Deutsche Bank Will Continue to Provide Agriculture Investments

Deutsche Bank AG will continue to provide agriculture investments after concluding that they don’t cause rising prices for farm commodities.

“There was no evidence that speculation was responsible for price developments,” Juergen Fitschen, the company’s co- chief executive officer, said at a press conference in Berlin today. “We will continue to sel these funds in the future. We can reconcile it with the principle of sustainability.”

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Keeping food local focus of agriculture conference

By Mike Dawson 

Cheesemaking, beekeeping and important policy issues surrounding the sustainable food movement will be topics at the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture’s conference in February on Penn State’s campus.

The conference will be Feb. 6 to 9 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, and registration is open.

The sustainable agriculture association, based in Millheim is expecting more than 2,000 people who include farmers, chefs, students and business leaders from the United States and abroad. The theme of the conference is “starting fresh, starting local, starting now.”

“More than ever, it is becoming clear that our prevailing systems for producing and procuring good food for our communities, and for the world, must be reformed rather drastically,” said Brian Snyder, the executive director for the association, in a news release announcing the conference.

The conference’s keynote speaker is Charles Eisenstein, the author of the book “The Ascent of Humanity” and a former instructor at Penn State. Eisenstein is now on the faculty at Goddard College in Vermont.

Another speaker is Ben Hewitt, the author of the book “The Town that Saved Food” that chronicles Hardwick, Vt., and efforts from agricultural entrepreneurs there to set up a network of food that depended on local farms.

The conference starts with two days of sessions with topics that include farming for beginners, beekeeping and cheesemaking. Workshops follow the last two days of the conference, with topics like marketing to restaurants, communicating with policymakers and financial planning.

Eisenstein’s keynote address is Feb. 8, and Hewitt goes on Feb. 9.

The activities also include a seed swap, an auction, live music and programs for children.

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Sustainable agriculture tops business chamber’s agenda

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Business leaders and agriculture experts in Zamboanga Peninsula are converging here next month to promote an environmentally sound technology that will not only shore up the region’s farm output but also ensure sustainable development and food security.

Ricardo A. Marmoleno who heads the committee of the agriculture and food security of the city’s business chamber said the objective of the conference, dubbed as "Private Public Partnership for Agri-Business Prosperity in the Region," is to let farmers and agri-based traders know the newest agriculture technologies that are available in the market to help increase productivity and protect the environment.

"The concern in agriculture is not just to improve the bottom line for companies, but there is also the responsibility to contribute to improving the lives of the majority of Filipinos engaged in agriculture, whether for commercial purposes or simply to feed their families," Mr. Marmoleno said.

"Thus, we must also consider the impact on the environment of energy and fertilizer use, the issue of water conservation and sharing, pricing along the supply chain so that exploitation of the farmer producer is minimized," he added.

The Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. said there is a need to boost the agriculture sector in the region since the local economy is heavily dependent on it.

At the same time, Mr. Marmoleno said the majority of the country’s labor force is employed in agriculture and agro-related activities considered the economic backbone of the country.

"[But] despite these, agriculture has always taken a backseat to non-agricultural industries," he said.

"Economic policies and planning have not focused enough on improving and enhancing the capabilities of those engaged in agricultural production, especially the small- and medium-scale farmers," he noted.

The conference, scheduled on Dec. 6 in this city, is also a parallel effort on how to translate those high level agreements in the United Nations such as the Rio+20 into doable actions on the ground, as it tries to address the effects of climate change, the scarcity of resources, how to encourage industry to adopt the concept of green technology, and saving the vulnerable sector in the face of global challenges.

"The United Nations has warned of a looming food crises which will greatly and adversely affect the world, particularly the poor. At present, small farmers in the Philippines can hardly produce enough food for themselves, let alone the teeming millions in our cities," Mr. Marmoleno said.

"One challenge in agriculture is to raise productivity by planting more plant varieties. Varieties that have higher yield and better quality of the crop," he further said.

Mr. Marmoleno cited the sardines industry in this city as a prime example on how a resource sector has failed to maximize its advantage.

"We can consider what role we can play in each of these areas, Zamboanga City supplies 85% of the canned sardines produced in the country, such that the city is referred to as the ‘Sardines Capital of the Philippines,’ but here there is no one engaged in the commercial production of tomatoes to supply the sardine canning factories," he said.

At present, most if not all sardines canneries here source their tomato paste from China due to its product consistency.

"We can push for increased agricultural productivity, helping the farmers link with groups that can enhance access to information the farmers need for entering local and national markets for their products, processing activities for added value of their crops and other ways of increasing the return on the farmers’ manpower inputs," Mr. Marmoleno said.

The Zamboanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation is Western Mindanao’s biggest business chamber. It traces its roots to the early 1970s.

But the chamber was registered as a foundation only in 1988, befofe it became affiliated to the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) as a non-profit and non-stock corporation.

From its roots as a fraternal organization, the chamber has long since moved beyond that to become a respected voice of businesses and industries,and a dynamic advocate of a growth-friendly regional business environment for Western Mindanao.

The chamber said it is a recognized partner of government for sector development. --Darwin T. Wee

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SA's agriculture sector key to sustainable food supply

By: Gareth Lloyd-Jones

Agriculture and food-production activities represent the future of our country's development. They hold the key to poverty alleviation and job creation. They create the platform for rural development and the provision of basic needs. More importantly, they are the essence of having an economically, environmentally and sociably sustainable food supply in the future.

Significantly higher food prices are on the way in the next 18 months. Consumers have already seen high price increases in key food staple items, such as: chicken, lamb, maize meal, vegetables and fruits, and local producers, who are also bearing the brunt of high costs, have started retrenching workers.

