Agri’s flat growth threatens poverty

The flat growth of agriculture sector for the first nine months of the year is not expected  to affect the gross domestic product (GDP) for this year.

National Economic and Development Authority  Director General Arsenio Balisacan said at the sidelines of 52nd Annual Meeting of the Philippine Economic Society in Makati City that despite the less than 1 percent growth of the agriculture sector from January to September period, it may not slow down the economic growth of the country as the sector accounts for only 11 percent of the total GDP.

The Philippine Statistics Authority  reported yesterday  that the agriculture sector only grew by 0.33 percent in the first nine months of the year even as the sector was affected by three strong typhoons such as “Glenda”, “Luis”, and “Mario” in July to September.

On the other hand, the sector’s value of production grossed P1.1 trillion at current prices in the said period, higher by 9.55 percent than last year’s gross earnings.

“Even though the growth of agriculture is likely to have impact on GDP, but because of its portion (in the economy), we hope it will not affect,” Balisacan said.

The NEDA chief, however, noted that despite agriculture sector’s low contribution to the GDP, it is a part of the economy which has large impact in poverty reduction since there is large portion of the population who are dependent in agriculture.

“If the agriculture output is low then the income is also low,” he explained noting that individual income of the population in the said sector will further decline when there is higher population dependent in the sector.

PSA data also showed that the farmers and fishermen are the poorest sectors in the country in 2012.

Poverty rate among fishermen was at 39.2 percent while farmers at 38.3 percent.*PNA

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Davos 2013: new vision for agriculture is old news for farmers

The media spotlight is on the role of smallholder farmers in poverty reduction and food security, but what they need is action on land rights and support to stand up to powerful partners.

With the launch of the Enough food for everyone If campaign, global food security is once again high on the public agenda. The UK campaign hopes to harness public support leading up to the meeting of the G8 in June, in an attempt to replicate the achievements of Make Poverty History in 2005. One of the key pillars of the If campaign is land, and drawing attention to the plight of poor farmers who are being forced to relinquish their property in what has been described as a neo-colonial "land grab".

We have, of course, seen processes of alienation and dispossession accelerate over the past century. In the Age of Extremes, the final volume in his much-praised quartet of books, historian Eric Hobsbawm declared that the "death of the peasantry" constituted "the most dramatic and far-reaching social change of the second half of this [20th] century", sealing "us off forever from the world of the past". "The peasantry," Hobsbawm continued, "which had formed the majority of the human race throughout recorded history, had been made redundant by the agricultural revolution."

While many on the left felt that this was a premature obituary, several commentators on the right saw the demise of the peasantry as an essential precursor to prosperity. In the American magazine Foreign Affairs in 2008, Paul Collier mocked "the middle and upper class love affair with peasant agriculture", and the view that "peasants, like pandas, are to be preserved". In today's world, Collier argued, "the world needs more commercial farms, not less".

Collier's comments are just a recent instalment in a long history of disparaging smallholders. Victorian elites castigated in equal measure Indian ryot farmers, Irish cottier tenants and African sharecroppers as primitive, idle, mendacious and improvident. Much the same narrative that characterised the colonial period carried over into the Green Revolution, as "de-peasantisation" became the sine qua non for agricultural development. The push for higher yields, driven by influential voices within the Rockefeller and Ford foundations, required a strong agricultural support structure, including expensive pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers and regular irrigation, much of which was beyond the capacity of small-scale growers.

The World Economic Forum's report, a New Vision for Agriculture (pdf), which was launched to coincide with its annual meeting in Davos, promises to break this spiral of misanthropic thought. Recognising that the planet is home to around 500 million smallholders – who support 2 billion people, account for 97% of global agricultural holdings, and produce food for almost 70% of the world's population – the report stresses the importance of "collaborative action" with smallholders to deliver food security, economic opportunity and environmental sustainability.

Instead of being regarded as fossils from bygone era, smallholders are identified in the report as "change agents" and "catalysts" in the business of agricultural transformation. The report insists that "smallholder-inclusive" projects can be devised in partnership with private-sector investors, governments and civil society organisations. With the right incentives, those projects can be scaled up to the regional and national level, promoting poverty reduction and comprehensive rural development, but is this really a departure from old practice – a genuinely "new vision" for agriculture?

We believe there are grounds for caution. First, partnership, as envisioned in this report, is clearly a David-meets-Goliath-type alliance. Although local businesses and farmers frame the picture, it is global agribusiness that dominates the view. Can smallholders really have a voice when faced with the collective bargaining power of Bunge, Cargill, Coca-Cola, Diageo, DuPont, Unilever, and Walmart – just a few of the 28 partner companies that drive the initiative? All too often, the rhetoric of development partnerships masks the vast asymmetries of power between participants.

Second, the New Vision for Agriculture clearly prioritises market-based approaches to food security and poverty reduction. The report asks: "With the models employed, are smallholders able fully to participate in the market, or are most still mainly at the subsistence level?" However, the contrast between subsistence agriculture ("bad") and market participation and commodity production ("good") is not a straightforward one. Volatile markets can yield good and bad outcomes for poor people.

Finally, there is the unshakable sense that we have been here before. At the end of the 2012 Olympics, the British athlete Mo Farah joined international politicians at Downing Street to raise awareness at David Cameron's "hunger summit". For the prime minister, this was a very clever PR stunt.

