AGRA

In an Interview with Susanna Cartmell-Thorp for the Spore Magazine, Dr Agnes Kalibata, president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), highlights the importance of knowledge sharing and partnership building by CTA and the need for a stakeholder alliance for achieving greater impact in digitalisation for agriculture.

AGRA has been a close partner of CTA for many years which, as a relatively small organisation, has used its partnerships to achieve greater reach and impact than if it had worked alone. How do you see CTA’s achievements?

I got to know CTA a long time ago; it was probably one of the few institutions documenting its work in agriculture and the lessons learned, and making these available to smallholders. In 2013, during my term as Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture, I also worked with CTA on its ICT4Ag conference in the country, which was extremely well received and helped to raise the consciousness of governments and other players around the role of ICTs for agricultural development. CTA has encouraged countries to think about digitalisation, its role in the agriculture sector, and how to use and capitalise on the opportunities. The organisation has also combined digitalisation with a focus on entrepreneurship, helping digital initiatives to really gain momentum.

CTA also introduced Pitch AgriHack, which has ensured that young people are being educated and supported to engage in ICT4Ag. There wouldn’t be the type of entrepreneurship we are seeing around ICTs in agriculture if it had not been for CTA’s efforts in mobilising the ICT4Ag landscape, and leading by example to showcase real examples of entrepreneurial opportunity. And of course, at this year’s African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), CTA launched its joint report with Dalberg Advisors, which not only reveals what is happening on the ground in digitalisation for Africa, but provides huge advocacy for the use of digital technologies in the sector.

A key recommendation of the digitalisation report is the creation of an alliance to promote partnerships and to scale up solutions. How do you see that happening?

One of the ways in which AGRA fast tracks the transformation of agriculture is by bringing together groups of people or institutions who care about the same things through our continental convening, the AGRF, and looking to see how these groups can work together on certain themes between each annual event. There are currently around 10 thematic working groups, including on digitalisation and gender. My hope is that the digitalisation group becomes an alliance for digitalisation through which we are able to form partnerships that are needed for progress, and to discuss available opportunities in this sector. For example, is it resourced enough? What type of investment does it need? Is it a public or private sector thrust? From a public sector perspective, what does it need – is it policies, new ways of looking at how the private sector engages, etc?

So, an alliance for digitalisation is critical, it’s something that needs to happen because the industry is growing and players need to come together on a regular basis to know who is working in what space. The AGRF provides the opportunity for all of us to get together and talk about the progress we are seeing, and in between each event, it’s really important that all partners track progress and hold each other accountable.

What more would you like to see African governments and decision-makers doing with regards to transforming agriculture and capitalising on the potential of digitalisation and entrepreneurs?

Governments are looking for new ways of delivering services to farmers and there are a number of digital tools that can be utilised, whether it is e-vouchers for delivering inputs like seeds and fertilisers, ICT-enabled weather information services, or apps for insurance and crop protection management techniques. So, there is great potential for services and entrepreneurial activities that can be generated around the digitisation of agriculture. CTA has been a great advocate of digitalisation by galvanising interest in the sector and demonstrating what is already there. However, we really need to think about the kind of policy environment that needs to be in place from an ICT entrepreneurial or digitisation perspective. So many businesses are quickly being created in this environment and we need to ensure that these start-ups are grounded in policies and a regulatory environment that gives them rights but also responsibilities. In short, we need to think about what type of environment supports businesses in this landscape, and this needs to happen pretty fast.

In 2020, the AGRF will be returning to Kigali in Rwanda. How did that come about?

It was becoming extremely difficult for AGRF partners to cover the cost of hosting AGRF in a different country every year. To take this conference to another level in terms of the quality of what it can offer, we decided to run it in a similar style to the World Economic Forum on Africa, where the ‘home’ is Cape Town, South Africa, and an alternative country hosts it every other year. Using this model, we asked countries to bid and Rwanda, which has great facilities and government support, was selected as AGRF’s ‘home’. The Government of Rwanda has also shown tremendous commitment to agriculture from a public sector perspective, which is critical as we want to draw in the public sector, AGRF initially started out as a private sector led engagement forum.

