The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is getting U.S. $15 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support policy innovations and implementation to improve food security. The initiative aims to benefit small farmers, most of whom are women, by helping to improve their yield, boosting both incomes and nutrition.
The AGRA president, Dr. Namanga Ngongi, spoke to AllAfrica about the work of the Nairobi-based organization and about the grant.
How will these new resources change or expand your work?
Agra’s work so far [has been] limited to technical programs of seed systems, soil health and markets. This will permit us to work with governments to be able to put in place policies that will encourage farmers, especially small-scale farmers, to have access to new technologies.
You’re now going to establish policy research and policy action centers to build on the work you’ve already done on seeds and soil health and markets and land tenure and environment. So it’s a pretty ambitious agenda that you have for yourself.
Yes, but it’s not AGRA that is going to set up all of these policy centers. AGRA will be working with the governments, so that the policy centers are gradually owned by the countries - the public and private sectors, including farmers and farmers’ organization, in contrast to policies which have been externally driven before. That’s really the difference. We will have major programs initially in five countries: Mali, Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique and Ethiopia.
You mentioned externally driven policies. Can you specify how those policies were imposed on Africa and what kind of obstacles they posed for food security?
I would not say that the formerly externally driven policies were imposed on Africa. I would more or less say that Africa did not have the internal capacity to engage in the discussions that led to the implementation of those policies. In the early years of independence – the 60s and 70s – Africa was actually devoting significant resources to agriculture. But with the advent of structural adjustment programs there were shifts from agriculture to other sectors, which has resulted in the very poor performance of the agriculture sector in Africa.
Would you comment on how the five initial countries for your focus were selected? What were the criteria?
Our board approved criteria for a portfolio of countries we are going to work with to develop what we call bread baskets. Those are areas which have conditions which are most appropriate for rapid increases in productivity, production and linkages to market and commitment of the government to support farmers. You have a reasonable degree of infrastructure development in those areas and also a willingness of governments to work with the private sector, so that private-sector development efforts can have an impact on agriculture. Those four countries are Mali, Ghana, Tanzania and Mozambique. Ethiopia has its own very serious agriculture problems, but it has the willingness of its government to engage with various actors. If we can contribute to increased productivity in Ethiopia, that will be a major contribution to Africa’s food security.
We are approaching the Africa Leadership prize award in Tanzania next month. Mo Ibrahim, who founded that prize, is on your board of directors. Could you speak to the importance AGRA places on ‘governance’ among the set of criteria that lead to food security?
Governance plays a critical role in all development, including agriculture development. First of all, at least 70 percent of the population is engaged in agriculture in any particular [African] country. When the government is not able to address the needs of 70 percent of its population, it probably is out of touch with reality. Any government, if it’s reflecting the wishes or aspirations of its population, should be according a lot of it’s attention to that sector. So I think the work that the Mo Ibrahim Foundation is doing in producing a governance index – I just saw the recent one – I think it’s a very major contribution to focusing on the real needs of people. Governance, and using the Mo Ibrahim index, is one of those criteria that formed the choice of these four priority Portfolio One countries.
How do you think your diverse career might contribute to your focus on agriculture. For example, you were head of the peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, you coordinated an international conference on disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in Sierra Leone. Can you talk about how those experiences may have helped you in this current job? Do you think that there are linkages between peace and food security?
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
My experience so far has shown me that development is not only just agriculture. Clearly there is need for peace and stability in countries, for people to be able to engage in civil discourse to exchange ideas, to search through options. Governments and populations cannot exercise that choice in a situation of chaos. Plus there is a need to involve a lot more players than just public institutions. Agriculture is largely a private-sector affair; farmers are small business persons. If we do not work with them, taking into consideration their own views and their contributions as private sector actors, then we are missing the boat. So, in my own opinion, with stability returning to Africa and much more openness for governments to work with the private sector, there is a chance to have a synergy between agriculture and development.
