Planting for Arid Areas, Using Groasis Boxes to Reduce Water Usage by 80 Percent

NICHE MARKETS

Venturing beyond certifi cation

DAIRy pRoDUCTS

Local milka hot item

Ongoing projects

INTERVIEW

Sean de Cleene,

senior vice president

for yara International

LABOUR CONDITIONS

N°162FEBRUARY-MARCH 2013

The magazinefor agricultural and rural development in ACp countries

http://spore.cta.int

Informed Analysis Expert Opinions http://agritrade.cta.int

The latest information on ACP-EU agriculture and fisheries trade issues

agritrade

Informed Analysis Expert Opinions http://agritrade.cta.int

The latest information on ACP-EU agriculture and fisheries trade issues

agritrade

DOSSIER

NICHE MARKETS

Venturing beyond certifi cation

COVER STORY4 INTERVIEW

4 | Cover story6 | News7 | Crops8 | Fisheries and livestock9 | Environment10 | Research11 | Business and trade12 | Interview

13 | DOSSIER Labour conditions: ongoing projects Health and safety in the agricultural sector, an ongoing challenge.

17 | Viewpoint Tometo Kalhoulé: good legislation and ratifi cation Legislative progress in French-speaking Africa to protect farm workers.

18 | Field report Mali: agricultural work - beware! Smallholder cotton farmers in Sikasso region are seriously concerned.

20 | Sector Dairy products: local milk a hot item21 | Publications25 | Get on board with CTA

SEAN DE CLEENE

Africa’s brave new world

12LABoUR CoNDITIoNS

Ongoingprojects

13

SpoRE N° 162 - FEBRUARy-MARCH 2013TABLE OF CONTENTS

Who is the larg-est investor in agri-culture in devel-oping countries? According to FAO’s report, The State of Food & Agriculture 2012, farmers them-selves are by far the largest investors, putting in as much as four times more than governments and 50 times more than foreign development assist-ance. These investments include equipment, irrigation canals, tree planting and farm houses. Studies have shown that investing in agriculture off ers one of the best means of reducing poverty and hunger. However, many governments fail to allocate adequate budgets to their agricultural sector despite commitments made through initiatives such as the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme.

The report calls for a signifi cant increase in the amount and the quality of investment and argues that farmers must be central to any strategy aimed at increasing the quantity and quality of investment in agriculture. A conducive investment climate - including legal, policy and institutional environment - as well as market incentives are key in spurring investment by farmers and other private investors. The report touches on the sensitive issue of large-scale investments in agriculture, especially by foreign companies, and notes that while such investment can off er opportunities for capital infl ows, technology transfer and earnings, it can displace local land users and have negative environmental impacts. Contracts that off er positive outcomes for local people, governments and private investors can be negotiated to overcome these problems.

Finally, the report calls on governments and donors to help smallholder farmers overcome severe constraints through more secure property rights, better rural infrastructure, risk insurance and stronger producer organisations.

Michael HailuDirector - CTA

Investing in agriculture

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is the bi-monthly magazine of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). CTA operates under the Cotonou Agreement between the countries of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacifi c (ACP)

group and the European union and is fi nanced by the Eu. • Postbus 380 • 6700 AJ Wageningen, The Netherlands • Tel: +31 317 467 100 • Fax: +31 317 460 067 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.cta.int • PuBLISHER: Michael Hailu • EDITORIAL BOARD: Thierry Doudet, Stéphane Gambier, Anne Legroscollard, Isolina Boto, Vincent Fautrel, José Filipe Fonseca, Krishan Bheenick • MARKETING: Thérèse Burke • EDITORIAL STAFF: Executive editor and Editor of French version: Joshua Massarenti • Vita Società Editoriale S.p.A., Via Marco d’Agrate 43, 20139 Milano, Italy • Editor of English version: Susanna Thorp (WRENmedia Ltd) • Fressingfi eld, Eye, Suff olk, IP21 5SA, UK • Editor of Portuguese version: Ana Gloria Lucas, Rua Aura Abranches 10, 1500-067 Lisboa, Portugal • CORRESPONDENTS: The following contributed to this issue: M Aka Aka (Côte d’Ivoire), O Alawode (Nigeria), B Bafana (Zimbabwe), K Bescombe (Trinidad and Tobago), T P Cox (USA), S. Diarra (Mali), C Docherty (Barbados), W Gibbings (Trinidad and Tobago), G. Kamadi (Kenya), J. Karuga (Kenya), O Kiishweko (Tanzania), M A Konte (Senegal), P Luganda (Uganda), C Nforgang (Cameroon), C Njeru (Kenya), J Ojwang (Kenya), F Pereira (Guinea-Bissau), P Pink (Jamaica), P Sawa (Kenya), S Rantrua (France), F Tafuna’i (Samoa), A Twahirwa (Rwanda) and M Waruru (Kenya) • OTHER CONTRIBuTORS: N Brynaert, S Federici, ISO Translation & Publishing, D Juchault, D Manley, F Mantione, C Pusceddu, Tradcatts, G Zati • LAYOuT: Lai-momo, Italy • DESIGN: Intactile DESIGN, France • PRINTER: Pure Impression, France • © CTA 2013 – ISSN 1011-0054