Indeed, public handwringing and future assurances are now part of the annual cycle of political life, with little tangible proof that they make difference on the ground, where it matters most. Against this background, it is far too easy to be cynical about the recent commitments emanating from Davos, and the cycle of fleeting media attention that surrounds public campaigns on food, hunger and global justice. For the sake of world's smallholder farmers, let's hope we are wrong.

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Agriculture 'still the best bet' in cutting African poverty levels

Despite the increased focus on new areas such as technology that are fuelling Africa's rapid growth, agriculture remains the best bet to pull millions out of poverty, a new report has found.

Africa's growth needs would be better served by focusing on food staples, the International Food Policy Research Institute says.

The report is based on case studies of 10 African countries that sought to determine how agriculture could better contribute to poverty reduction and improved food security.

The study found that agriculture-led growth has the greatest impact on reducing absolute poverty, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the majority are farmers.

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) puts the number of those directly involved in agriculture on the continent at 61 per cent.

Given that most of these are subsistence farmers, encouraging the growing of staple crops such maize, bananas and rice could go a long way in eliminating poverty, it said.

According to the institute, while export crops such as coffee and tea may have higher value than food crops and other staples such as livestock products, they do generate economic growth as effectively.

Tanzania’s livestock sector for example contributes around 12 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product. The vast majority of the livestock, about 99 per cent, belongs to small owners, with a full third of the poor owning livestock.

In contrast, big farms and ranches in the country constitute only around one per cent of total livestock ownership, according to FAO data. Focusing on Tanzania’s livestock sector would therefore contribute greatly to reducing the country’s poverty levels, while at the same time stimulating sustainable economic growth, the study noted.

More cost effective

The same can be said of Mozambique’s roots and all staple foods in Zambia and Nigeria. According to the report, in Rwanda, growth driven by maize or pulses is 30-60 per cent more effective at reducing poverty than growth driven by export crops.

There is also good news for Africa’s agricultural policy makers. Investment in staples may be more cost effective in driving growth when compared to investment in non-agricultural sectors.

When quantified, returns achieved from non-agricultural growth (weighed in contribution to total GDP) would have to be significantly higher than those from agricultural growth in order to have better effectiveness at poverty reduction.

African nations should thus look into investing public resources in those agricultural sub-sectors with strong linkages to the poor, and to the overall economy.

Further examples are adduced: in Africa, 40 per cent of all root and tuber crops are produced by Nigeria, which is also the largest cassava producer in the world, with nearly 90 per cent of its production being for domestic consumption.

Cassava farming therefore plays a huge role in the lives of the country's mostly poor farmers and in the overall economy. As such, promoting growth in the root and tuber sub-sector could go a longer way in providing long term solutions to rural poverty.

Despite underscoring the importance of agricultural growth in eliminating poverty in Africa, the report also notes that increased growth in other non-agricultural sectors is necessary for faster urban development.

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IMF chief urges Malawi to diversify economy, rely less on agriculture

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde walks away after buying small packets of sugar from a woman at a makeshift shop at Kasengere village in the suburb of Malawi’s capital Lilongwe, yesterday.

LILONGWE, Malawi: IMF chief Christine Lagarde yesterday urged Malawi to diversify its economy, saying a reliance on agriculture left the country’s economic recovery under President Joyce Banda vulnerable.

“Agriculture still accounts for 30 percent of GDP and tobacco still accounts for almost half of total export earnings,” Lagarde said in prepared remarks on the second day of an official visit.

“What this means is that Malawi and its people are too vulnerable. Vulnerable to the forces of nature. Vulnerable to the vagaries of global commodity markets. Vulnerable to people slipping back and forth between poverty and just getting by.”

Lagarde praised reforms introduced by Banda and her government which she said had restored stability after inheriting a crisis characterised by foreign exchange shortages that crippled key imports such as fuel.

After taking office last April, Banda has overseen the devaluation of the kwacha currency by 50 percent, the easing of foreign exchange restrictions, and the raising of fuel prices and cutting of subsidies.

“Following these reforms, the economic wheels started spinning again,” said Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund managing director.

“But progress is threatened anew by a slump in agriculture — from a weather-related decline in maize production and a halving of the tobacco crop brought about by lower planting during the period of overvaluation.”

The fund has halved its 2012 growth forecast for the impoverished nation to around two percent but predicts a rate of 5.5 percent this year.

The country’s economic recovery plan set a foundation for improved growth, said Lagarde.

Private sector investment must be made easier and poor infrastructure in areas such as electricity and transport upgraded, she said, with Malawi scoring 129 out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.

“I believe that the key to unlocking Malawi’s potential lies in making it more competitive,” said Lagarde.

“This should help with diversification, allowing the country to rely less on agriculture and gain a foothold in newer and promising areas.” The IMF, one of the main backers of the country’s reforms, gave Malawi a three-year $157m loan package in June after ties had broken down amid a spree of global aid suspensions.

In 2011, the global lender suspended a $79.4m credit facility during the administration of the late president Bingu wa Mutharika, who died in April last year.

Donors provide up to 40 percent of the development budget and salaries for nearly 170,000 civil servants.

Criticised at home for devaluing the kwacha, Banda told a joint press conference late on Friday that “there will be no backtracking on the reforms.”

Under Mutharika, relations with the IMF had become tense after he refused to devalue the currency as the global lender had advised, arguing it would trigger inflation and hurt the poor. In the country, 39 percent of the 13 million people live on less than a dollar a day.