In order to remain economically viable, globally and locally competitive, and socially stable, South Africa's agriculture industry needs to prepare for the short and long term, as the challenges it is currently facing will be here for a long time. These challenges include: rising input costs, food safety, water, and the lack of support from authorities, all of which will be further exacerbated with the volatility of the rand.

Fuel price increase

This month's 93c per litre petrol increase, which is linked to the oil price and to the rand/dollar exchange rate, will impact on South African farmers greatly, especially on the running of farm machinery as well as the transport of agricultural produce, as the bulk of food in SA is transported by road. 

The price of electricity is also rising, with the proposed increase by Eskom to reach a high of 14.6 percent over the next five years. In October 2009, AgriSA released figures suggesting that Eskom's proposed electricity price hike will cost agriculture R600 million. As input costs such as these continue to rise, it is evident that farmers will remain under pressure as they battle to keep costs low. 

In the USA, 62 percent of farms have been affected by the recent drought. US maize and soy accounted for more than 40 percent of total world exports and the subsequent shortage has driven maize prices in SA to historic highs.

Forty percent drop in SA-produced wheat

South Africa is producing half the wheat it consumes, down from the 90 percent that it used to produce. This clearly indicates that South Africa's agricultural industry is shifting towards a nation that depends on other countries for produce, rather than being self-sustainable. 

As global food safety becomes paramount, South African producers will need to show their compliance to remain a legitimate player in the global food supply framework. Grains such as maize, soy beans and wheat are the most critical items for the domestic food supply chain as part of these must be used in the feeding of livestock. Therefore, producing less locally, coupled with the tough drought conditions experienced by the US, has pushed up prices of goods. Local farmers are being forced to import more expensive grains to feed their livestock.

Further to this, in order to address the food security crisis in South Africa, as was experienced globally in 2007 and 2008 due to a direct result of a sharp increase in food prices, the government and the private sector must establish a self-sustainable local food production and agriculture industry through the implementation of a development programme. By creating a self-sustainable local agriculture and food production industry we will reduce hunger and poverty, and increase agricultural development. This will subsequently contribute towards skills development in the country and improve inclusive economy growth and job creation.

A structured, integrated and co-ordinated effort

The key initiative to achieving this is a structured, integrated and co-ordinated effort to develop the full ambit of the food supply chain from farm to fork. This will create a food supply chain that is not only economically viable, but also sustainable on an environmental and social level in the future. 

The ultimate aim should be to turn South Africa's food supply industry into a nett exporter as opposed to a nett importer of food, without compromising the full spectrum of food supply locally and the inherent threat of this industrialised approach on the environment. 

In this difficult time, farmers will have to try to strike the balance between food safety compliance and rising costs. Industry players will need to ensure food safety is not compromised in order to maintain financial performance. Companies, therefore, need to enforce due diligence when maintaining food safety standards and move from a "tick the box" approach, whereby farmers simply do the bare minimum to pass hygiene and safety tests to satisfy health inspectors, to create a more practical verification system. This should become part of a company's culture and fostered on a continuous basis. 

Water reserves dry by 2050

According to Water Affairs Deputy Minister, Rejoice Mabudafhasi - who recently spoke at South Africa's fourth Youth Water Summit - South Africa's water reserves will run dry by 2050, should no action be taken to conserve water. 

Industry players need to implement strict water saving measures in order to address the country's impending water deficit that is threatening food security and produce all around the country. Farmers should implement strict water saving control measurements to recycle water and prevent water wastage caused by pipe bursts, water leaks and unscheduled use of water. 

Cost-effective water-saving measures including having a water-recycling system in place, whereby used water is drained through a filtration process to rid all solids and then put through a chemical intervention to make it suitable and fit to use back into plant facilities. This water can then be used to wash larger areas, such as driveways or equipment.

Lack of support from the government

Furthermore, so far in 2012, a lot of frustration has been brewing from players in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries, due to lack of support from the government and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). They have been dissatisfied with how they have been handled regarding import and export quotas. Cheap, low-quality meats are currently being imported without rigourous inspections or policing, as no government intervention exists and this is a necessary gatekeeper in enforcing stringent food-security protocols at our borders.

There are several possible interventions that should be considered to improve the situation for local producers. These include improved farming legislations and international regulations. A food-control agency, independent meat inspectorates and bio-security are needed in order to address food-safety issues at our borders.

We have also seen the protein sector struggling with a lack of aid from the authorities. The outbreak of Avian bird flu brought many ostrich farmers' businesses to a standstill between 2010 and 2012. Although the government has compensated farmers for the culling of the birds, the compensation does not adequately cover the financial loss experienced by the farmers. As a result of the bird flu epidemic, an indefinite export ban has been placed on the ostrich industry. 

Poultry industry in dire need of support

Moreover, the South African poultry industry is in dire need of support from the government in order to avoid a collapse of the industry as incidences of chicken dumping are likely to increase over the next few months as suppliers in struggling EU economies look for ways to dispose of surplus product. This will place severe pressure on the already struggling local chicken industry. The local market is already oversupplied with poultry products, putting local producers under pressure. The rise of costs, such as electricity and fuel, makes it extremely difficult for local producers to keep costs low, in order to compete with cheaper imported products. 

More decisive action, therefore, needs to be taken to curb poultry dumping. There are several possible interventions that the government should consider looking into to improve the situation for local producers. A blanket import duty could be placed on all products entering the market or, alternatively, support to local producers in the form of subsidies, for example water, maize and veterinary, could be implemented.

Indirectly, the government can impose stricter regulations in terms of licences and import legislation, thereby creating a bigger barrier to entry. Regulation can also be introduced to stipulate a certain proportion of retail stock to be local produce.