FEBRUARy-MARCH 2013 | SpoRE 162 | 3

W hen shoppers in 61 countries buy coconut oil-based cosmetics at The Body Shop, that oil comes from Samoa - an island that, like many in the Pacific, struggled for decades to

overcome the collapse of the copra trade. Now virgin coco-nut oil is produced on-farm through whole nut process-ing, and the cosmetics giant buys all the oil that Samoan farmers can produce. The product is not only opening up a new market for an iconic tree crop in Samoa, it’s also allowing farmers to earn a larger share of the price, and to develop the country’s own high quality brand within that market.

Over the last two decades, these and other producers have benefited from access to niche markets that reward the very attributes which usually disadvantage smallhold-ers in the crowded commodity trade. During that time, certifications such as fair trade and organic became almost synonymous with the idea of niche markets. In crops such as bananas, coffee and sugar, some farmers overcame the costs and challenges of compliance to reach for the price premiums that came with special certification marks. Ethical consumers in the developed world were willing to pay these premiums for marks like Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance Certified. More than 6,000 fair trade products are now on sale in 25 countries, while sales of organic products have more than tripled in the past decade. In UK supermarkets, more than a quarter of all bananas and a third of all sugar is sold under a fair trade label, including major brands such as Tate & Lyle sugar.

As certified products move into the mainstream, they may not remain ‘niche’ for long. When fair trade bananas from a small Caribbean island sit on the shelf next to much cheaper fair trade bananas from advanced export-ers such as Ecuador, customers take the low price, secure in the knowledge that they are still supporting fair trade. At this point, small producers fall back into a market of fierce competition and marginalisation, further burdened by the costs of earning certified marks. With these markets filling up, a more creative diversity of approaches will be needed, with individual countries and producer groups defining their own niches. Venturing beyond certification, products have to stand alone, earning premiums based

on processing, branding, unique qualities, or exotic ori-gins, all catering to a wider range of tastes and cultural connections.

From commodity to brandSugarcane has driven Caribbean economies for centu-

ries, but today this strongly commodified crop seems to offer little scope for growth or development. Fair trade and organic markets have become nearly as crowded as the main channels, with cheaper certified products edging out small island developing states.

Striking out beyond these labels, Barbados’s West Indies Sugar & Trading Company (Wistco) has spent years

NICHE MARKETS

Venturing beyond certification

Drying coconut gratings for coconut oil production, Samoa

Certification programmes such as fair trade and organic have allowed small producers to step out of bulk commodity export markets and into higher value niches in the last two decades. But as these markets too are filling up, with increased competition from developing countries, ACP producers are faced with having to carve out niches of their own - and there are no simple criteria for success.

COVER STORY

4 | SpoRE 162 | FEBRUARy-MARCH 2013

building its own brand around the sugar grown on the island. This includes the Plantation Traditional line, which can be found in stores across the Caribbean and the UK, and the premium quality, amber-coloured Plantation Reserve, sold in top-end supermarkets. Branding commodities is a special challenge, says Chris Docherty, Wistco chairman and managing director of Windward Strategic, which helps oth-ers build brands around sustainable supply chains. Making an eye-catching brand out of something as simple as sugar wasn’t easy, quick or cheap, but Wistco discovered that the expertise they needed is also going global. “We used a local designer for our packaging, a UK public relations agency to launch publicity, and we contracted website design in continental Europe,” Docherty says. Profi table by its fourth year, the company now brings Barbados’s sugar industry more than US$1 million (€774,000) in income above the world price every year.

Another approach is promoting local products and varieties to diaspora populations living in the developed world. Many Caribbean nations export products such as yuca (cassava), and chilli sauce to customers who have settled in the United States and elsewhere. But this model is not always easy to follow. In 2009, the government of Nasarawa State, Nigeria, started an attempt to export yams to Britain. While unknown in British supermarkets, yams are a huge part of Nigerian diets, and Nasawara State is famous for its crop. The export brand Pepa Yam was launched in Britain to national publicity. But the costs of export proved too high, and the state fi rm abandoned the project after the fi rst season. A new coordinated attempt - if it can overcome export costs, create a recognised brand, and pass on a greater share of the price to farmers - could create a durable conduit of trade between Nigerians at home and abroad.

Key role of policymakersMany producers who have

found a safe haven in certifi ed markets will need to differentiate and add value beyond the cer-tifi cation mark, as these niches fi ll up. While there are successes for Samoa’s coconut farmers and Barbados’s sugar planta-tions, further work needs to be done on how these changes can be made sustainable and scale-able. Alone, ventures that aim to become household brands - like Pepa Yam - often fall short of the enormous investment that is needed to carve a new niche. A policy environment that sup-ports these endeavours is one essential factor. Policymakers can help improve the availabil-ity and quality of crops through national integrated agricultural strategies, by making export less costly and burdensome, and bring fi nancing to the table. In this environment even small companies should be able to

launch differentiated products - though most likely with support from the state, NGOs or donors.