Several key donors, including former colonial power Britain, suspended aid, citing concerns about growing authoritarian tendencies in Mutharika’s government. AFP

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Investments key for long-term resilience, rebuilding agriculture in Haiti – UN agency

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has stressed that investments are crucial to help rehabilitate Haiti’s agricultural sector in the wake of various natural disasters this year that caused colossal damage to the farming and fishing industries.

“If we don’t invest today, we will pay the price tomorrow,” said Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Haitian President Michel Martelly at FAO Headquarters in Rome yesterday, Mr. Graziano da Silva pledged to support Haiti through interventions that address the country’s immediate crisis situations as well as the root causes of its food insecurity and poverty.

FAO and the Haitian Government are currently seeking $74 million over the next 12 months to help long-term resilience in the country. The funds would be used to rehabilitate irrigation schemes and rural access roads; restore local seed production; provide seeds, fertilizer and agricultural tools to small farmers; support inland fisheries; and vaccinate livestock, among other activities.

The funds would also go towards helping farmers plant crops for the next planting season which starts in December.

Mr. Graziano da Silva said the objective is “to make Haitians, especially farmers, more resilient to climate and other challenges.”

Last month, Hurricane Sandy caused significant damage to Haiti’s crops, land, livestock, fisheries and rural infrastructures. It killed 60 people and flooded, destroyed or damaged some 18,000 homes, as well as hospitals, schools and public buildings.

It was the third disaster to hit Haiti in the space of a few months. Between May and June, a severe drought struck at the beginning of the critical spring cropping season, and in August, Tropical Storm Isaac battered the country, displacing thousands of people. Together, the three disasters left two million Haitians at risk of food insecurity and resulted in losses of $254 million to the agricultural sector.

“If we don’t intervene quickly, over 60 per cent of the population deriving their livelihood from agriculture will be put at risk,” said FAO Assistant Director-General for Technical Cooperation Laurent Thomas.

Out of the $74 million sought, FAO has so far secured $2.7 million, with indications of a further $5 million-$6 million from different donors. The agency will also implement short- and medium-term projects in response to the current crisis, ranging from immediate relief activities to interventions that have a longer-term economic and environmental impact.

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FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the Uni : Putting Swaziland's smallholders first

You cannot tackle rural poverty, if you don't put the smallholder farmers first11 September 2012, Mbabane, Rome - Rural farmers in Swaziland are starting to reap the fruits of a comprehensive effort by the government and FAO with support of the EU to reverse the country's declining agricultural productivity.

Consecutive years of drought, a crushing aids pandemic, decades of economic slowdown and more recent soaring prices of food and agricultural inputs: it has become increasingly hard to make a living for Swaziland's cash-strapped rural population, highly dependent on subsistence farming.

According to FAO's most recent hunger figures, almost 20 percent of the country's one million people is undernourished.

Since 2009, the EU has been supporting a wide-ranging initiative of the government and FAO to raise nutrition levels of the rural population and stimulate their economic growth potential, known as the Swaziland Agricultural Development Project (SADP), a 5-years programme funded with over €14 million of EU and almost €350 000 by FAO.

Although it was challenging to get such a complex project off the ground, Amadou Traoré, the EU's chargé d'affaires a.i. in Swaziland feels that things are moving in the right direction. "European taxpayers are willing to show their generosity," he says, "but especially now, when Europe itself experiences financial and economic difficulties, they want to see results." 

Louise McDonald, country program manager for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for Swaziland, says that SADP's achievements have strengthened collaboration between IFAD and FAO in assisting the government and smallholder farmers. "Together, we will work on bridging SADP's activities with a US$ 47 million program to be co-financed by IFAD", she says.

Smallholders

Fundamentally, SADP is all about smallholders, says Nehru Essomba, the project's Chief Technical Advisor: "You cannot tackle rural poverty, if you don't put the smallholder farmers first."

Connecting farmers to the market is a major challenge, Essomba says. So close to South Africa with its big scale producers, the environment is extremely competitive. SADP is setting up a €1 million Marketing Investing Fund, particularly to promote niche crops that offer small farmers a comparative advantage on the market place.

Equally important is to improve the environment in which the agricultural sector operates, both institutionally and physically. While major infrastructural rehabilitation works are being prepared, policies relating to research and extension are being updated and large scale capacity building of farmers, organisations and extension workers is underway.

At the same time, SADP helps spreading good agricultural practices, important for farmers to increase their productivity, while preserving the environment and lessen the pressure on Swaziland's limited natural resources. So far, more than 2 000 farmers have been trained in a wide range of practices, including conservation agriculture and agro-forestry.

Holding on

"Food security will come in two ways: by growing your own food and by growing to sell at the market," says Dr. Robert Thwala, Principal Secretary of Swaziland's Ministry of Agriculture, explaining SADP's focus on improving crop and livestock production and on agro-business development.

In Swaziland, where HIV prevalence is the highest in the world, the most vulnerable among the rural poor are the elderly and the youth, who have lost either parents or children, as the generation in between was decimated by the aids pandemic.

A total of 340 vegetable gardens have been established for vulnerable families to grow vegetables and herbs for household consumption, or in case of excess production, for sales to community members. Over 2000 people have directly benefited from the gardens, while also receiving nutritional education, through demonstrations in food preparation and processing. 