In addition, we want the AGRF to be bigger, we want to bring in more private sector, more youth, more women and more thematic engagement. We also want to make sure that between the AGRF summits there is better engagement around development and focus on what we are going to deliver for the people that come to the events.

At the AGRF, you have highlighted that it’s important to bring different actors together. CTA has worked both at the field level with famers and agribusinesses but has also been key in advocating at policy level and for driving the agenda in key areas. What do you feel is CTA’s particular strength?

One of the things we don’t do well, especially in this continent, is to document and share knowledge. So being able to have a partner that has the ability to pull out knowledge from all sorts of institutions, document it and make it publicly available is huge; that is number one. Number two is advocacy around what is important; once CTA picks up on a critical topic, it really puts its weight behind it, in terms of advocating for what needs to be done. In addition, CTA has done so much for young people. As we struggle to help find jobs for young people, Pitch Agrihack ensures that they have some form of skills and can be given an opportunity to use their minds and imagination to develop businesses. CTA has built the capacity of youths and given them the confidence to step forward and think of themselves as entrepreneurs. The organisation has done a great job as a knowledge builder, of sharing that knowledge and of advocating what needs to be done and what needs to change.

Is there anything else you want to add?

It is appropriate to thank the leadership and team of CTA for the amazing work they have done in the last few years. I have had the privilege of working with them both in Rwanda and at AGRA and I have to say they actually deliver, and deliver good work.

On December 12, H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, the board chair of the Alliance of Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), former prime minister of Ethiopia, visited Beijing and gave a speech on School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University. Desalegn emphasized that Africa’s agricultural development is facing numerous threats, which could be exacerbated by the global climate change. However, China’s rich experience in sustainable intensive agricultural production and climate smart agricultural practices can effectively help Africa to cope with these challenges. The following is edited from his speech.

Recently, the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP) took place in Madrid. An event that reminds us of the time-sensitiveness and high relevance of agricultural climate change resilience and adaptation Today, hundreds of millions of people remain hungry, yet agriculture already uses almost 50% of the world’s vegetated land, and generates 25% of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. How can we achieve a sustainable food future by meeting growing demands for food, avoiding deforestation, and reforesting or restoring abandoned and unproductive land—and in ways that help stabilize the climate, promote economic development, and reduce poverty? And how can China-Africa cooperation contribute to this vision and achieving the sustainable development goals?

There are numerous threats currently facing the agricultural sector in Africa. These include droughts, floods and commodity price instability, that are all amplified due to climate change. The gains made in increasing farming households’ incomes can be wiped out by shocks arising from crop disease, drought, climate change, political crises/conflicts and economic shocks, such as price volatility. In the event of shocks, the rural poor, the majority of whom are smallholder farmers, are hardest hit as they have the least resources to prepare, withstand and bounce back from disruption.

Although the full impact of climate change on Africa’s farmers is far from certain, current predictions and recent trends seem to indicate that both Southern Africa and Sahelian West Africa are likely to become drier, with rainy seasons reduced in length and less consistent.  This, in a context where nearly all crop production is rain-fed, will require significant adjustments to the growth patterns and genetic makeup of crops. Varieties will need to mature earlier and be resistance to droughts and diseases to allow farmers to cope with the changing climate.

Furthermore, the need to undertake agricultural activities in a manner that ensures the prudent and sustainable management of environmental resources is key. Without a deliberate focus to help countries, communities, and farmers deal with these problems, experience shows that any gains in progress for agricultural transformation can be quickly eliminated– and even leave things worse off than they were before.

At the same time, according to a report by WRI, released earlier this year, agriculture and land-use change contributed to one quarter of total human-caused GHG emissions in 2010—roughly 12 gigatons (Gt) measured as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Of this total, a little more than half resulted from agricultural production, including such sources as methane from livestock production and rice cultivation, nitrous oxide from nitrogen fertilizer, and carbon dioxide released by fossil fuels used in agricultural production. A little less than half of the emissions resulted from land-use change (vegetation clearing and soil plowing) as agriculture expanded.