At the very least, ‘pump-priming’ funds are often neces-sary to carry through the transition to new production and marketing strategies. This is likely to be a growing focus for national investment, as well as ‘aid for trade’ funds that help developing countries build trading capacity. The EU, the leading provider of aid for trade, already devotes a proportion of its budget (€10 billion a year) to help-ing producers meet European health and safety standards. Looking beyond this to supporting unique market strat-egies could produce more benefi ts. In ACP countries, niche exports are already supported by the Centre for the Development of Enterprise established under the Cotonou Agreement, and by COLEACP, an interprofessional net-work promoting sustainable horticultural trade between ACP countries and the EU.

Domestically, export promotion boards can lead the way, helping fi rms identify requirements and source con-sistent produce that meets the quality they promise to buyers. All of these forms of support will have to be com-mitted and farsighted. New ventures take years to gener-ate returns - and a great many fail outright. Where certi-fi cation schemes promised to calm the waters of global markets, niche marketing rewards dynamic entrepreneur-ism. For many farmers, however, this simply translates to high costs and high risks. If this is the future they see, ACP policymakers in cooperation with the private sector, NGOs and development partners need to plan carefully to avoid placing these burdens on farmers alone.

IIEDPro-poor Certifi cation: Assessing the Benefi ts of Sustainability Certifi cation for Small-scale Farmers in Asiahttp://pubs.iied.org/14604IIED.html

Branding Agricultural Commodities: The Development Case for Adding Value through Brandinghttp://pubs.iied.org/16509IIED.html

Women In Business DevelopmentStanding proud on Samoan soilhttp://tinyurl.com/at7aqte

West Indies Sugar & Trading CompanyProducer of Plantation Traditional and Plantation Reserve sugars from Barbadoswww.wistco.co.bb

Windward Strategic Ltdwww.windwardstrategic.com

Address by the High Commissioner of Nigeria on the introduction of Pepa Yam from Nasawara State to the UK, 2009http://tinyurl.com/ao87hed

CTAAgritrade Executive Brief Update 2012: Product Diff erentiationhttp://tinyurl.com/c46yuau

To fi nd out more

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COVER STORY


FooD SECURITy

Heartening prospectsThe agricultural and food prospects in the Sahel and West Africa are generally good according to FAO and WFP. Initial estimates indicate that cereal production in these regions should be around 57-64 million tonnes in 2012/13, a 5-17% increase in

comparison to the previous season. In southern Africa, a prolonged dry spell led to a slump in cereal production in 2012, particularly in Lesotho. In East Africa, however, the overall food security situation began improving following strong crop harvests and the onset of heavy rainfall.

AGRoECoLoGy

A triple winSoil nutrient management and improved livestock feed help farmers increase productivity, adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says a joint study by the

Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, the International Livestock Research Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute. John Otip (picture) used to get three litres of milk per day from his seven goats, but now gets up to eight litres, by feeding them with Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and Desmodium. Maize yields have been increased from one tonne per ha to 3.5 tonnes by intercropping with Desmodium, which fixes nitrogen and repels the stem borer pest.

JAMAICA

Hurricane havocin Caribbean

Wreaking havoc on the northern ■

Caribbean island of Jamaica, Hurricane Sandy resulted in millions of euros in island-wide damage. The agriculture sector was among the most affected, with dam-age amounting to over €11.8 million. Over 20% of its world-famous Blue Mountain coffee berries valued at €850,000 were destroyed and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries estimate that over 37,000 farmers have been affected.

To resuscitate the sector, the Government has pledged to provide farmers with seeds, fertiliser and one-day old chicks. A €770,000 loan from the People’s Cooperative Bank and grants from the EU-funded Banana Support Programme will help support banana farmers. Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said, “Even before the hur-ricane we faced serious economic chal-lenges. Now, we must accelerate our work to ensure that we are even better prepared in the future.” The Ministries of Agriculture and Labour and Social Security of Jamaica have also implemented a voucher system to assist smallholder farmers and encourage replanting. pRIZE

Nununa, a social enterprise model

The third Grands Prix de la Finance ■

Solidaire, co-organised by the socially respon-sible finance association Finansol and the French daily Le Monde, rewarded five projects deemed to be highly beneficial for society and the environment, and the federation Nununa (‘natural fat’ in Nuni dialect, Burkina Faso) was one of the winners. Nununa, a cooperative of 4,500 sesame and shea but-ter producers, was founded in 2001 to pool their know-how and production resources in order to enhance the quality and marketing of their products. The cooperative succeeded in meeting its targets with the support of Tech Dev, an association that offers small African companies specialised technical sup-port, and the socially responsible investment fund GARRIGUE. Nununa exports 100-150 tonnes of shea butter certified by Fairtrade International, some of which is processed into soap and other cosmetics. The federa-tion is renowned for its commercial success but also its social initiatives (literacy training centres for rural women, orphan sponsor-ship, etc.), which is why it was rewarded by Finansol and Le Monde.

poLICy

Reducing climate vulnerabilityLessons learnt from 120 farmers and pastoralists involved in a four region initiative across Kenya will provide policy recommendations for making communities less vulnerable to climate variability. In particular, the project focused on how the use of localised, demand-driven weather forecasts could increase farmers’ production of maize and sorghum.