To support the younger generation, SADP is helping youth groups set up small agricultural businesses. Sixty groups, comprising around 2 500 youngsters, are engaged in poultry farming, pig production or vegetable and field crop production. They get the equipment, tools, inputs, medicines and training to make their business run.

The Mhawu Youth Club from the Ngudzine area in southern Swaziland is raising chickens. Sixteen year old member Nomcebo Simelane finds a lot of encouragement at her club: "Your peers tell you that when you want to make your dreams come true, you should just hold on."

Moreover, the poultry business offers her a way to do just that. She hopes that she will make enough money out of it to go to university and become a nurse.

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Ethiopia: Institute Inaugurates Modern Agricultural Laboratory

Addis Ababa — The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research yesterday inaugurated Agricultural Quality Research Laboratory. The renovated crop testing laboratory will improve the quality of agricultural products making the country competitive in the international market.

Inaugurating the laboratory, Agriculture Minister Deribew Tefera said that, it was almost two years ago today that the Ministry opened the first agricultural products quality Monitoring and Testing Laboratory to be the country's main quality laboratory for coffee and other agricultural commodities. The lab was established in collaboration with Digata Industries and Development Partners, UNDP and JICA.

"The renovation and remodeling of this laboratory is also conceived with the basic theme of quality where all agricultural research is to begin with data quality objectives framework that takes into account the quality criteria of destination markets or internationally acknowledged quality standards. We will continue aligning our human resources and institutional processes to fulfill our development objectives and our principal goal of eradicating poverty through transformed agricultural sector," the Minister added.

Institute Public Relations Head Deresse Teshome told journalists that the institute equipped itself with a modern sample crops technology museum which allows stakeholders and investors to access accurate information on agricultural products in Ethiopia.

It was indicated that the renovation also included the training of laboratory technicians and researchers in quality management and the application of latest standard procedures. By the end of the national Growth and Transformation Plan period (2014/15), Ethiopia expects to generate 6.58 billion USD revenue from the export of 3.81 million tonnes of agricultural products. As it is known, agriculture is the cornerstone of the Ethiopian economy and accounts for 41 per cent of the GDP, close to 80 per cent of export earnings and employs 80 per cent of the country's labour force.

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Agricultural transformation: Fish as the missing link

Among the various aspects of the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan, none in my opinion is as important as the agricultural aspect. In a country where poverty, estimated to be in the region of 70 percent of the about 160 million, is easily denominated in hunger, lack of proper nutrition and food insecurity, one sure way of reducing poverty is a transformation of the agricultural sector. All other transformational exertion can only be meaningful and sustainable in the long run if the agricultural transformation is successful. No need going to the moon when majority of your citizens can’t feed well.

It is good at this point to appreciate the effort of the minister of agriculture and rural development, Akin Adesina, whose enthusiasm for the job of making a success of his work is incomparable among other ministers of the Federal Executive Council. At the Ogun State Economic Summit recently where one heard him speak about government policies leading to the elimination of fertiliser cabal, promotion of local production of rice and cassava, proposed reintroduction of privately-run marketing boards, introduction of improved varieties of cocoa and palm trees, among other ongoing initiatives, it was clear, all things being equal, that at last we have a man that can turn around the fortune of agriculture in Nigeria with the benefits of not only alleviating poverty but diversifying our economy.

Of note are the areas of priority that the minister is pursuing fanatically to transform our agriculture for poverty reduction, diversification of the economy, and also conservation of our foreign exchange. One is talking about rice and wheat importation that gulps our foreign exchange in spite of local production and/or alternatives. Indeed, one cannot fault his fixation on saving us foreign exchange. From available figures dished out by the minister in his advocacy for us to consume what we produce or have alternatives to, Nigeria spends N356 billion on rice imports annually. The sad aspect, as revealed by the minister, is that most of our rice imports are expired rice of about 15 years! Sadder still is the fact that in virtually all geopolitical zones of the country, rice production is going on or could be embarked upon on a commercial scale. So, one is in total embrace with the minister on the need to transform this importation anomaly to save our foreign exchange. His promise of using high-yielding seeds for local production as well as improving value added to the ensuing production through establishment of rice mill is a welcome development. The initiative has all the potential of saving us foreign exchange as well as creating employment, and, of course, forms a critical aspect of our food security. Definitely, we can meet the target of total ban of rice import by 2015.

The second area of priority is that of cassava. Well, this is a plant that produces not only staple food across the nation but also raw material for industrial uses. Also, it is a plant that can be cultivated in at least 80 percent of Nigeria’s arable land. But Adesina’s drive is to make this plant a replacement for wheat flour in the production of bread, another staple in Nigerian menu. This angle is equally geared towards addressing a dependence that is making us lose billions of dollars in foreign exchange for something that we have an alternative here. Our annual wheat import cost, from official record, is N635 billion. So, anything to reduce or eliminate this huge expenditure is a welcome development. The promotion of cassava bread is a step in this direction and the presidency has fully bought into this, if what we read and see demonstrated is anything to go by. From the farmers producing cassava to bakers making bread and other confectionaries, incentives are being put in place to ensure that this versatile crop is used to save us foreign exchange, improve rural farmers’ income and ensure patronage of local products. Equally, a higher tariff is expected to come on stream soon on wheat anytime soon.