China has accumulated rich experiences in sustainability as well as climate smart agriculture practices such assoil conservation, drought tolerance, early maturing, disease-resistance, and utilizing agricultural mulch film. China also has the political will and resources to support developing countries to tackle climate change. For example, in September 2015, China announced a 20 billion-yuan ($3.1 billion) South-South Climate Cooperation Fund. China is committed to funding 10 low-carbon demonstration projects, 100 climate change adaptation and mitigation projects, and 1,000 training places in developing nations (the “10-100-1000” plan).  
 
Established in 2006, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an African-led and Africa-based institution that puts smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming agriculture from a solitary struggle to survive into a business that thrives. AGRA’s adaptation framework builds strengths in seed systems, integrated soil fertility management, the development of market access, inclusive finance and knowledge management. State capability, policy and regional trade also form a key part of the delivery channels through which climate adaptation initiatives will be developed and implemented for food systems change. AGRA is also working closely with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote China’s contribution and influence to the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) – a global consultative group that contributes to research and developing agricultural resilience and adaptation.

There is no doubt that this challenge of creating a sustainable food future involves balancing many competing needs and there is no silver bullet to address the issue. We firmly believe that continued China-Africa cooperation will be able to contribute to this vision and achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals.

Originally published on China.org.cn

For farmers here in East Africa, December is normally a time to harvest their crops after what we call the short rain season and start preparing their fields for the “long rains” that normally begin in March. But these are not normal times.

Our farmers are currently reeling from wild swings in extremes. After enduring yet another drought earlier this year that disrupted the once-reliable long rains, they now are seeing the short rains intensify into a deluge that has destroyed crops and caused floods that so far have killed 250 people.  For many farmers, our harvest seasons have instead become a time to assess the damages inflicted by climate change and search for ways to adapt to a future filled with uncertainty.

I grew up in a farming household in East Africa and while we faced our share of tough seasons, the weather extremes that farmers now experience is of a different magnitude. When I speak with farmers today, many of them wonder whether climate change means farming is no longer capable of providing a better life for their families.

In September I was at the United Nation’s Climate Action Summit in New York, where a coalition of donors promised to invest more than US $790 million to help millions of family farmers in Africa and elsewhere in the developing world adapt to climate change. That’s a generous down payment. But unfortunately, given the climate extremes our farmers already are facing, much more assistance will be needed, and many more countries will need to step up.

Already, the climate crisis is a key reason at least 33 million people across East and Southern Africa are facing critical levels of food insecurity and that globally, hunger is rising after years of declining. And it could get much worse. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently warned that Africa could see areas of land supporting bean production shrink by 30 to 60 percent. Maize, our most important crop, could also see big losses to heat and drought. 

That’s not to say African farmers are standing still. I have met farmers that are adapting by diversifying their crops to include drought-tolerant varieties of cassava, sweet potato, pigeon pea, beans and maize. There is also an explosion of new digital information platforms enabling farmers to gain new insights.

But our farmers need much more, I don’t mean charity. I mean investment and innovation. Though they often work very small plots of land, African farmers are entrepreneurs looking for tools to manage climate risks so they can grow their business and create a better life for their children. Giving them these tools is our top priority.

Africa can’t and shouldn’t do this alone.  As Bill Gates recently said, “the people of the world who have done the least to cause this climate crisis should not be the ones who suffer the most.”

It must be clearly understood that while we are a continent of one billion people, we have contributed very little to the problem of climate change. A recent expert analysis in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found climate changes caused by emissions largely generated in wealthier parts of the world, have already cost many African countries anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of their GDP growth. This is not a challenge any African country is positioned to deal with right now; they need support. 