Original Article Here

Kenya: Agriculture Holds Key to Coast Economic Growth

OPINION

The Government has singled out agriculture as one of the key sectors that will drive the growth of our economy. For this reason, we have consistently increased budgetary allocation to the sector. In the current financial year, Sh104 billion shillings, which is about 7 percent of the national budget has been allocated to the Sector, in support of recurrent and development expenditure.

The Coast region has greatly benefitted from the allocations we have made for the agriculture, livestock and water sectors. Regarding livestock development, farmers in the region earned Sh5.9 billion shillings from beef, dairy, poultry and bee-keeping products last year. This was made possible through the concerted efforts of the Government in re-opening K.M.C., New KCC at Miritini and improving disease control progammes.

To further develop this sector, the Government has rehabilitated the Mariakani Dairy Cooperative Society plant with additional processing capacity of 5,000 litres per day. My Government has this financial year allocated Sh1.4 billion for the establishment of a Coastal Disease Free Zone, completion of a Slaughter House in Garsen, rehabilitation of Mariakani Regional Vet laboratory to international standards and rehabilitation of satellite laboratories at Ukunda and Witu. I urge farmers to adopt improved livestock breeds for both dairy and beef farming.

There is also great potential for sugar industries in this region. I am pleased that the Kwale International Sugar Company will start producing sugar by March next year. This factory will cost approximately Sh18 billion. When fully operational it will employ about 3,000 people directly and another 11,500 indirectly. I assure Kwale International Sugar Company of the support of my Government in this venture. However, I urge them to recruit as many farmers as possible as out growers in order for them to benefit from the factory.

Last year, I directed the Ministry of Agriculture to start the process of establishing another sugar factory in the North Coast. While I am pleased that the preliminary feasibility studies have been completed, I call upon the Ministry of Agriculture, the treasury and other agencies concerned to speed up the process.

While lauding the efforts we have made in this region, more effort is needed to increase production. For example, while the region has a potential to produce coconut worth Sh13 billion the current production is worth Sh3.2 billion only. Similarly, while the region has the potential to produce cashew nuts worth over Sh1 billion, the current production is worth Sh280 million. In addition to these industrial crops, this region has high potential for horticultural crops.

Last year, horticultural crops earned the region Sh850 million. This is a small fraction of the existing potential. I urge farmers to devise ways and means of harnessing the unutilized potential and enhance income. The Government will continue to take more steps to create an enabling environment for increased production. In an endeavour to alleviate land problems at the Coast, the Government through the Ministry of Lands has undertaken various initiatives.

These include Land adjudication, settlement, regularizing land ownership, nullification and recovery of illegally allocated public land. Under the Squatter Programme, a total of 53,000 squatters have been issued with ownership documents in an area covering 250,000 acres. Equally important, a total of 4,000 titles have been issued to indigenous people located in various Swahili villages in Lamu.

Issuance of title deeds should be fast tracked.In the area of infrastructure, the dredging of the Mombasa Port is now complete. We are now receiving huge ships never seen in Mombasa before. This has made Mombasa a regional hub and major transport corridor. Construction of a second container terminal is set to begin in a few weeks time.

The terminal that will be nearly one kilometre long will cost Sh25 billion. The Dongo Kundu by-pass and construction of modern dual carriages and highways around Mombasa Island is set to begin at a cost of Sh30 billion shillings. This will also create new economic and social frontiers in this region.

We have also begun construction works on the second Port, as part of the Lamu Port - South -Ethiopia Transport Corridor. This will be Kenya's second development corridor after Mombasa-Malaba. It will create huge opportunities for this region, our entire country and provide a link to neighbouring countries.

We will also begin construction of the standard gauge railway line from Mombasa. This should cut the journey to Nairobi to just two hours.We will also be expanding the Mzima Springs water project in order to ensure a reliable flow of water in this area. To further boost the fortunes of small scale traders, more markets will be built to serve the fisheries sector. The markets will also enable locals to tap the market for tourists and other visitors.

Another intervention being made by the Government is in irrigation because of its huge potential. We are in the process of doubling the acreage under the Bura and Hola Irrigation Schemes. In the next one month, we will ground-break the start of an extra 25,000 acres of land under irrigation in the Bura project.

I wish to remind all Kenyans, that we must always maintain peace and security which is the foundation of our prosperity and democracy. We have just concluded the county peace fora and national peace conference. During these events, Kenyans were unanimous that we should embrace, co-exist and tolerate each other as one people and one nation.

We should never allow any negative forces to divide us along any lines. In this regard, I encourage all Kenyans to work with the Government and seize the emerging opportunities. This is especially critical as we devolve responsibility to the counties. Devolution is an important facet of development.

I advise you to elect responsible leaders who will guide you into an era of social cohesion and economic prosperity in the years ahead. Indeed, counties that will collaborate and partner within and between each other will derive greater economic dividends over those that work alone.

This is an excerpt of President Kibaki's speech at the official opening of this year's Mombasa International Show whose theme is "Enhancing Technology and Industry for Food Security and National Growth.

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New freshmen get a taste of sustainable agriculture on tour of UMD farm

By: Jana Hollingsworth, Duluth News Tribune 

Red peppers, string beans and cherry tomatoes were hot items Friday during a University of Minnesota Duluth freshmen welcome week event.

About 40 students traipsed through rows of veggie beds at the 10-acre organic transition farm and five-acre apple orchard that make up UMD’s Sustainable Agriculture Project Farm at the Research and Field Studies Center. They were there to learn about sustainability, but there was a lot of eating to do.

“I love vegetables,” said freshman Rachel Strom, who was happy to see the tour offered. “I’ve been gardening every summer with my dad my whole life. It’s second nature to me.”

The agriculture project is part of “the explosion in local foods infrastructure development,” said Randel Hanson, who teaches courses on sustainability and the environment at UMD.