Farmers, a key variable in the transformation equation, benefit through the policy of Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) which aims to make farming enterprise a wholly commercial venture. Apart from rice and cassava, farmers engaged in cocoa and palm production are expected to benefit from the scheme which basically subsidised their operations. The e-wallet programme to effectuate this is on stream.

But in my view, a critical aspect is missing in the ongoing agricultural transformation. Not much is being done for now about transforming aquaculture and fish farming, which, in the last decade or so, has gained some popularity among Nigerians interested in investing in agriculture. Of course, Nigeria is blessed in the area of aquaculture and fishery. About 9 states have boundaries with the sea and many inland states have rivers where fishing activities take place. We should ordinarily be able to supply our fish need, which, in my view, is of essence in adequate nutrition and food security, as there is no religious or social restriction on fish consumption. But that is not the case. There is a serious shortfall in meeting demand. According to Gbola Akande, director of Fish Technology at Nigerian Institute of Ocean and Marine Resource (NIOMR), annual fish demand in Nigeria is 2.5 million tonnes, with local production from all sources amounting to a paltry 650,000 tonnes. The reasons for this shortfall range from polluted waters, piracy and illegal fishing by foreign fishing trawlers, to lack of development of aquaculture and fish farming.

So we end up expending about $800 million annually importing fish to meet the shortfall in local production. This, I think, is as scandalous as the case of rice and wheat, if not more so considering the health and human wellbeing implications. Not only is fish a ready source of protein, a major component of any balanced diet, it contains all manner of vitamins and chemicals for human health.

Regrettably, so far the transformation agenda has not touched this sector and its practitioners. As in the case of rice, the shortfall can be met or greatly addressed with local production through aquaculture and fish farming. For now, fish farmers are not getting the positive treatment that the above mentioned sectors are getting, in spite that the sector will also save scarce foreign exchange, provide employment that is attractive to young graduates, and ensure food security. Many budding fish farmers that have invested millions are not only struggling with inputs like feeds and fingerlings, but end up not having a structured market for their produce. Many homes eat meals that often lack sufficient quantity of protein, and this is where massive fish production could come in to the rescue. What one is advocating is a subsidy regime for fish farmers and, yes, government-inspired marketing boards to engage in value adding as well as marketing. Equally, the now almost abandoned Fish Farm Estate Initiative should be reinvigorated as a sure way of increasing production in the short run.

I am sure the minister can structure out incentives that will not leave fish farmers without any encouragement or incentives to invest under the GES. Over the years, most fish farmers that have sought help from government have tales of filling of forms and forming cooperatives to no effect.

All said, we need a holistic agricultural transformation that is not into any fishy business for fish farmers. In support of this advocacy for local production instead of import is the recent fact from Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) that in the last three years, increased local production of cement has saved Nigeria N270 billion. What more evidence do we need?

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Tanzania: PASS Determined to Revolutionize Agriculture

A recent victory of the Private Agricultural Sector Support Trust (PASS) in this year's agriculture festival famously known as Nanenane speaks volume.

In Dodoma, PASS clinched number 2 in the NGO category while it emerged number 1 in Morogoro in the Financial Services category. It took number 2 in Mbeya zone in the Agricultural Service provider category.

Like many other victories we know, PASS worked hard to earn it. In other words, the trophies did not come from heaven. It was a result of the vigour and determination of the NGO to deliver for the benefit of agriculture sector and the country at large. Undoubtedly, this should have made the sector's stakeholders proud.

"The victory will serve as a catalyst to serve more farmers in the country," PASS Managing Director, Mr Iddy Lujina says adding that they have vowed to reach as many people as possible in the country as a way to boost agriculture sector and fight poverty. "We are striving to reach more farmers at the end of this year by opening up more branches in various regions in the country," he says.

He explains that they are working hard in line with the government's agriculture first or Kilimo Kwanza initiative and the Southern Agriculture Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGCOT) because they believe that agriculture has the ability to spearhead the nation's development.

On his part, one of the PASS beneficiaries, Mr Papian Emmanuel, thanked the NGO for what they do to serve agriculture sector. "I call upon other institutions in the country to follow PASS footprints by serving farmers in the country and help them out of poverty," Mr Papian said during the exhibition.

As a way to strengthen the sector in the country, the MD challenges banking institutions to venture in supporting agriculture.

"Banks should come out and work with organizations such as ours," he says. He notes that young people in Tanzania should not shy away from agriculture sector; instead they should form groups, work hard and seek financial assistance from banks through organizations like PASS.

Giving an example, he says PASS has recorded tremendous achievements in Kilombero sugar plantations where it has helped youths who have formed groups and access loans from banks with the assistance from the NGO. PASS collaborates with seven banks but plans are to partner with more banks.

"I appeal to other banks to come out and work with PASS to stimulate investments and growth of private commercial farming and agribusiness," he says. Talking on some of the products on which PASS can collaborate with banks, Mr Lujina says under the lender's Option Guarantee, the lender will decide whether or not to guarantee loans to their borrowers based on predetermined guarantee criteria and a guarantee product policy contractually agreed with PASS.

According to the MD, the linkage banking guarantee product will guarantee loans from highly liquid institutions including large banks and pension funds to prequalified rural financial institutions to be used only for loanable funds supporting those institutions' agribusiness portfolios.

"Fixed equity hire purchase product is a meaningful departure from PASS's traditional way of doing business but maintains our vision and mission. It is a method for us to take an equity stake in a medium to large scale agribusiness by providing that business access to critical fixed assets without obligating that business to a commercial lender," he says.