INSURANCE

Crop lossesSince 12 october 2012, 20,000 Rwandan farmers have been eligible for a low-cost insurance to make up for losses incurred when extreme climatic conditions are recorded at the eight weather stations set up for this purpose in the southern and western provinces of the country. Maize and bean crop farmers will be the first beneficiaries of this scheme.

Nununa women’s federation members shelling shea nuts

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NEWS


CASHEW NUTS

A priceless SMSThe SIM-Anacarde cashew nut market ■

information system was founded in Côte d’Ivoire in 2009 to simultaneously inform all stakeholders in the cashew nut sector and foster transparency. This European Commission and Fondation de France funded project is coordinated by the NGO RONGEAD and the African Institute for Economic and Social Development. The Institute pools information on local, national and international cashew prices. Business risk management advice is then sent via SMS to Ivorian cashew nut farmers (price changes, lack of partners, non-compliance with contracts, etc.) so that prices can be adjusted in the five cashew cropping areas in northern Côte d’Ivoire. Two hundred and sixty-nine farmers relay the information to 8,500 cashew nut farmers targeted by the project. SIM-Anacarde has succeeded in boosting selling prices by 4% and farmers’ income by 2.4%, while reducing their pov-erty level by 6.3%, according to the Cotton and Cashew Nut Regulation Authority in Côte d’Ivoire and the beneficiaries of the project. This has laid the groundwork for the development of a cashew nut market, with Côte d’Ivoire being the world’s leading exporter.

TECHNoLoGy

An interactive tool to protect rice

The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) has ■

developed an interactive tool for identifying nearly 200 different species of weeds of low-land rice in East and West Africa. The tar-get users of this tool - which was unveiled in October 2012 - are agronomists, students, farmers’ associations and extension services. Weeds are identified through a knowledge base that can be accessed online, offline on CD-ROMs, or as an app on smartphones. “Weeds are perhaps the most important constraint in rice production, so this is a valuable resource for all those involved in research, training and management of rice weeds in sub-Saharan Africa, where total rice production losses attributable to weeds are estimated at €1.1 billion,” said Dr Jonne Rodenburg, AfricaRice weed scientist. This tool was designed as part of a research project on African weeds of rice (AFROweeds), coor-dinated by the French agricultural research institute CIRAD and AfricaRice, with the sup-port of the ACP-EU Science and Technology Programme.

INSURANCE

Safer investmentsTwelve thousand Kenyan farmers have insured their agricultural investments against the risk of crop failure. An index-based weather insurance plan is encouraging farmers to take loans provided by the Agricultural Finance Corporation, whilst ApA insurance provides cover against weather-related losses. over 20,000 farmers are expected to join the scheme in 2013.

BREEDING

Drought-tolerant maizeZimbabwean farmers have harvested the first crop of SIRDAMAIZE 113, a new hybrid released by the Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre. The new variety is resistant to several key diseases, including maize streak virus and grey leaf spot, takes only 136 days to mature, and provides reasonable yields even during drought conditions.

DISEASE

Twig borer threatThe coffee twig borer (CTB), unknown in Uganda before 2004, now affects 35 out of 84 coffee growing districts, causing stunting and drying of coffee trees and leading to a severe reduction in output. Farmers have been advised to spray the trees with insecticide to stop the

spread of CTB, which the Ministry of Agriculture and the Uganda Coffee Development Authority have said is fast emerging as the leading threat to coffee production in the country. According to Dr Africano Kangire, head of the National Coffee Research Institute, CTB has already destroyed more than half of the coffee trees in the Robusta growing areas.

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RICE

Rural sector support raises incomesSupport by the World Bank and the Government of Rwanda to rehabilitate and develop Rwanda’s marshlands has

resulted in doubling of rice yields, from three to six tonnes per ha. Through the use of improved technologies, including irrigation, incomes have tripled over the last three years for about 50,000 farmers. Fertiliser use, for example, has increased by 34-86% since 2001. Market access has also increased through formation of cooperatives, with over 70% of farmers able to sell their produce, nearly double the national average. The Rural Sector Support Project is part of a Government plan to revitalise the rural economy.