I worry about what I saw at the UN Climate Summit in September and also what I saw this month at the Madrid climate talks. In these forums, even the most dedicated climate activists—and the finance programs they champion—are almost entirely focused on reducing emissions. That’s a critical need, but it’s not admitting defeat to also channel more of that passion toward supporting adaptation for those already feeling the pain.

I hope in the future, the end of the growing season in East Africa can once again be one of hope that comes from a good harvest, and not one dominated by dread and disaster planning. But that requires leaders of the global climate movement to engage in a more honest reckoning of the challenges already set in motion by climate change—and that will continue no matter how much we reduce emissions. And they must embrace their responsibility to deliver solutions that ensure vulnerable communities can adapt.

Originally published on Thomson Reuters Foundation News

Memunatu Alhassan is the proprietor of the Lowlandi Rice Processing Centre in Tamale, Northern Ghana. For more than a decade, Lowlandi has been aggregating rice from smallholder farmers in the region forprocessing and retail.

Like many small and medium agribusiness enterprises operating in Ghana and in most of Africa, Lowlandi lacked access to finance to expand. They did not have the right quantity and quality of raw material required for processing. As paddy supply was erratic,Lowlandi could not meet the rising demand for rice.

Since 2018, Memunatu has received funds to expand her business to serve more smallholder farmers and meet the ever expanding consumer demand for the grain. This was made possible through a project by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Special Initiative – “One World-No Hunger”.

As a result, Lowlandi has increased the quantity of rice processed from 6.1MT per day in 2017 to 10.2 MTs per day in 2018. Memunatu says, “This project has improved the quality and quantity of paddy I receive to keep my mill operating almost at full capacity. Our customers are happier and the bank account is looking good; our profits are  up by about  30%”.

Good business for the center has created ripple positive outcomes in the community. For example, the number of women processors working at the enterprise has grown from 23 in 2017 to 50 in 2018.  One of the workers, Mma Azara, says, “Parboiling and sorting rice at the center has provided me with a reliable source of income to take care of myself and my children. The more rice we process, the more income I will make”.

Additionally, smallholder women rice farmers from nearby communities (Vittin, Lamashegu, Nyashegu and Choggu) brought in their parboiled riceto the processing centre to mill at a fee. Also, Lowlandi bought the rice milled by the women if it was the AGRA variety providing them with ready market.

As Lowlandi’s production capacity increases, Memunatu plans to acquire a second mill and a mechanized color sorter to end the manual sorting of rice at the Center. She is also organizing women smallholder rice farmers into Farmer Based Organization (FBO) to enhance efficiency.

Creating the impact witnessed and the linkages between the agribusiness and farmers was made possible by the consortium of institutions implementing the project. 1n 2018,  Lowlandi, a member of the Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB), got into  contact with Hopeline Institute, a member of the consortium  implementing the 3-year project  dubbed “Public-Private Partnership for Competitive and Inclusive Rice Value Chain Development

To enable Lowlandi meet its increased requirements for paddy in the 2019 production season, Hopeline Institute linked the enterprise to smallholder farmers in the Upper East Region. The project has supported these farmers to access improved seeds and fertilizer and trained them in good agricultural practices. The entry of Lowlandi into the project meant that the farmers had a ready market for their produce.

Ebow Graham, Project Manager of Hopeline Institute describes Lowlandi, one of the over 200,000 rice value chain actors (aggregators and processors)supported by the project as “A key actor in the rice value chain. The provision of ready market for smallholders supported under the project is encouraging them to increase production”.

For Memunatu and women engaged in rice value chain activities in Northern Ghana, the project has provided a great opportunity to increase productivity and yields and earn more income for financial inclusion. It also contributes to the realization of Ghana agricultural aspireation outlined in its Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme.

• Africa needs fertilisers to help regenerate the production of crop biomass that can be ploughed into the soil, which are too degraded to give sufficient biomass to raise fertility.
• Most of the subsidies in Sub-Saharan Africa are currently crowding out the private sector.
• Fertiliser use has increased from an average of 8kg of nutrient per hectare in 2006 to 17kg of nutrient per hectare in 2018.