He challenges farmers to strive adding value to their agricultural produce and take advantage of thriving ready markets in neighbouring countries. Mr Lujina says that Tanzania is blessed with huge arable land and if farmers will use it properly and adds value to their produce before selling them they could contribute to fighting poverty and development of the country at large.

"Neighbouring countries depend on us for food," he says, adding that this is an opportunity to tape and that people should not sell raw products but processed products for more profits. He explains that PASS is ready to help farmers acquire necessary equipments to process their agricultural produce so as to develop themselves and the country's crucial sector.

"We appeal to more people to visit our offices and know how they can benefit," he says. The Managing Director explains that PASS's intervention has in recent years helped in increasing bank's confidence to farmers and helped the latter access loans ranging from 10 million up to 200 million depending on the project targeted.

So far, PASS offers business development services; strengthen farmers' organizations and financial services. According to Mr Lujina, PASS's clients comprise groups of small farmers, individual farmers, agro-processors and others in the sector whose number has reached around 45,000 so far. "We have facilitated loans of approximately Tshs 95 billion," he says.

PASS supports agri-business enterprises and farmer groups; SACCOS cooperatives, farmers associations and women groups involved in agricultural activities. In 2011 alone over 11,000 farmers all over Tanzania got loans worth Tshs 21.5 billion for inputs, irrigation, tractors, agro- processing and trucks.

"Impressive productivity gains have been achieved in supported projects in various sub-sectors," he says. He mentions the sectors as coffee, tea, paddy, maize, sunflower, sugar cane, and livestock. In 2011 PASS supported loans in crop and livestock production (40%), farm mechanization (29%), agro processing and trading (27%) and rural trucks (3%).

The NGO has set special concessionary loan terms for women entrepreneurs to enable them qualify for more bank loans.

According to Mr Lujina, PASS has also achieved an excellent loan repayment rate of over 95 per cent, and the collaborating banks are progressively getting more encouraged in financing agricultural investments. Plans are underway to open new branches in Kilimanjaro and Mtwara regions this year. Currently, the NGO has offices in Mbeya, Mwanza, Morogoro and Dar es Salaam regions.

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Tanzania: Agriculture Can Rid Africa of Poverty - President Kikwete

PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has reiterated the government's commitment to increase agricultural production which is the most effective activities to rid the nation out of poverty.

President Kikwete said this during the launch of the Third Convocation of China -Africa Development Partnership against poverty in Dar es Salaam that engagement in agriculture would eradicate poverty in Africa especially South of Sahara.

"Many African governments have not been able to realize agricultural revolution by 100 per cent complicating efforts to eradicate poverty due to financial constraints," Kikwete said.

Nearly half of the population in Africa, according to him, still lives below the poverty line and pregnant women and children continue to suffer from malnutrition. "Tanzania is determined to fight poverty and has given priority to agriculture to help improve people's lives.

Implementation of the plan includes mechanization of agriculture through application of modernized technology, improved water services and availability of reliable markets," President Kikwete said.

However, the president made it clear that the success of the government plan to improve agricultural production would depend on availability of funds and technical support, the basic issues that development partners can give serious consideration.

For the last 20 years, the agricultural sector has received financial support amounting to 18bn/- but the amount was reduced to 3bn/- in the past three years and later increased to 6bn/- which is not enough either.

"No doubt China has succeeded in agriculture and established a strong economic base and can now become a tutor to other nations intending to adopt modern agricultural technology to realize objectives. This can be done and I am convinced that Tanzania can achieve its objectives," he said.

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National agriculture census concludes

KATHMANDU: The sixth National Agriculture Census- 2068 BS has concluded. The census was conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) as per the suggestions of the United Nations Agricultural Organisation and World Food Programme.

The objective of the programme is to collect necessary data related to the agricultural sector. The census was conducted in all the 75 districts across the country as per the international standards and prevailing traditions, said Chief of CBS, Agriculture Census Section, Ambika Basyal.

"We have planned to unveil the outcomes of the census within the next 10 months and are working accordingly," said Basyal.

Having started from 2018 BS, the agricultural census carried out in every 10 years is meant for the collection, update and distribution of data in various aspects of agriculture sector.

In the census, details about the agriculture including area of cultivatable land, sources of irrigation, utilization of land, cultivated land, production, agricultural inputs, use of non-resident buildings and ownership have been collected.

Domesticated animals and fowls, fisheries and agricultural loan will also be covered by the census. Food grains, fruits production, cash crops, and bee keeping will be included in the census.

The census was conducted in two phases. The first phase had come into effect in 59 districts of Terai and mountainous areas. Likewise, the second phase had run in 16 hilly districts. A total of 2,400 enumerators were deployed to conduct the census.

Statistics officer at the Bureau, Rajan Silwal, said that the government had allocated Rs. 136 million for the agro census and added that agriculture production, number of agricultural workers, losses in land, types of losses, production of main crops, main income source of family and access to agriculture markets were added in the census.

Similarly, farmers' access to markets, facility of transport services, time needed to take their products to highway for transport, road infrastructure, education, health, income, poverty alleviation, drinking water, fertilizers, farmers' access to financial institutions and banks, service received from them, electricity, communication and use of equipments of communication are main features of the census.