The UMD farm off Jean Duluth Road opened in 1912 when the school was involved in a push to produce more food locally. It remained so until the farm was closed in 1976 as the country shifted to a more globalized industrial food system.

“It’s clear now, that was probably a pretty dumb idea,” Hanson said.

The field and farm reopened in 2009 as the Sustainable Agriculture Project, which is student-driven.

“We’re trying to figure out how to become more sustainable and eat healthier and use minimally processed food,” Hanson said. “The university is back involved in that process in how to rebuild a regional food system.”

Part of that means growing food for UMD dining services. Coming out of gardens right now and going into dishes at school are slicing and cherry tomatoes, string beans, tomatillos, peas, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, lettuce, watermelon, kale, cabbage, green peppers, basil and dill.

Relying more on local and less on industrial is good for farmers, the economy, health and the land, Hanson said.

“Every region needs to figure out how to do this,” he said.

The farm has lots of collaborations. The Northeast Minnesota Beekeepers Association has six honey bee hives at the farm; there is the Three Sisters Garden, which is an American Indian garden; bat and bird houses; an ethnobotany garden for indigenous dye and medicinal plants; and a garden for Duluth public schools. There’s a 50-tree community orchard and a corn field. This year, between 15,000 and 20,000 pounds of produce will be sold to UMD dining services, At Sara’s Table/Chester Creek Cafe, the Duluth Grill, Super One Foods, Mount Royal Fine Foods, the Whole Foods Co-op and the Duluth Farmers Market.

UMD senior Ryan Ritter works at the farm as part of UMD’s sustainable development research opportunity program. He likes bringing food closer to home, he said.

“We’ll get an order from dining services at 8 in the morning and we’ll have it there at 12,” he said. “It’s just wild.”

The farm’s offerings grow every year, he said, and he hopes demand grows with it.

Freshman Quinn Franti is a big fruit eater, and said teenagers have a bad reputation for eating junk. He’s excited that UMD’s cafeteria is buying more food from the farm; something he didn’t learn until Friday.

“This was very eye-opening,” he said.

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Mapping out part of the food security puzzle: Agricultural policy

by Tara Garnett

The Food Climate Research Network and the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food have jointly published a new report entitled: Sustainable intensification in agriculture. Navigating a course through competing food system priorities (PDF).

The report is based on discussions held at a two day workshop held in January 2012 which was coorganised by both organisations. The workshop brought together key thinkers from the academic and policy community, and from diverse disciplines, to consider the meanings, issues and challenges around sustainable intensification in general, and particularly in relation to three areas of concern: environmental sustainability; animal welfare and human wellbeing, specifically nutrition.

The report is aimed at policy-makers working in areas relevant to food security. While clearly ‘food security’ is about far more than agricultural policy alone, the purpose of this report is to take a small part of the food security puzzle – agricultural policy – and to consider how it intersects with environmental, animal welfare and health policies. Its argument is that agricultural policy, if it is to help rather than hinder the ultimate goal of food security, needs to operate in an integrated manner with these other policy areas.

Ultimately, this report argues the case for a more ‘systems’ oriented approach to decision making. While it does not go so far as to define a research agenda or make policy recommendations – this would require more work than has been possible in the time available – it urges the need for a substantial programme of future activity in order to:

(a) Deepen and extend understanding of systems interactions;

(b) Consider and define what specific goals societies wish agricultural production to achieve;

(c) Develop metrics that will enable societies to measure progress in achieving them; and

(d) Implement successful policies.

A few selected conclusions, as regards sustainable intensification, are as follows:

• Both words in the phrase sustainable intensification need to carry equal weight. Intensification, by reducing pressure on land and other resources, underpins sustainability. Equally, food production in the context of a growing population, must ultimately be sustainable if it is to continue to feed people in the future.
• Sustainable intensification is not a movement or a grand socio-political vision. It is not a strategy for the food system as a whole but just for one component within that strategy.
• Sustainable food security requires actions on multiple fronts. On the demand side actions are needed to reduce population growth rates and to curb high levels of per capita consumption, particularly for resource intensive foods. The food system needs to be more efficient by improving governance and reducing food losses and waste throughout the food chain, from farm to plate. On the supply side more food will need to be produced with much less impact on the environment through, we conclude,  sustainable intensification. No one of these actions on its own is able to achieve sustainability and security in the food system. Sustainable Intensification should therefore be seen not as a substitute for, but as a complement to these other necessary measures.
• Sustainable intensification as a concept should be decoupled from specific production targets. Sustainable intensification is about optimising productivity and a range of environmental and possible other outcomes.
• Sustainability needs to be viewed over space and time in order to include the indirect effects and consequences of different policies that may impact on other regions and future generations. The indicators used to measure sustainability may also vary according to temporal and spatial scales.

Original Article Here

Bhutan Bets Organic Agriculture Is The Road To Happiness

The tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan drew international attention a few years back for saying gross national happiness should trump gross domestic product when measuring a nation's progress. If you're going to prioritize happiness, the Bhutanese thinking goes, you'd better include the environment and spiritual and mental well-being in your calculations. (Not everyone in Bhutan is happy, and many leave as refugees, as Human Rights Watch and others have noted.)

But Bhutan, which has only 700,000 people — most of whom are farmers — has another shot at international fame if it can make good on a recent pledge to become the first country in the world to convert to a 100 percent organic agricultural system.

Last month at the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, Prime Minister Jigmi Thinley said his government is developing a National Organic Policy because the country's farmers are increasingly convinced that "by working in harmony with nature, they can help sustain the flow of nature's bounties."

Going all-out organic is a lofty goal for any country given that many farmers — and poor farmers in particular — covet chemical fertilizers and pesticides to enrich their soil, boost production and keep diseases and pests at bay.

But Andre Leu, an Australian adviser to the Bhutanese government and the president of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, says it's very doable.

