

AGRA and other players supported the establishment of the WRS to counter challenges such as incidents where maize was bought at above market prices and sold at lower than market prices, undermining market functioning and pushing out private sector participation. 

The support included the establishment of a Food Balance Sheet Committee at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives which currently determines the price and quantities of food commodities for price stabilization. Apart from Kenya, AGRA is also supporting the development of Food Balance Sheet initiatives in Burundi, Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique.

At the briefing by the National Cereals and Produce Board with Managing Director Joseph Kimote, the Nigerian team was informed that Kenya’s food reserves is being restructured to constitute physical stock of food commodities or their cash equivalent, based on a three-month country population maize requirement.  For emergencies, the food reserve targets 10 percent of the population and about 26 percent of the chronically food insecure Kenyans.

The Board currently operates a network of 110 storage facilities which together have a storage capacity of 1,841,467 metric tonnes.  With the WRS system rolling out, NCPB is gradually leasing out the storage facilities to the private sector, with about a quarter of the capacity now being used by private entities.

East African Grain Council Chief Executive Officer Mr. Gerald Masila said that the private sector has worked closely with the government in the roll-out of the Warehouse Receipt System to ensure incentives for the commercial sector. 

He said that apart from policy advocacy, the Council supports farmers with information services such as the newly-launched Climate Information for Grains tool.  The council also runs the Grain Business Institute, its training division that addresses knowledge gaps in Eastern Africa’s grain sectors.

In her remarks at the conclusion of the study tour, Dr. Kalibata called for greater information exchange among countries, saying that African countries face similar food security challenges and exchange of experiences and lessons is prudent use of resources.

“It does not make sense for individual countries to struggle to figure out what others already have answers to,” she said.

Dr. Umakhihe said that the study tour had given the team important insights, including identifying some gaps in the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) Bill that is due to be discussed in the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s parliament.

As part of the objectives of its Regional Food Trade and Resilience programme, AGRA’s support for target countries’ SFR policies aims to ensure that they are not designed or implemented in ways that avoid negative ripple effects on private sector investment and participation of small farmers in markets. The Hub for Agricultural Policy Action is working in Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia to increase the use of evidence to inform decisions during implementation of such policies.

Authors: Boaz B. Keizire and Elizabeth Mwaniki – Policy and Advocacy Unit, AGRA

Rains have fallen short for the third time in a row in Mbeere South in Embu County, Kenya. Smallholder farmers are staring at drought and consequent food insecurity. Using early warning systems, scientists warned that the anticipated long rains will be below average, therefore inadequate to grow crops to maturity. Most crops withered in the farms, eroding farmers’ hopes of harvest and means of sustaining livelihoods.

According to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), Seven of the 23 Arid and Semi-Arid lands (ASAL) counties (Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Samburu, Isiolo, Baringo and Turkana) remain in Alarm drought phase while nine including Garissa, Kilifi, Kitui, Kwale, Laikipia, Lamu, Meru (North), Nyeri (Kieni) and West Pokot are in Alert drought phase. The remaining seven counties (Kajiado, Narok, Makueni, Taita Taveta, Tharaka Nithi and Embu (Mbeere) and Tana River) are in normal drought phase.

While initiatives are already in place to support the communities that are affected by drought, there is need for development of strategies that provide long term solutions for the affected counties.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) reports that severe drought affects Africa more than any other continent, with more than 300 events recorded in the past 100 years, accounting for 44 percent of the global total.

On the 17^th of June every year, we mark the International Day Against Desertification and Drought. This year’s theme is “Rising up from drought together”, highlighting the need of an early action to avoid disastrous consequences for humanity and ecosystems. Everyone can participate in actions that increase the world’s collective resilience.

Why Policy?

Drought preparedness polices make a difference: This year’s theme, recommends that proactive measures to reduce risks and increase resilience of ecosystems and communitiescan be achieved through sustainable land management and ecosystem restoration policies. “A strong and deliberate policy has never failed to respond to any challenge, including drought” said Boaz B. Keizire, Head of Policy and Advocacy at AGRA during the discussions on the implications of drought in Africa.

To this end, AGRA is building on the 2021 United Nations Food Systems Summit to identify policy gaps in African countries, with an objective of driving enabling policy making processes and implementation.  During the deliberations by Heads of state, they identified food security and state capability policies as top priorities for African countries.

One of the actions identified by Kenya during the Food Systems Summit discussions is to advance equitable livelihoods by fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, facilitating a shift from predominantly subsistence farming mentality to a more profitable agriculture outlook. This will be achieved via commercialization of agriculture, ensuring access to markets through organized cooperatives and out grower groups, value addition, and harnessing the power of mobile technologies.