It is expected that it would help on the main goal of the government to reduce poverty and would be important to those officers who formulate rules and regulations, and conduct researchers once the census is made public. 

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Embracing agriculture’s ‘new normal’

Despite drought and high prices, food scarcity is not yet likely

As the worst drought in a half century persists in the U.S. Midwest crop region, prices for crops soar. Corn has increased nearly 50 per cent in just six weeks, the price for soybeans for August delivery rose steeply, and wheat prices reached the highest level since the spring of 2008.

Not surprisingly, consumers are concerned about food prices, and many dread looming hikes in coming months that will especially penalize the poor. Looking at the overall commodity landscape, however, there’s no call for panic, at least not yet.

Since 2008, when food scarcity in many regions around the world prompted riots and demonstrations, people have become sensitive to sudden increases in commodity prices.

Despite this, the proverbial “new normal,” which suggests more market volatility and abrupt market swings, is still not engrained in our collective thought processes. Beyond the distressing headlines and alarmist sound bites lies reassuring factors that we need to keep in mind.

First, the FAO (the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization) recently mentioned in its latest assessment that the overall supply and demand situation in 2012-13 remains adequate.

Its 2012 food price index is actually down compared to the same time in 2011. The FAO also made the point that an abundant supply of rice, a key strategic food staple for almost half the world’s population, will assure food security for the most populous regions. Enough wheat and other grains remain available for export as well.

Second, world agriculture is more productive than ever, thanks to improving technology and genetic know-how. World cereal production is expected to hit another new record this year of 2.4 billion tonnes, which is approximately 2 per cent higher than last year’s record high.

Many farmers have access to more arable land as they are using better fertilizers to increase yields.

One factor that played a significant role in the 2008 riots was the cost of energy, a significant input cost driver for food processors, packaging and distribution. The price of a barrel this year is nowhere near 2008 record levels, and the Bank of Canada predicts a lower price for oil in weeks to come. For this year, energy costs are a non-factor. Even though the drought may be driving prices upward, lower gas prices are in contrast affecting prices downward to a greater degree.

Last, the slower than expected global economic recovery will also impact food prices over the next few months. Based on recent reports, both emerging markets and industrialized economies are now affected by economic uncertainties. Food distributors and retailers are astute market analysts, as they closely monitor consumers’ capacity to pay for food. Since many food categories have many substitutes, they are likely to charge what consumers are able to afford in any given markets. Again, the situation is very different than in 2008 when the global economy was more robust.

What is driving commodity prices upwards is speculation; too much, that is. Speculation is obviously nothing new to markets. However, excessive speculation in derivative markets has enhanced the rate of price swings in recent years.

Agriculture has recently attracted what many call “price manipulators” — hoarders and influential speculators who are attracted to commodities, as they are believed to move in an opposite direction to equity markets, thereby providing a hedge against inflation. As a result, regular traders are not able to hedge their risk, and farmers are not getting benefits of price rise, while manipulators cash in. Regrettably, therein lays the real story behind current soaring prices.

The “new normal” in agriculture calls for a regulated global framework that would put price manipulators in check. The U.S., the EU and India, for example. are changing regulations, but change is not coming fast enough, and it needs to.

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is associate dean, College of Management and Economics, University of Guelph

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More Pain for the Working Poor

The House Agriculture Committee has approved an unconscionable farm bill that protects grossly generous subsidies for the agriculture industry by cutting food stamps by a staggering $16.5 billion over the next decade.

The cuts — more than triple the $4.5 billion approved in the Senate — would deny two million to three million people food assistance of $90 a month per family, end free school meals for 280,000 children and compound recession hardships for the working poor.

House Republicans drove the cuts with complaints that the food stamp program is swollen with people taking advantage of overly generous standards. This is a canard — the Congressional Budget Office has found that nearly 99 percent of food stamp participants live in poverty.

The committee’s Republican majority attracted some farm-state Democrats in approving a $969 billion farm bill over 10 years. They bragged of reining in farm expenditures by $35 billion, but about 45 percent of this savings was taken out of food stamps; indefensible subsidies bolstering corn, wheat, soybeans and other powerful industry lobbies were largely spared. If Senate Democrats aim to split the difference in food stamp cuts, rather than fighting the House, the poor will be seriously hurt.

Speaker John Boehner might not allow a floor vote because he is reportedly wary of another embarrassing uprising by Tea Party members demanding even deeper cuts — and presenting cogent arguments in some cases against wasteful largess for the agriculture industry.

If there is no agreement by Sept. 30, a short-term extension of the current farm program would be the alternative. That may not be a good outcome, but it would at least delay cuts to food aid.

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Poor rains may cut output, add to inflation woes

By Rajendra Jadhav

Poor rains in India's key pulse-producing southern and western states have affected sowing and could trim output in the 2012-13 year that began on July 1, the agriculture minister said on Friday.

Lower output of pulses could force India, the world's largest producer and consumer, to import more lentils thereby adding to inflation woes.

India, the world's leading importer of lentils, consumes over 20 million tonnes of assorted lentils, or pulses, but production is less than that and the gap is met through imports from Australia, Canada and Myanmar.

Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh received poor rains in June, which is crucial for the plantation of the pulses. Since sowing has been delayed, it will affect the production of pulses in 2012-13, farm minister Sharad Pawar told reporters on the sidelines of a conference.