Dr Rebbie Harawa is the head of soil and fertiliser systems at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). She spoke to Daily Nation’s Leopold Obi on how farmers can improve fertility of their soils through effective use of fertilisers

Many soils in Africa are either infertile, too acidic or degraded. What practices can farmers adopt to boost fertility?

The best practice is to integrate inorganic fertilisers and organic manures from animal and crops and incorporating cereal and legume rotations.

Africa needs fertilisers to help regenerate the production of crop biomass that can be ploughed into the soil, which are too degraded to give sufficient biomass to raise fertility.

A new report by Agra titled ‘Feeding Africa’s Soils’ urges farmers to use fertilisers ‘in much greater quantities to boost crop production’, yet a number of studies have blamed increased use of the input for rising soil acidity. Where does the balance lie?

The report emphasises on the use of balanced fertilisers (area and crop-specific) guided by soil testing. Where soils are acidic, farmers are advised to apply agricultural lime and use the right type of fertiliser.

But again, increased use of fertiliser has to be integrated with organic manures that help to reduce the acidifying effect.

Many African countries including Kenya have used subsidy programmes to promote fertiliser use among smallholders. What should be done to make the programmes work efficiently?

We are advising governments to carry out “smart subsidies” to ensure that smallholders are benefiting. The reforms include:

•Better targeting through beneficiary selection and registration process to ensure that the fertiliser is benefiting those who really need it.
•Use of e-vouchers to create transparency, cost and time efficiency and track transactions.
•Use of private sector and agro-dealers to distribute because they have more selling outlets than public channels.
• Fast-track budget approval and announce the programme in real-time to avoid late delivery of vouchers, procurement and distribution of inputs.
•Promote soil testing so that fertiliser that is subsidised is balanced to address area and crop specific needs.
• Put in place fertiliser regulatory frameworks to ensure that farmers are accessing good quality fertiliser.
•Fertiliser subsidy should be promoted alongside improved seeds, good agronomic practices and better access to produce market. Linking fertiliser subsidy to better access to produce is key to long-term sustainability of subsidy.

The private sector has asked the government to do away with fertiliser subsidy programmes, noting they are driving them out of business. Are they justified?

Most of the subsidies in Sub-Saharan Africa are currently crowding out the private sector. However, if government carries out the reforms where private sector drives the implementation and government focuses on the policy and regulations, this will create a win-win situation.

Numerous efforts have been made to boost fertiliser use in Sub-Saharan Africa, what is the progress so far?

Fertiliser use has increased from an average of 8kg of nutrient per hectare in 2006 to 17kg of nutrient per hectare in 2018.

This is still far from the target of 50kg nutrient per ha, which was agreed upon by African Heads State at the Africa Fertiliser Summit in 2006.

How can a farmer tell that their soils are acidic?

They can use simple soil test kits right on their farm and get instant results, which show whether their soils are acidic or not.

Farmers can also get soils tested in public and private soil laboratories

Can farmers whose soils are already acidic still use inorganic fertilisers?

Yes, but they need to apply agricultural lime first which reduces the soil acidity. This should be followed by the application of balanced fertilisers that have a less acidifying effect.

Ewadi Lazaro Chaula, 29, is a smallholder farmer from Mtitu Village in Tanzania’s Southern Highlands who is determined to succeed as a farming enterprise.  

A beneficiary of the AGRA-funded PIATA Tija Project, also known as Kilimo Tija in Tanzania, Ewadi saw a business opportunity as a seed breeder and out-grower for seed companies and was trained in the multiplication of Quality Declared Seeds (QDS) by the Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI) with the support of the Clinton Foundation.

Kilimo PIATA Tija, Tanzania is an agricultural productivity project, endorsed by the Government of Tanzania and partners to strengthen the agricultural inputs system, technology development, and supply chain efficiency. In the Kiswahili language, Kilimo Tija denotes the shift to a productive, profitable and solution-based agriculture, while the acronym PIATA, is the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa led by AGRA, USAID, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Tanzania is one of 11 African countries covered by PIATA to support and drive inclusive agricultural transformation as a tool for poverty reduction. The others are Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda.  These innovative partnerships add valuable improvements to the livelihoods of smallholder farmers who include women and youth, to commercialize food staple production that impacts selected value chains.