Initially, the Government of Kenya implemented guidelines on subsidized inputs such as fertilizers and seeds supporting over 200, 000 farmers. This year, subsidized fertilizers and seeds have cushioned farmers from high input prices of commodities precedented by inflation following economic impacts of COVID-19 and ongoing inflation. However, inadequate rains have led to marginal harvests in some of the counties.

To cushion farmers from the effects of climate and economic downturn, the Government needs to emphasize on wider participation of agriculture insurance for small holder farmers covering crops, livestock and fisheries.

Agriculture was part of Climate Change COP26 deliberations in Glasgow where twenty-six nations set out new commitments to change their agricultural policies to become more sustainable and less polluting, and to invest in the science needed for sustainable agriculture and for protecting food supplies against climate change, laid out in two ‘Action Agendas’.  Kenya was a participant at COP26 in Glasgow. While addressing the world at Glasgow, Kenya’s President, H.E Uhuru Kenyatta, said that Kenya has developed a plan to maintain low carbon development trajectory by 2030.

The President also announced Kenya’s plan to work with other African countries that form the ‘Giants Club’ conservation group to raise resources for investment in the continent’s climate change mitigation programmes. As the momentum is building for COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Kenya should adopt the Policy Action Agenda for the Transition to Sustainable Agriculture and prepare for the discussion on adaptation and loss of damage that will be on COP27 agenda. This could be achieved through support from AGRA’s Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA).

Recently, the Government launched the Agricultural Sector Institutional Capacity strengthening plan (ICSP) that was developed with the support of AGRA. The plan aims at boosting agricultural productivity and improving livelihoods by addressing systemic obstacles constraining Kenya’s ability to achieve food and nutrition security.

• AGRA and Microsoft, through its Africa Transformation Office, signed an MoU for further partnership in Davos
• The organizations will leverage their success from a previous partnership starting 2019, and which led to the development of the AgriBot

DAVOS, Switzerland:  May 24, 2022 – AGRA and leading technology provider Microsoft, have announced expanding their partnership to advance digital agricultural transformation in Africa.

The partnership, formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos 2022, builds on previous work between AGRA and Microsoft that focused on supporting AGRA’s digital transformation as it works to improve food security in Africa.

The new phase of the relationship will promote digital innovation and technology as an enabler to connect the agriculture ecosystems, sustainably integrating stakeholders in the service of strategic value chains.

“At AGRA, we realized early on that digital innovation is critical in advancing food security and poverty eradication in Africa. Our partnership with Microsoft will directly support governments, SMEs and farmers, by bringing the digital tools needed to build resilient food systems.” said AGRA President, Dr. Agnes Kalibata.

“I am delighted that Microsoft is expanding its partnership with The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa,” said Jean-Philippe Courtois, Executive Vice-President and President, National Transformation Partnerships, Microsoft. “Helping to deliver against the UNSDG of Zero Hunger by improving food security for millions of households, is vital for a fairer and more sustainable global economy. Digitalization is key to scaling impact and driving positive change.”

The announcement follows initial collaboration between the two organizations starting 2019, when Microsoft and AGRA co-created the AgriBot as a digital solution for localized extension and advisory services for smallholder farmers. The AgriBot works through inclusive omni-channel application experiences like Short Message Service (SMS) and WhatsApp for prioritized value chains.

“Our partnership with AGRA forms part of Microsoft’s ongoing investment in agritech across the continent as we support digital transformation in the sector. We’re excited to continue building locally relevant technology solutions that address the local farmers’ needs and deliver meaningful impact,” said Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh, Strategic Partnership Lead, Microsoft Africa Transformation Office.

In extending their relationship, the two organizations will:

• Leverage the Microsoft programs and tools to aggregate and enrich the various SME programs within AGRA;
• leverage the Tech for Social Impact team to support AGRA in its digital transformation journey;
• launch the third phase of the AgriBot to develop a sustainability model of the platform through exploring partnerships with third parties, in addition to scaling out to all the counties that have the VBA program;
• develop partnerships with other private sector companies like Bayer, Yara, Syngenta, Nestle, Rabobank, OLAM and others to get a broad-based buy in and explore opportunities for sustainable agriculture and explore use cases like digital value chain integration, smart agriculture, water conservation, traceability, and carbon sequestration, and
• empower youth for agriculture transformation by leveraging Microsoft skilling programs and tools like Microsoft Community Training (MCT) to scale AGRA programs on agribusiness, entrepreneurship, and employability.

Microsoft and AGRA are further partnering with Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives (MoALFC) to significantly accelerate the transformation of the agriculture ecosystem in line with the Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS) for digitisation.

The collaboration will explore the use of AgriBot as an e-extension solution to compliment the MoALFC e-voucher system thereby taking digital solutions to the last mile, where farmers realize the most benefits.

Originally posted on news.microsoft.com