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In Côte d’Ivoire, cashew processing creates jobs for women

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In Benin, tablet computers help in the fight against weeds

CROPS


DIVERSITy

Women’s crucial roleAccording to FAO, 22% of the world’s livestock breeds are classified as at risk of extinction, although population figures are often unreported or out of date, making the true state of livestock diversity difficult to estimate. Countries are beginning to put programmes into place to reverse the decline in indigenous livestock breeds but

a new FAO study suggests that initiatives will not be successful if the role of women as keepers of indigenous livestock is ignored. Women are the guardians of livestock diversity, yet their contribution to indigenous livestock breeding and conservation is often poorly documented and undervalued.

DAIRy

Making the most of milk

Kenya’s six year old Smallholder Dairy ■

Commercialisation Programme has enabled smallholder dairy farmers to increase their resilience to drought and boost their income. Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and implemented by the Government of Kenya, the programme has taught farmers how to manage pasture, plant the right fodder varieties, preserve dry matter from crops and formulate their own feeds to increase milk production in dry peri-ods. Zero grazing has also been promoted, with some farmers making their own hay pits to cut the cost of purchasing fodder from shops. Biogas generation has not only ena-bled farmers to save trees but also to ferti-lise their kitchen gardens using biogas waste products, thereby improving their nutrition.

Through 14 dairy commercialisation areas in Kenya, groups of farmers have developed five year business plans and some have formed dairy cooperatives to process milk or run milk bars. One group has started an informal ‘table banking’ system, while another group is adding value to milk by producing yoghurt.

BREEDING

Improved tilapiaTwo improved fish varieties that grow ■

30% faster than non-improved types are boosting productivity and income for fish farmers in North and West Africa. The Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) varie-ties - one suitable for the Mediterranean (Abbassa) and the other suited for West Africa (Akosombo) - have been developed in Egypt and Ghana by WorldFish and local partners. Faster growing fish means greater income for tilapia farmers, and could have significant economic benefits for the aquac-ulture industry. “The response is phenome-nal. The tilapia industry in Ghana is booming with the new Akosombo strain,” explains Dr Attipoe from the Water Research Institute, which bred the variety in partnership with WorldFish. “At the current pace, tilapia pro-duction in Ghana is projected to increase ten-fold by 2015.” Other countries in West Africa are also benefitting, with surplus fish exported to Côte d’Ivoire and fingerlings sent to Burkina Faso and Nigeria for breed-ing. The Egyptian variety is under trial in Mediterranean countries and parts of West Asia with a similar climate. CATTLE

Genetic potential Senegal is currently enhancing the genetic potential of its cattle herds via crosses with highly productive breeds (Montbéliarde, Holstein, Jersey) imported mainly from Brazil, France and India. Three thousand cows were inseminated annually for 10 years but the rate has increased since 2008. More than 30,000 cows a year are now inseminated, with a pregnancy rate reaching as high as 47.7%. The country still has to import around €91 million worth of milk to offset the low local milk production level and fulfil the growing demand for this product.

FISHERIES AND LIVESTOCK

BIoTECHNoLoGIES

Nguni cattle genome sequencedThe genome of 10 Nguni cattle - an indigenous breed favoured for its resistance to disease and tolerance to heat - has been sequenced by the Biotechnology platform, a DNA sequencing project funded through the Agriculture Research Council in South Africa. The data will be shared through the 1,000 Bull Genomes Consortium, a global bovine research community

project that provides information on genetic variation for cattle breeds all over the world. Dr Jasper Rees, head of the Biotechnology platform, says that the aim is to discover genetic traits that enable Nguni cattle to tolerate heat and disease and introduce these into commercial breeds that produce more milk or meat.

CERTIFICATIoN

A taste for rabbitsA high demand for rabbit meat was identified following a local market study by the Trinidad and Tobago Agribusiness Association. To partake in the venture, farmers must be trained by the Rabbit Industry Association and become certified with a Farmer’s Badge, which allows producers to receive subsidies as part of the Government Agricultural Incentive programme.

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Nile tilapia, a valuable resource for the fishing industry in Ghana

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A milk bar in Kenya


TECHNoLoGy

Planting for arid areasA biodegradable planting technology that reduces water usage by 80% is being piloted in Africa. Dubbed the Groasis Waterboxx (GWB), the technology protects and waters tree

seedlings until their root system is developed enough to reach underground water sources, which can take up to two years, depending on the environment and tree species. GWBs have been used for 18,000 trees in Zaragoza, Spain, where temperatures rise to 40 degrees centigrade. The technology can also be used to grow arid land fruit trees. In Africa, GWB is on trial in Ethiopia’s Wukro region and Shanta-Abaq in Kenya. Worldwide there are over 100,000 GWBs in use.