"I don't think it's going to be that difficult given that the majority of the agricultural land is already organic by default," Leu tells The Salt.

Indeed, the synthetic chemicals and fertilizers that are used so widely in countries like the U.S. are only available and affordable to a few of Bhutan's farmers who are widely dispersed across the rugged and mountainous terrain sandwiched between India and China. But very few of the organic-by-default farmers have been certified as such by third-party institutions. (Certified organic food, by the way, makes up less than 1 percent of the world's calories, and is mostly available to wealthy consumers.)

According to the World Food Program, Bhutanese farmers mainly grow rice and corn, as well as some fruits and vegetables, including potatoes and oranges. But as demand for food has grown in recent years, the country has been forced to import rice and other foods from India, and today Bhutan is a net food importer.

One of the few products Bhutan exports to the U.S. is red rice;Lotus Foods sells it to chains like Whole Foods. Bhutanese red rice is more nutritious and tastes nuttier than white rice, its boosters say, and is well-suited to pilaf, as Monica Bhide reported for NPR's Kitchen Window earlier this year. The rice does not have organic certification, but Lotus Foods says it been grown without the use of pesticides or other chemical inputs for centuries.

The Ministry of Agriculture says the organic program, launched in 2007, is not just about protecting the environment. It will also train farmers in new methods that will help them grow more food and move the country closer to self-sufficiency. The ministry is now training extension workers in organic methods and giving farmers who go organic priority for government assistance.

Not everyone is so sure that a 100 percent organic Bhutan is a great idea. Leu says he's found some resistance among researchers at the Ministry of Agriculture who've been trained in conventional farming techniques abroad.

And an article last year in the Bhutan Observer notes that many farmers who grow export crops like apple, Mandarin orange, and potato already rely heavily on chemical fertilizers and could be reluctant to give them up.

Still, Leu is optimistic that Bhutan's burgeoning organic agriculture research centers will eventually be able to come up with organic methods to boost yields and manage the problems of these crops.

"All these problems are solvable, they just need a few more years of research to come up with some more effective solutions," Leu says.

 Original Article Here

Agriculture: climate change

AGRICULTURE is the mainstay of our country’s economy. According to Pakistan Economic Survey 2011-12, the agriculture sector is critical for growth, exports, incomes and food security, and for industrialisation. It is the second largest sector of economy and contributes about 21 per cent to the GDP, generates productive employment opportunities for 45 per cent of the country’s labour force while 60 per cent of the rural population depend directly or indirectly on this sector for their livelihood.

According to the Survey, Pakistan’s agriculture grew by 3.1 per cent against the targeted 3.4 per cent. Major crops accounted for 31.9 per cent of the agricultural value-added and experienced a growth of 3.2 per cent in the fiscal year 2011-12.

Agriculture is continuously witnessing a downward trend as it has registered an overall decline of 10 per cent in several major and minor crops during the last three years. Reasons for the decline have been floods in the country during 2010 and heavy rains in Sindh during 2011.

Also, lack of research, insufficient funds allocation and lack of encouragement for domestic varieties are among the few major impediments in the development of agriculture.

Climate change is becoming a threat for the country. Also, increasing population and decreasing resources may pose a threat for our future generations. Therefore, farmers should implement their knowledge and improve food security through sustainable agriculture. Promotion of sustainable agriculture will not only save environment, but also boost farmers’ incomes.

KHAN FARAZ
Peshawar

Original Article here

US firm to boost Uganda’s agribusiness

Minister Nyiira (Right), Musana (Middle) and Dungu (Left) . Photo by Ayinga Ondoga

By Ayiga Ondoga    
 
MINISTRY of Agriculture has entered a partnership with Steelheart Internationala USA based firm in the provision of drilling equipment for establishment of water reservoirs for irrigation in the country.

The move is geared towards modernizing agriculture through creation of large scale commercial in Uganda to fight poverty and generate income at household level.

Steelheart, USA were invited to the country by the Vice President, Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi after his visit to Califonia, where he saw some of the investments and activities carried out by the organization under the leadership of a Ugandan, Roger Morgan Dungu.

Steelheart has earmarked US $ 50 million (Over sh. 124 billion) for projects in water, land, works and environment in consultation and partnership with the line ministries to promote large scale agricultural production especially commercial farming.

Moses Musana, chairman, Always Be Tolerate (ABETO), whose organization working together with Steelheart said ministry of Water and Environment has allocated US $ 11.13 million for the purchase of drilling and other machines for provision of water agricultural irrigation in the country.

State minister for Agriculture, Zerubabel Nyiira said government was committed to finding ways of improving of agricultural production especially the creation of commercial farm.

“Government takes agriculture very serious because a country which does not feed itself is no country at all. Food security is a national matter which must be tackled because agriculture is the backbone of the country with 80% majorly in rural areas,”Nyiira observed.

He said government wants the 80% of the farming group to improve productivity to commercial level because the country gets its foreign exchange through taxation of their products.

“Availability of water is great for the sustainability of agricultural production since the climate is changing with time. Government is also establishing a channel for the provision of good varieties of high yielding seeds to the farmers for production and multiplication,” the minister said.

Nyiira made the remarks while meeting Steelheart consultant, Prof. Chris Lubwama , ABETO chairman, Moses Musana, Steelheart Ugandan representative, Geoffrey Dungu and secretary Diana Namagembe at the agriculture ministry in Kampala. 

Original Article Here

Ag's sustainability continues improvement

A new report demonstrates how six commodity crops including wheat are being produced more efficiently in the U.S. than they were 30 years ago, accompanied by important improvements in farm safety and economic sustainability for producers.

The data was released Thursday by Field to Market, the Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, which is a broad-based coalition of farm and environmental groups, agribusinesses, universities and major food companies.

