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Africa: High Food Prices Renew Interest in African Farming
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
13 May 2008
Posted to the web 13 May 2008
Dominique Patton
Africa's agriculture sector is attracting new interest from donors and the international community as a global rise in food prices threatens to wipe out recent economic gains in developing countries.
Groups working with African farmers are now asking if these concerns can trigger a 'green revolution' such as the one seen in Asia following a severe food-price spike in 1973-4.
At a special meeting on food prices called by UK prime minister Gordon Brown last month, the UK pledged £400 million over five years for research aimed at higher crop yields and better pest control, a doubling of the previous year's amount. It will also donate £120 million a year to boost the agricultural sector in poor countries and £34.7 million to reduce the cost of transportation in Africa.
The US has announced funding for agricultural development as part of an additional US$770 million food aid package. And UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that a new international task force set up to tackle the rise in food prices will need "to boost agricultural development, particularly in Africa and other regions most affected".
The moves come after years of declining funding for agricultural research. Investment in agricultural development for Africa fell by 66 per cent between 1985 and 2004, according to FarmAfrica, a UK-based NGO that works with small farmers in East Africa.
Now, as global attention focuses on soaring food prices, calls for long-term funding of agriculture are growing.
"For decades African agriculture has been neglected, and the price for this neglect is now glaring. National grain reserves are very, very low. The situation can and must be reversed," said Kofi Annan in an opening speech to a seminar in Austria at the beginning of the month.
Mr Annan said that providing effective humanitarian aid will be vital for many African countries in the short-term to help them deal with surging food prices. But with significant investments in agriculture in the medium to long-term, Africa could radically improve its food output and become self-sufficient.
Investment in agriculture takes time to pay off, however, and donors are also being asked to boost the budget of the World Food Programme for immediate food aid. NGOs want them to also invest in crop research, infrastructure and access to markets rather than simply dishing out aid.
"It is essential that food aid is not provided as a short term 'sticking plaster'...rather than looking at the role that investment in agriculture must play to end hunger in the long term," said a statement from FarmAfrica.
If the message is heeded, a new level of support for agriculture could have a long-lasting impact on food production.
"Things have changed. Since the 1990s there's been an erosion of interest and funding in agriculture. When high level politicians take an interest and new funds start going in, it can make a difference," Steve Wiggins, a research fellow with UK think-tank, the Overseas Development Institute, told Business Daily.
Many of the factors leading to Asia's green revolution in the 1970s are again evident today.
"The price of energy was very high, global food supply very very low, and the price of rice was so high that you had rice riots across Asia. That's what pushed Asian government to invest more in agricultural research...We are hoping that African governments would do the same," said Akin Adesina of the Alliance for a Green Revolution (AGRA) in Africa.
Mr Wiggins says that so far, "we're seeing very similar responses. At that time there were high-level discussions calling for a Green Revolution and for the rest of the 70s donors threw money at agricultural research."
He added that studies have shown the value of agricultural investment. "There are very high returns on investing in agricultural research. For every $1 spent, you get at least $5 back."
Agricultural experts tend to disagree on the solutions needed to boost Africa's agricultural output.
Not everyone believes farmers need the kind of technology proposed by AGRA, such as high yield hybrid seeds and irrigation systems. Many say improving access to global markets is a bigger hurdle for African farmers.
However most agree that food production will need to improve significantly if the continent is to stave off the combined effects of high food prices and climate change.
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Many African countries are vulnerable to current prices rises because they are net food importers. The cereal bill for low-income food-deficit countries on the continent is projected to increase another 74 per cent in 2007/2008, said Mr Annan.
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