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New protected areas

Biodiversity protection areas in Guinea- ■

Bissau will increase from 15% to 25% of the country’s land surface in 2014 on comple-tion of the new generation protected areas project, which has been under implemen-tation for the last 18 months by IBAP, the Institute of Biodiversity Protected Areas. The project aims to create two parks in the inte-rior of the country, Dulombi-Boé, with three corridors connecting them to the six existing parks in coastal areas. The new parks will preserve forest areas rich in wildlife, particu-larly the forests along the Corubal, the larg-est freshwater river in the country. Guinea-Bissau is one of the countries in the world with the highest percentage of its territory devoted to biodiversity reserves.

In Mozambique, the Government has approved the establishment of an environ-mental protection zone around the Primeiras and Segundas islands in the north, which will become Africa’s largest marine reserve. The area, which covers 1 million ha and extends along 250km of the Nampula and Zambézia coastal provinces, is rich in biodiversity: coral reefs, seagrass meadows, green turtle nesting beaches and mangroves. Its inhabitants, who are predominantly artisan fisherfolk, called for the conservation of resources threatened by industrial fishing and illegal tourism. The Government’s decision is the culmination of eight years of work by WWF.

pESTICIDES

Tanzania cleans upStockpiles of obsolete pesticides in ■

Tanzania are being eliminated as part of the Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP), which is also working to prevent the future build up of similar wastes, including raising awareness about chemical hazards. The Programme is targeting persistent organic pollutants - con-sidered the most toxic form of waste - and pesticides no longer in use or regarded as effective.

ASP has discovered about 700 tonnes of agricultural waste in 135 sites across Tanzania, of which over 100 tonnes of pes-ticides have been successfully disposed of. Stockpiling of agricultural waste has been attributed to inappropriate procurement practices, untimely distribution, inadequate storage facilities, poor stock management, donations in excess of local needs and prod-uct bans. Tanzania is one of the first countries to implement phase one of ASP; Ethiopia, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia are following suit. ASP is supported by FAO, the World Bank, WWF and Pesticide Action Network.

GENETIC RESoURCES

Profits from plantsJamaica has passed a bill in relation to its accession to the International Treaty on plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Sixty-four Jamaican crops are listed in the treaty including yam, coconut and plantain. The bill will help to protect genetic resources and enable local people to benefit from profits arising out of the use of these plants.

SoIL FERTILITy

An exhausting businessAn innovative technology, dubbed Bio-Agtive™, which converts harmful tractor exhaust emissions to fertiliser, is being trialled in Tanzania. According to Canadian innovator Gary Lewis, Bio-Agtive™ boosts soil carbon and nitrogen by injecting cooled gases through the seed tines into the soil air spaces. over 170 farmers are currently using the technology worldwide.

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A former storage site for obsolete pesticides

EVERGREEN AGRICULTURE

Fertiliser-making treesA 12 year study conducted in Malawi and Zambia by the World Agroforestry Centre has concluded that intercropping maize with Gliricidia - a ‘fertiliser tree’ - produces more stable yields

than applying inorganic fertiliser to monocropped maize. Gliricidia draws nitrogen from the air and converts it into a form that plants can use. The shed leaves increase organic matter in the soil, improving the structure, resistance to erosion and water storage capacity. Researchers from the World Agroforestry Centre and national research institutes in Africa have been evaluating and promoting the use of fertiliser trees since the late 1980s.

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Park Dulombi-Boé, a new protected area in Guinea-Bissau

ENVIRONMENT


ICT

Sharing informationAn integrated mobile phone and web information platform, facilitating access and sharing of reliable and timely agriculture and rural development information, has been launched in Zimbabwe. Developed by Knowledge Transfer Africa Ltd and Afrosoft Holdings, key features of eMkambo include an email list and a user database providing

information on agricultural commodities, input providers, financial institutions, weather forecasts and food processors. The platform, which functions across all local languages in Zimbabwe, has already attracted 31,000 users, including farmers, agro-dealers, traders and farmers’ associations.

STRIGA

Maize to fight witchweedNew maize varieties which emit toxic chemicals that suppress the growth of Striga, also known as witchweed, have been developed by Maseno University in Kenya. The maize varieties - Maseno EH 10, EH 11 and EH 14 - have taken 10 years to develop and be field tested. The first of their kind in East Africa, the varieties mature 20-50 days earlier than conventional varieties and have been cleared by the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service. Striga is a parasitic plant that attaches itself to the roots of cereal

crops, depriving them of nutrients and causing losses of about €60 million to Kenyan farmers each year.

DISEASE

Resistant coffee releasedSeven coffee varieties resistant to coffee wilt disease have been released in Uganda to revive the country’s leading cash crop; over 50% of coffee trees have been wiped out by the disease. A private tissue culture company, Agro-Genetic Technologies, has been awarded a contract to supply 2 million coffee plantlets per year, although more are required to meet demand.