The focus is on creating integrated delivery systems within agro-economic zones and across value chains with enhanced in-country coordination to leverage wider investments and deliberate private sector engagements that build sustainable systems capable of transitioning agriculture from subsistence to viable and prosperous businesses. 

Initially, Ewadi had tried his hand in soybean production, putting the skills and knowledge he had acquired to good use.  “With a yield of up to 2400 kg per acre (0.4 ha), I was over the moon and the envy of my village-mates,” he says. However, his pride was short-lived in the subsequent seasons when the local market collapsed due to over-production in Iringa Region. Farmers like Ewadi are challenged by the absence of storage capacity and significant post-harvest losses.  “It was painful to have to sell at a throw-away price,” he adds, “but it was either that or to watch the produce going to waste.”

Whereas farmers lament the absence of markets for soybean in their localities, the potential for farmers targeting regional and global markets is untapped.  These are some of the production and food crop marketing challenges that AGRA and the PIATA partners address by leveraging the the full complement of tools, systems, knowledge, and partner resources to the common goal of sustaining an inclusive agricultural transformation.

For instance, the Tanzania Soybean Development Strategy proposes processing and value addition as an intervention to address shortcomings within the soybean value chain.  This is echoed by agriculture extension officer, Geoffrey Mdete, who notes that farmers stand to benefit from an awareness of how the legume is utilized.    

“Many people in Iringa are unaware of the many uses of soybean for human, animal and soil health,” he observes. Despite price fluctuations, farmers in the region prefer maize as a more reliable cash crop, citing confidence in the local and regional markets. However, there is a gradual acceptance to test the waters with other value chains.

Among the interventions the partnerships have invested in are: strengthening the policy environment, increasing youth and women’s empowerment and participation in the processes as well as securing public private partnerships to support farmer capacity to increase staple crop productivity with an expanded access to national and regional markets.  PIATA Tija also seeks to prepare smallholder farming households and agricultural systems to adapt to the shocks and stresses brought on by climate change. 

Financing and investments are critical components in creating the conditions that support an inclusive agricultural transformation. Included in this category is the provision of multiple services dedicated to supporting both on- and off-farm agricultural activities and businesses.  Among these are inputs, production and distribution channels as well as wholesale, processing and marketing services.

Farmers and small to medium-sized rural businesses often cite financing as a barrier, more so because they lack collateral.  At the same time, financial services providers struggle to put a price to the risk of loans among this category of clients.

When he approached PIATA Tija for a grant of about USD 900 in November 2018, Ewadi had decided to plant three acres of Njano Uyole bean, a popular breakfast item with households and restaurants alike.  As with the earlier soybean enterprise, the yield from production was excellent but the markets were still a challenge.

“From Iringa to Dar es Salaam, the variety is one of the best commercial bean varieties,” says Geoffrey Mdete, who has been instrumental in training farmers in modern agronomy with the support of AGRA and other partners.

His advice to Ewadi is to align with farmer groups to reap the benefits of economies of scale through bulk input purchases and market interactions. “In tackling the market as an individual, Ewadi was exposed and vulnerable,” says the extension officer, “when smallholder producers aggregate, the markets begin to pay attention and to respond positively.”

This view is supported by Raphael Kundi, an official of SeedCo Limited. “United in number and diversity, smallholder farmers can create impact as business setups,” he says. “Farmer groups are the pillar of agricultural development.

As each individual farmer grows their share of agricultural economic activity, they benefit from the exposure of being trained in groups as well as discounted costs for inputs, services and markets.  

In the model promoted by AGRA, organized farmer groups, with the support of local government are able to register a collective impact in transformation into agribusiness.