Developed by this diverse group of stakeholders, the new report is a follow-up to a similar study done in 2009, with updated data and methods as well as additional crops and new socioeconomic indicators.

The report analyzes national-scale trends in environmental and socioeconomic progress over time, relying on publicly-available data to estimate performance on eleven agricultural sustainability indicators ranging from soil erosion and greenhouse gas emissions to labor hours and debt-to-asset ratios.

The coalition, which is working to define and measure sustainability on the farm and in the food system, believes the report's information will provide broad context for sustainability discussions and create a baseline against which to monitor future change.

"Sustainability for agriculture is a complex, multidimensional topic," said Stewart Ramsey, principal and senior economist at IHS Global Insight, which conducted the analyses for the report.

"The intent of this report is to bring together best available data and science to inform the conversation and provide a picture of U.S. agriculture's sustainability changes over the past three decades."

Part one of the 179-page report analyzes environmental indicators from 1980 to 2011 including land use, soil erosion, irrigation water applied, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for six crops, including wheat, corn, cotton, potato, rice and soybeans.

It found that, over the study period, all six crops demonstrated progress in improving resource use and impact per unit of production on all five environmental indicators.

For example, soil erosion per unit of production has improved by between 47 to 67 percent for the six crops studied, and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions per unit of production have decreased between 15 percent and more than 42 percent for the six crops studied.

Improvements in efficiency were driven, at least in part, by improvements in yield across all crops, ranging from 25 percent to 64 percent.

However, due in part to overall increases in production for five of the six crops (excluding wheat) and increases in total land use for four of the six crops (excluding potatoes and wheat), total resource use and impact increased for many crops on many indicators.

The second part of the report analyzes socioeconomic indicators for five crops, including wheat, corn, cotton, rice and soybeans.

The report found that indicators for debt-to-asset ratio, fatalities and non-fatality injury improved over their respective time periods and farm classification. Labor hours per planted acre decreased for corn, cotton, rice and soybeans and remained nearly constant for wheat.

Returns over variable costs were inconsistent over the report's reference time period, but have been increasing for all crops, excluding cotton, since approximately 2002, and for cotton since 2009.

The report found that the agricultural sector's contribution to national gross domestic product (GDP) has increased over the explored time period in absolute terms but decreased as a share of total.

NAWG is an active member of the Field to Market coalition and plans to continue work with the broader agriculture community to use the new data in its sustainability efforts. 

Original Article here

Basu: Is help from corporate agriculture beneficial?

Iowans are regularly reminded of our role in helping to feed the world’s hungry, and from a technological perspective, we have certainly played an important role. An Iowan launched the so-called Green Revolution, and the World Food Prize that he created annually honors others who have made important innovations in agriculture. Iowa today is in the vanguard of the biotech revolution.

So it may be hard to contemplate the paradox that even as we have helped block world hunger, we might also inadvertently be contributing to it. There is growing evidence around the world that high-yield technologies that require costly and potentially harmful chemical fertilizers and other inputs squeeze small farmers out in favor of large conglomerates, resulting in impoverishment or suicides.

Recent weeks have brought a few occasions to think about this. Members of the Des Moines Occupy movement announced plans to protest the World Food Prize events this fall. Instead of “pro-corporate agribusiness recipients who support GMO crops and the use of harmful pesticides and chemicals,” the prize should honor people “who advocate sustainable, safe, local agriculture in the U.S. and abroad,” the group said in a statement.

Occupy also noted that corporate agribusiness has gone beyond controlling food supplies to also controlling “governments, laws, and patents.”

That might sound like a conspiracy theoryuntil you consider the Tanzania land deal negotiated by an Iowa Board of Regents member, which was the subject of a recent complaint to the state ethics board. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement filed the complaint, alleging that Bruce Rastetter, the founder and managing director of AgriSol Energy Corp., had a conflict of interests with a deal involving Iowa State University.

AgriSol would have paid the Tanzanian government a mere 25 cents an acre for the right to cultivate 800,000 acres, by evicting some 160,000 Burundian refugee farmers. For decades, they had been growing a variety of crops, producing more than 40 percent of the district’s food on just 4 percent of the land. Under the AgriSol deal, they would be given $200 apiece and the land would be turned over to corn and soybeans.

AgriSol stood to make $300 million. And the corn and soybeans wouldn’t necessarily feed Tanzanians.

AgriSol’s consultant was advising the company to seek a guarantee from the government that it could export all the food it produces — even if there were a food shortage in Tanzania.

Critics, including former CBS news anchor Dan Rather, called it a “land grab.” Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement alleges Rastetter used his status as a regent and big donor to get Iowa State University involved, falsified a financial disclosure statement with the state ethics board, and didn’t disclose the land deal to the regents until six weeks after joining the board — after it was reported in the press.

If the theory is accurate, Rastetter’s $1.75 million gift to ISU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences may have opened some doors for him there. In 2007, officials traveled to Tanzania with him. Even the person who had been in charge of the refugee camps was evidently co-opted into being a legal adviser to AgriSol.

Rastetter was appointed to the Board of Regents by Gov. Terry Branstad after being his largest 2010 campaign contributor. Rastetter recused himself from the project last September, and ISU later said it would stop advising AgriSol on the project. But Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement asked for Rastetter’s resignation from the regents.

All this points to the broader potential for U.S. companies, with compliant or even corrupt governments, to exploit small farmers in the developing world under the guise of helping them. We may not be able to control what their governments do, but we should take a closer look at what our own companies pass off as “help.”

Rastetter and others had claimed the deal would help Tanzanians improve their food production techniques. But the large-scale, high-yield, monoculture model would not have suited the farmers it displaced in order for American investors to get rich.