AFLAToXIN

Biocontrol - the wager has paid off

An experimental biological control ini- ■

tiative has been underway since 2010 in the groundnut cropping region of Senegal to quash the problem of aflatoxin contamina-tion of groundnut oil. The results have just been published, revealing a 90% decrease in aflatoxin contamination of groundnuts in fields and storage areas. For Ablaye Ndiaye who heads the seed and legislation division of the Senegalese Crop Protection Service, “this result was obtained using a scientific method named ‘Aflasafe SN01’, whereby a nontoxic fungus was introduced to compete with a virulent strain that produces more afla-toxin, thus reducing the level of this contam-inant in groundnuts in the field.” Aflatoxin - which is highly carcinogenic to humans and animals - is a mycotoxin produced by fungi growing on groundnuts stored in a hot humid atmosphere. Following these results, a workshop was held in Dakar in November 2012, which gave rise to an aflatoxin biocon-trol extension initiative in Senegal and the Sahel. The aim is to ensure that groundnuts produced in the Sahelian region comply with the maximum aflatoxin level of 2-3 mg per groundnut, as required under current European food safety standards.

BIoFoRTIFICATIoN

Vitamin A-rich cassava

Scientists at the Namulonge National ■

Crop Resources Research Institute in Uganda are in the advanced stages of developing cassava varieties enriched with vitamin A and have begun research to introduce zinc. Biofortification - a process of breeding new varieties of staple food crops that contain higher levels of vitamins and minerals - seeks to address widespread micronutrient malnutrition which can result in blindness, stunting, impaired development and prema-ture death. Vitamin A deficiency is a serious health concern in poorer countries, account-ing for more than 600,000 deaths a year among children under five. According to the UN Children’s Fund, 2.4 million stunted chil-dren under five live in Uganda.

In 2012, the Nigerian Government launched three pro-vitamin A cassava vari-eties, bred by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in collaboration with the National Root Crops Research Institute. Consumption of these pro-vitamin A varieties is expected to help Nigeria reduce economic losses in gross domestic product estimated at €1.1 billion.

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A farmer about to apply aflasafe SN01 to his groundnut field

MALNUTRITIoN

Quality protein maizeTo counter malnutrition and low maize yields, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center and Tanzanian National Agricultural Research System have launched a project to introduce two new varieties of Quality protein Maize (QpM) to 24,000 farmers. QpM contains nearly twice as much usable protein compared to tradi-tional maize varieties and yields 10% more.

RESEARCH


MARKETS

Access to creditIn partnership with commercial banks, the Government of Rwanda is implementing a new approach to provide low interest loans to farmer cooperatives in remote rural areas, in order to increase their production and their ability to access modern market chains. To boost national food self-sufficiency while also reducing imports, the Government has also established several food processing factories, for example, to process cassava into flour and soya bean into vegetable oil. The new facilities also provide a ready market for local farmers, improving their ability to secure credit and expand their income-generating activities.

FooD SECURITy

Promoting cassavaThe Nigerian Cassava Growers Association has selected 60 entrepreneurs to produce cassava flour for the Government’s strategic grain reserve. Nigeria’s Federal Government is also encouraging increased cassava production, so that cassava flour can be combined with imported wheat flour to make bread. Incentives include low interest loans and

opportunities to buy chemical inputs at fair prices. The primary aim is to empower smallholder cassava farmers, who typically earn low prices from selling cassava in local markets or to middlemen. The initiative will also reduce imports, saving billions of dollars in foreign exchange annually.

CoMpETITIoN

Labelled Penja pepper

Penja pepper (named after a coastal ■

region of Cameroon) is well liked for its fine aroma and is about to be granted a label of origin. The specifications that the experts and consultants hired by the representative Penja pepper geographical designation group are using to obtain this label were validated by the Cameroon Government. Penja pep-per growers chose to label their peppers to thwart competition from peppers grown at other locations in the country or imported. Market sellers always showcase peppers as Penja peppers in their stalls because they are popular amongst consumers. With the sup-port of the Cameroonian Agricultural and Rural Professional Integration Centre and the African Intellectual Property Organisation, a group of Penja pepper growers founded an association that brings together Penja pep-per nurserymen, growers and distributers through a ‘pepper cluster’. The group then completed the geographical identification

process, which is a prerequisite for obtaining a label of origin.

pRoCESSING

Certifying cashewTo improve the competitiveness of ■

Africa’s cashew industry, the African Cashew Alliance (ACA) has introduced the ACA Quality and Sustainability Seal. The Seal is an industry-accepted mark that dem-onstrates compliance with internationally recognised quality, food safety, social and labour standards. Since the programme began in 2012, Tolaro Global of Benin and Mim Cashew of Ghana have been awarded the Seal. “The ACA Seal has brought us up a whole new level,” says Jace Rabe, CEO of Tolaro Global. “We’ve only been processing cashew for a few months now and we can compete with anybody.”