PIATA Tija’s involvement in scaling up system and farmer-level initiatives is in line with the strategies to catalyse and sustain an inclusive agricultural transformation across Africa. It aims to increase food security and income levels for 30 million smallholder African farm households by 2020, and double the incomes of 20 million smallholder farmers in at least 15 countries.

The initiative aligns with commitments by African Heads of State to eradicate hunger by 2025. PIATA embodies the same principles as the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, and corresponds to the African Union’s national economic strategy.

It’s counterintuitive to a lot of people, but Chinese and African agriculture has a lot more in common with one another than many first expect. For the most part, both are dominated by small family farms that have to battle mightily with the twin effects of climate change and industrialization.

On the climate change front, drought haunts many parts of both China and Africa as deserts expand and rainfall becomes increasingly intermittent in some areas. Similarly, both China and Africa do not produce enough food to feed themselves and therefore depend on imported food to survive, so the stakes for agriculture in both regions are extremely high.

And, in terms of industrialization, in Africa, just as it is in China, the lure of jobs in the cities pulls more and more young people off the land in search of a better life.

Given that China has gone through many of the same challenges that African farmers encounter today, there’s a huge opportunity for the Chinese to leverage that experience in its aid and development programs.

To get some perspective on Chinese agricultural engagement in Africa, Eric & Cobus are joined by Xingqing Lu, an Associate Program Manager from the independent non-profit organization Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

Originally published

Essong’olo village, in the heart of Vihiga County, is just like any other hamlet, with most households engaging in subsistence farming.

Isaiah Bitoolo is one of the residents of this village and, like many of his neighbours, he keeps a herd of five indigenous cattle in a makeshift zero-grazing unit.

Years ago, zero-grazing of such animals was unheard-of in the village as the animals grazed in a free-range style along the rural roads, in open fields and along riverbanks.

“Things are changing fast,” says the 44-year-old farmer. “I was forced to zero-graze the animals because for the better part of this year, there was little grass in the fields where we used to graze them due to little rains. Most of the fields have also been cultivated, fenced off or built up and some of the rivers have dried up, leaving us with no option,” he said.

To manage the new way of keeping his animals, the farmer has been forced to spare at least one of the two-and-a-half acres he owns for farming napier grass.

“For the first time in my life, I am budgeting for my animals,” said Bitoolo

The smallholder farmer is among hundreds who are feeling the heat as climate change ravages the country. And the farmers are adapting to the change in various ways.

Jemimah Keng’wa, a farmer in Esilongo in Vihiga, says she was forced to ditch cane farming for vegetables.

For many years, Keng’wa grew on her three-acre farm sugarcane (Yellow gal and Georgia red varieties), which are usually soft, with fibres that stick together, which makes them ideal for chewing.

This agribusiness attracted customers from distant villages who visited her farm to buy cane and sell on roadsides.
“The canes no longer thrive the way they used to because the climatic conditions are no longer the same.”

Jemimah has now settled for vegetable farming, which is time-consuming and requires more care than cane. “I had to settle for this because it is the most appropriate agribusiness since the vegetables mature future,” she said.

RAIN-FED AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

John Macharia, the country manager for Kenya at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), says many smallholder farmers have responded to climate change and variability by diversifying into the horticulture value chain.

“Horticulture presents an opportunity for shorter cash cycles, and this is what farmers are turning to as a way of coping with the ever-increasing climate stress,” he told the Seeds of Gold.

The emergence of new pests and diseases is also a huge setback for smallholders. “Unlike what we used to do, I no longer buy any maize seed because it is a planting season,” said Philemon Echoka, a smallholder farmer from Nangili in Kitale.

“I have to know whether or not the seed I am buying is tolerant to fall army worms,” he said, noting that fighting the pest is one of the biggest struggles in his farming career.

Scientists have pointed out that the worms are affected by climatic factors, and that climate change may affect geographical range, growth rate, abundance, survival, mortality, number of generations per year and other characteristics.

In other parts of the country, many farmers have adopted low tillage farming system as a way of coping with new climatic conditions. However, this is not a new thing.