Many Iowa small hog farmers lost their livelihoods when corporate agribusinesses like Heartland Pork displaced them. Now, in the face of skyrocketing prices, some of the same principals have turned to Africa, where land can still be had cheaply. Rastetter previously owned Heartland Pork.

It is hard to challenge corporate agriculture in this state. It’s promoted by targeted state university research, and its principals fund the political campaigns of elected officials — who might return the favor with plumb appointments.

So it falls to grassroots groups like Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement to call for an investigation. Some of its members lost their own hog farms to Heartland Pork.

Branstad won’t even wait until the outcome of the state ethics board complaint to voice his confidence in Rastetter’s judgment — a clear signal to the board. But the board should show its independence by conducting a thorough investigation.

Original Article Here

Paying farmers to save the planet

By Vanessa Meadu

A central question at the current Rio+20 negotiations is how to shift to a sustainable, green economy.

One way is to place an economic value on environmental goods and services and encourage a shift towards more sustainable activities by paying or rewarding those who practice good stewardship. In the agricultural sector, this means paying or rewarding farmers who adopt good practices. Payment for Ecosystem Services, or PES, is an innovative market-based approach currently being used around the world to encourage such shifts.

An example PES scheme has beneficiaries of environmental goods and services, such as a company that uses freshwater, paying the custodians of those environmental services (such as upland farmers who operate in the watershed) to adopt or continue agricultural practices (such as integrated soil fertility management or conservation agriculture) that keep that environmental service healthy. The benefits to the users are clear: water is cleaner from the source, and therefore less costly to filter and treat. The overall quantity of water flow may also increase. There can also be multiple benefits to farmers: not only do they get compensated for their efforts (in terms of cash or investments in infrastructure, health, education) but can they also ultimately benefit from the use of more sustainable agricultural practices, which can increase crop yields, be more resilient to drought or heat, and therefore diversify and improve income opportunities and help farmers adapt to a changing climate.

It's a great theory, but can it work?

Dosteus Lopa of CARE International, shared experiences from the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania. In this region, the project on Equitable Payments for Watershed Services (EPWS) has been working with the local water authority in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s capital city, to help reward and compensate the upland farmers to adopt agricultural practises that reduce sedimentation and improve water quality to the downstream users. A similar scheme has also been implemented by the Regional Environmental Center for Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan. Both projects report a range of common challenges including dealing with property rights, building knowledge and capacity of farmers to use the new practises, designing transparent and fair payment schemes, and properly identifying and involving all the stakeholders along the value chain.  There must also be proper institutional strucitures, laws and policies that allow these shcemes to be set up.

Rewards come in various shapes and sizes. In Kyrgyzstan, implementers had to deal with downstream water users who were not willing to make cash payments – because they didn’t have any money. In that case, residents preferred to pay via their labour, working for several days in exchange for receiving the environmental service.

While the transaction costs of setting up these schemes can be high at the outset, including need for detailed environmental and socioeconomic assessments and monitoring, the Tanzanian and Kyrgyzstani experiences show that PES can indeed be successful with the right efforts and investments, particularly as more companies adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies. Better knowledge sharing is needed to reduce the costs and make projects easier to set up and more profitable.

Sara Namirembe of the World Agroforestry Centre shared experiences from their initiative on Pro-poor Rewards for Environmental Services in Africa (PRESA) which brings together people working in several PES projects to share lessons and exchange strategies for successful implementation. Balancing fairness and efficiency is the main challenge she has seen across different programs. As well, buyers want proof that they will actually receive what they are paying for; that is, that the land use practices will deliver the anticipated environmental services. This is a necessary condition for buy-in. Programs such as PRESA are helping to build a solid base of knowledge and enhance the capacity of local groups that want to implement, and perhaps benefit from, PES.

PES shows that environmental and economic goals don’t need to be at odds. PES systems can be equitable and pro-poor, supporting economic development as well as protecting ecosystems. Decisions made at Rio+20 must help support more projects that exemplify what a green economy can achieve.

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The CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) is covering the Rio+20 Conference live between 12 - 22 June. Read the latest stories related to agriculture and food security from the conference. To get the latest updates follow both CCAFS on Facebook and Twitter and Agriculture Day Facebook and Twitter. Join the conversation about agriculture and food security during at Rio+20 using #Rio4ag on Twitter.

Vanessa Meadu is the communications manager for CCAFS.

Original Article Here

Youth seminar: ‘Increase spending on education’

Youth urged to form an understanding of political, economic affairs.

FAISALABAD: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday said spending on education should be increased to ensure that the youth were adequately trained for leadershiop roles they would take up in future. The youth seminar was arranged jointly by the University of Agriculture’s Career Development Centre, Department of Women Development and Positive Pakistan, a non-governmental organisation.

Positive Pakistan president Abid Iqbal Khari said the country was fortunate to have a majority of young population. “Young people are open to new and different ideas,” he added. Khari urged the youth to focus on first completing their education and to form an understanding of political and economic affairs. He said the youth should equip themselves with adequate skills before start their careers so that they could contribute towards the sustainable development of the country.

He said in the absence of education opportunities, young people from poor households were being manipulated by different political and sectarian groups and organisations. National Institute of Food Science and Technology Subject Specialist Prof Javeed Aziz Awan said he would arrange similar seminars at his organisation in the coming days. Earlier, UAF Career Development Officer Asifa Naz gave the welcome address and briefed the participants about the services offered by the Career Development Office, including career counselling and assistance with interview techniques.