Pulses are a staple in the Indian diet. They contribute 0.72 percent to India's inflation, which at 7.55 percent currently is worrying the government at a time of slowing economic growth.

The June-September monsoon rains, the main source of water for 55 percent of India's arable land, were 30 percent lower-t han-normal since the beginning of the monsoon season.

India's 1.2 billion people make it one of the world's biggest consumers of rice, sugar and grains. While it is usually self-sufficient in these foodstuff, the country is a major importer of pulses and edible oils.

"I see the situation is not worrisome for paddy as of now," Pawar said.

The shortage of rains should not have a big impact on rice planting in the states like Punjab and Haryana, the major contributors to government granaries, where about 93 percent of arable land is irrigated.

Among the key rice-producing eastern states, Odisha and Chattisgarh had received sufficient rains, Pawar said.

India in recent years has produced bumper harvests of rice, a staple food for many Indians and handed out at subsidised rates to the country's half a billion poor. In 2011 bulging stocks prompted the government to allow exports of the staple.

The country could emerge as the world's second-largest rice exporter this year after Thailand.

The farm sector accounts for about 15 percent of a nearly $2 trillion economy, Asia's third-biggest, where good harvests are crucial to maintain rural incomes and thereby keep up the demand for gold and consumer goods.

(Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Writting by Deepak Sharma; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)

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Appropriate land with compensation: Zuma

The state must be allowed to appropriate land with compensation, as set out in Constitution, President Jacob Zuma said.

"Land reform must represent a radical... break from the past without significantly disrupting agriculture production and food security," Zuma told ANC delegates at the close of the party's policy conference.

"[The] conference also affirmed the proposal to replace willing buyer, willing seller with the just and equitable principles in the constitution immediately – where the state is requiring land for land reform purposes."

Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said expropriation without compensation will only happen with land that is acquired illegally.

"The expropriation that we have now is unconstitutional and that act needs to be brought in line with the Constitution," she told reporters at the ANC policy conference in Midrand.

"We do not need to change the Constitution for this. Expropriation without compensation will only happen when land was acquired illegally. Only the court will determine whether land was acquired illegally, so there will be no indiscriminate expropriation."

She said the conference had decided that the "willing buyer, willing seller" approach to land restitution would be dropped.

Instead land expropriation would be done in terms of the “just and equitable” requirement of Section 25 of the Constitution.

Joemat-Pettersson said the section was a property clause that "allows us to do exactly we wanted to do [with land]".

She said the conference had not set any goals for expropriation, but would rather wait for the land audit to be completed at the end of the year.

Zuma also said the ANC proposed that land ownership by women be accelerated. "This is aimed at correcting the land question to address poverty," said Zuma.

He said women were the largest group affected by poverty and inequality. Zuma said the policy conference also proposed that land reform needed to be done in a way that would not disrupt agriculture and food security.

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PCFS expose corporate capture of African, Asian agriculture

BY GerryAlbert

PCFS expose corporate capture of agriculture in Africa and Asia; calls for rejection of green economy agenda in the Rio+20

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 16, 2012. The People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty spoke at the Plenary 3 on Water, Food and Agriculture at the Cupula dos Povos’ Blue Pavilion. The delegates shared their country context on corporate agriculture and expounded on how the green economy agenda will worsen land and water grabs, landlessness, food insecurity and poverty.

Diery Gaye from Conseil National de Concertation et de Coopération des Ruraux (CNCR) shared on the policy reforms in food and agriculture in Senegal in the context of the water crisis. According to him, “agriculture and food security in Senegal are threatened by foreign land deals that also grab scarce water resources from small farmers.”

Hakim Baliraine of the Eastern and Southern African Farmers Forum (ESAFF) talked about adaptation practices of farmers in Uganda to counter the effects of climate change. Zakaria Nana of ROSSAD from Burkina Faso shared the key points of the African CSO declaration for the Rio+20 which called for a rejection of corporate green economy and calledfor a rights-based approach to sustainable development.

Sylvia Mallari of the Asian Peasant Coalition, on the other hand, exposed how extractive industries which are being repackaged as ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ such as mining, lead to land grabbing and devastate the farmlands, fisheries, water supply and health of their host communities.

Azra Sayeed of the Roots for Equity and co-chairperson of the PCFS talked about the impacts of the recent floods in Pakistan which ironically, were worsened by the dams. Landlords builtsmall dams in the mountains to prevent water from flooding their own lands but diverted the water and drowned the agricultural lands of small farmers.

Antonio Tujan, Jr., director of IBON International and co-chair of PCFS exposed how agriculture is being restructured for corporate green control. The not-so-smart ‘climate smart agriculture’ agenda promotes genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to produce ‘climate smart crops’ will place food production further under the control of corporations. Green economy which promotes the privatization of nature will worsen landlessness and push small farmers and peasants into deeper poverty.

Tujan also warned that Northern countries affected by the financial crisis will use the green economy agenda to resuscitate corporations and demand new structural adjustment conditionalities attached to official development assistance (ODA) provided to developing countries.

The Cupula dos Povos or the People’s Summit in Rio+20 is an alternative spaced organized by the global civil society to celebrate people’s struggles for genuine sustainable development and reject green economy being promoted in the official process of the UNCSD.

PCFS is a growing network of various grassroots groups of small food producers particularly of peasant-farmer organizations, consumer movements and their support NGOs, working towards a People's Convention on Food Sovereignty.

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