It has been increasingly popular around the world especially after World War II – and similar no-plough systems were the basis for much ancient agriculture, before the modern plough was invented.

According to the World Bank, about 98 per cent of Kenya’s agricultural systems are rain-fed and highly susceptible to climate change and variability.

“Adoption of climate-smart practices can help mitigate the impact of climate change and ensure predictability in yields for the farmers,” said Parmesh Shah, Global Lead for Rural Livelihoods and Agricultural Jobs at the World Bank Group.
Macharia notes it cannot be business as usual for farmers.

“All smallholder farmers must diversify their diets, grow crops that respond well to prevailing climatic conditions, make good use of weather and climate information services, and learn to make use of technologies and techniques that may help them cope with the changing climatic conditions,” he said.

Originally published on The Nation

Stepped up and concerted actions are needed in Africa if the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger and the more ambitious Malabo hunger target are to be met. The Malabo Declaration, adopted by African Union member states in 2014, calls for the intensification of collective efforts towards the eradication of hunger and malnutrition by 2025.

The Sustainable Development Goals, adopted globally in 2015, aims to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030. According to FAO and other institutions, evidence shows the African continent is not on track to meet these commitments. Fiona Mbabazi caught up with the President of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa( AGRA) Dr. Agnes Kalibata and this is what she had to say on the matter.

Without changing the approach towards the efforts to end hunger, Africa risks remaining as the only continent struggling with hunger in 2030.

This is the view from most experts who attended the launch of the 2020 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF 2020).

The Forum, due to take place in September next year in Kigali was launched yesterday.

Expert worry that Africa could still be importing a significant amounts of food by 2030.

Considered as the world’s leading Forum for advancing Africa’s agricultural agenda, AGRF is expected to attract a record 4,000 participants, according to its organisers.

Hailemariam Desalegn, AGRF Partners Group Chair and former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, said that eliminating hunger on the continent is being undermined by high population growth and climate change.

“Business and progress as usual is not enough for Africa’s aspirations. Without a change of approach and change of pace, Africa stands to be the only continent struggling with hunger in 2030,” Desalegn said.

“In order to achieve our aspirations laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Africa’s Agenda 2063, we must ensure we drive agriculture transformation at the heart of our economic transformation.”

Africa has highest prevalence of undernourishment, at 20 per cent of its population, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Rwanda’s Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente highlighted some key points that Africa should focus on in order to develop the agriculture sector.

“Our African countries need to keep putting emphasis on extension services. This should be done using appropriate approaches such as deployment of skilled extension personnel in farming areas to work with farmers, using farmer to farmer extension services, youth service providers,” he said.

This linkage between research, extension and farmers, he added, will speed up agricultural transformation on our continent.

Ngirente said the agriculture sector in Africa is mostly dominated by an ageing population because it remains unattractive to the young generation as a business.

“To attract them into agriculture, there is need to de-risk this sector so as to attract investments and continue empowering youth and other farmers to use technologies that make agriculture a competitive and profitable business,” he said.

Furthermore, he said; “African Governments have to ensure farmers timely access to agriculture inputs, especially improved seeds and fertilisers.”

He noted Rwanda is honoured to be selected as the host of AGRF 2020.

“Rwanda is fully committed to driving a comprehensive agricultural transformation at the heart of our economic transformation. This is emphasized in our strategic plan for agriculture transformation, which was launched last year,” the Premier said.

Dr Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and host of the independent AGRF Secretariat, said; “Working together, we can ensure the policies, programmes, and investments that will transform the lives of millions of smallholder farmers, grow African businesses, and put a good number of countries on the path to a sustainable agricultural transformation.”

Kalibata said facts show that all countries that managed to develop started with significantly investing in and boosting their agriculture sector.

According to information from the African Development Bank, Africa’s annual food import bill is estimated at $35 billion and is projected to rise to $110 billion by 2025 if the status quo remains.

The Bank argues that this situation weakens African economies, decimates its agriculture and exports jobs from the continent.