Published in The Express Tribune

Revival and promotion of sustainable agriculture stressed

The Damaan Development Organization organised one-day seminar with the title of ‘Discourse on Sustainable Agriculture’ to explore different models of sustainable agriculture challenges and opportunities, loss of traditional knowledge, impact on farmers and food security.
The seminar was held in collaboration with Sustainable Agriculture Action Group (SAAG), Action Aid and Sungi Development Foundation.
Shoaib Aziz, project manager, Damaan Development Organisation, highlighted impact of climate change on sustainable agriculture and called for revival and promotion of sustainable agriculture.
He said since climate change is a big threat to Pakistan, therefore, farmers should practise traditional knowledge and improve food security through sustainable agriculture.
He said the increasing population and decreasing resources may pose threat to our future generation. He said there is a need for setting up market infrastructure for the promotion of organic produce.
Speaking on the occasion, Khadim Hussain highlighted the role of civil society for the promotion of agriculture. He said that SAAG and other partner NGOS are striving hard for awareness creation and promotion of sustainable agriculture.
Gulfam Dogar said the farmers from mountains in Pakhtoonkhwa are growing medicinal plants and earning good amount for their produce.
He stressed the need for establishment of plant health clinic and requested farmers to link their agriculture to lunar calendar to counter rapidly changing climate in Pakistan. He said alien plant species are destroying ecology and new pests are creeping up to destroy local plant species.
Mehnaz Ajmal Paracha from Oxfam Novib said that present agriculture system is creating inequality and food insecurity. She said forty percent of people are food insecure in Pakistan and small farmers have no say in decision making.
She pointed out that farmers are not getting their rights under labour laws. She lamented that big farmers have representation in legislation process and are getting all benefits from the government but agriculture is no longer profitable for small farmers.
She called for organising a farmers’ association so that they could fight for their rights.

Original Article Here

Building capacity for sustainable agricultural growth

A five-day capacity-buildingtraining course on the theme of "conservation agriculture-based crop management" was conducted in Rajshahi recently, avowedly to increase food production in the face of multiple adversities, both natural and man-made. It was organised jointly by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and Bangladesh International Research Institute (BARI) under the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) project, with support from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its main focus, as was reported in the media, was on improved food security, livelihoods and the best and judicious use of natural resources. Agricultural experts and researchers were thus reported to have discussed there in Rajshahi a wide array of issues such as the benefits of reduced tillage, leaving some post-harvest crop residues on the field to increase soil fertility, crop rotation and diversification and other 'new and updated technology', all having relevance to the principles of conservation agriculture.

Many critics point out that for Bangladesh's farming folk, prior to the green revolution of the 1960s, crop rotation and use of crop residues and other organic matter to enhance soil fertility, used to be a standard practice. They had been forced to unlearn much traditional wisdom due to the top-down intervention of educated outsiders. Granting that there can be many benefits as well as setbacks from such encounters, the target group would do well to keep their wits around them and make the best of the capacity-building exercise. There is plenty of scope for enhancing knowledge and collaborating in agriculture. A recent joint venture between Bangladesh and Japanese investors to produce high quality 'mung' bean sprouts, entirely for theJapanese market, may be a case in point. This project was expected to get off the ground within 2012 and if all goes well, could contribute a substantial additional amount of foreign exchange to Bangladesh's export earnings. This kind of a joint venture which has the potential of providing jobs remunerative for farmers, bringing fallow land under non-cereal crop cultivation and enhancing the availability of the legume for domestic consumption as well, is more than welcome.

Sustained agricultural growth, coupled with efforts to enhance productivity and to promote diversification while keeping the resource endowment factors from dynamic context into consideration, is critically important for Bangladesh. Despite the gradual decline of the share of agriculture in the country's gross domestic product (GDP) with economic progress over the past few decades, the sector still contributes about a fifth to the national incomes and employs nearly half of its labour force. There is no denying that the natural resources -- land, water and soil fertility -- that are available for agricultural production have been under some adverse pressures in Bangladesh. But there are also many opportunities that yet remain unexploited. Here the diffusion of appropriate technologies and improved farm practices, can make the difference, in terms of increased productivity and higher levels of production. A synergy of actions -- supportive policy measures, incentives, marketing and related infrastructural facilities, better conservation methods, improved management practices etc., -- will be needed to tap the potential for diversification of agricultural activities on a sustained basis.

Original Article Here

Lords Scrutinise Food Security, Highlight Biofuels

UK - Members of the Lords, including the author of the Curry Report on the sustainable future of farming and food and a former chair of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, debated current government policies on food security last week.

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (Liberal Democrat), who tabled the debate, said: "We have only recently begun to understand the importance of the concept of global food security rather than seeing it as an issue only when there is a regional famine or shortage far from these shores."

Baroness Miller highlighted how the UK has the 'best grass-growing conditions in the whole world and a wonderful range of livestock breeds'. Baroness Miller continued: "Food security is all about resilience and diversity. We must value our seed heritage and our different animal breeds." Baroness Miller predicted biotechnology would be a 'hot topic' and said: "I do not think that GM is the answer to food security issues, but nor should we seek to halt scientific exploration and trials."

Earl of Selborne (Conservative), former chair of the Royal Agricultural Society of England and current chair of the Foundation for Science and Technology, stated: "Our present food system is clearly unsustainable, inadequate and failing in some respects."

Earl of Selborne listed reduced dependence on fossil fuels and exploitation of natural resources, economic use of water, increased use of biomass and reducing carbon leakage as essential components of sustainable agriculture. "It will not be agricultural science that delivers totally. Financial services, the communications sector and a whole raft of interventions - political, economical, sociological and technological - will be involved," he said.

Lord Giddens (Labour), member of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment EU Sub-committee, took a global view and spoke about 'new style risks' which 'we tend to be in denial about'. Human created risks are rising steeply yet "we are not in a world that is getting close to managing their consequences, or even to accepting their seriousness," Lord Giddens explained.

Lord Giddens added: "Three of the biggest new-style risks are climate change, population growth and world urbanisation. In the case of food security these risks overlap and it's time 'to make far more of a dent in these risks than we have so far."

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