At the seventh ACA Annual Conference in Cotonou, Benin, Jeffery Read, of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emphasised that third party certifications are increas-ingly important for determining food safety. “We believe the ACA Seal provides a great opportunity to meet the requirements of the FDA law,” says Dan Phipps of Red River Foods in the US. “Buyers are supporting the Seal’s value - they’ve been asking for it for a long time,” explains Jim Giles, ACA Seal Team Advisor.

oNIoNS

Boosting productionJamaica’s Agri Investment Corporation is partnering with 60 growers to establish agro-parks, a collection of individually owned farms dedicated to the production of one crop. The first ‘onion park’ aims to boost production and enable locally grown onions to compete on the import dominated market. The growers have a target of producing onions worth €2 million by 2014.

pEppER

Increasing exportsIn São Tomé and príncipe, organic pepper production - which is all exported to France - exceeded 20 tonnes in 2012, doubling figures for 2011. The pepper production Cooperative has invested in organic production as a means of combating poverty in a project involving 26 farming communities. Cooperative president, António pinto, said that given the small size of the country and corresponding levels of production, emphasis on quality was essential.

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Drying Penja pepper

These 6 pages were produced with contributions from: M Aka Aka (Côte d’Ivoire), O Alawode (Nigeria), B Bafana (Zimbabwe), K Bescombe (Trinidad and Tobago), C Docherty (Barbados), W Gibbings (Trinidad and Tobago), G Kamadi (Kenya), J Karuga (Kenya), O Kiishweko (Tanzania), M A Konte (Senegal), P Luganda (Uganda), C Nforgang (Cameroon), C Njeru (Kenya), J Ojwang (Kenya), F Pereira (Guinea-Bissau), P Pink (Jamaica), P Sawa (Kenya),F Tafuna’i (Samoa), A Twahirwa (Rwanda)and M Waruru (Kenya).

BUSINESS AND TRADE


How do you see the challenges and opportunities for Africa to help feed the world?

Almost 1.2 billion people are going hun-gry in the world; a third of those are in Africa and sadly a lot of those are actually farmers themselves. And yet in many ways this challenge is Africa’s potential. There is nowhere else in the world that has the amount of available arable land: 60% of the uncultivated arable land (excluding land under forest and natural cover) globally is in Africa. Africa also has some of the low-est yields in the world and yet by doubling yields - which equates to achieving just half the global average - Africa would not only be able to feed itself, but could have signifi-cant exports.

As a businessman operating in Africa I could be very pessimistic, given all of the challenges related to food security or gov-ernance. But there has been so much change in the last couple of years that I am actually very optimistic; there is a willingness now to really find solutions.

Can Africa really be at the centre of global economic growth?

The Economist says that seven out of the 10 fastest growing economies between 2010 and 2015 could well be African countries. Nigeria and Ghana were two of the fastest growing economies in the world in 2011 and are likely to be in 2012. I am probably more optimistic today than I have been at any point during my last 15 years, living in Africa and work-ing with its agriculture sector. Why? Because

we are seeing Africa start to take control of its own growth agenda, to move away from agriculture as a development programme to agriculture as a business.

How do you see agricultural development being done differently?

One of the exciting things we are seeing happening is actors being prepared to work together: international NGOs, local civil society, donors and international businesses actually coming together in new innovative public-private partnerships to work on sus-tainable agricultural development. You have companies now putting a lot of effort into sustainable sourcing models, local procure-ment and production in out-grower schemes at smallholders’ farms. Partnerships are developing frameworks which can double or triple yields but keep the water impact and carbon footprint unchanged. Admittedly, we all come from very different backgrounds and have very different motivations for why we are in this, but I have seen an unprecedented interest in trying to figure out how we work together, and how we take on some of these key challenges for feeding the world.

Are African governments sufficiently playing their part?

2013 is the 10-year milestone for the Maputo Declaration, which committed African governements to spending 10% of their gross domestic product on agriculture. Since that time, more than half of African governments have signed up to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme - the

Africa-owned and Africa-led initiative of the New Partnership for Agricultural Development - and we are now getting more governments making that 10% commitment. Under the ‘Grow Africa’ banner, nine countries, includ-ing those fast growing economies, have now come together to develop agricultural invest-ment strategies that really engage local and international investors. Many of these strate-gies focus on inclusion of smallholder farmers into new business ventures.

Nigeria is making US$120 million (€91 million) of its own money available through a working group for banks to finance seed development and a range of other agricultural technologies. This is not the Government giving money to supply seed. This is them financing the business of entrepreneurship to make this happen.

By when should we be looking to achieve change?

I believe we are going to be at this tipping point for several years. Change is not going to happen overnight; it is going to take sev-eral years of solid engagement. However, if we can set ourselves some very clear tar-gets for an agreed time after 2015 when the Millennium Development Goals come to an end, and say that by this particular time we really need to have changed the game; we need to have gone to scale in a way that is much more inclusive and really has the abil-ity to change the way agriculture is done for the better in Africa; then I think we will have really achieved something remarkable. And I think we are at the cusp of doing that.

SEAN DE CLEENE

Africa’s brave new world

Sean de Cleene, senior vice president of global business development and public affairs for Yara International, a leading fertiliser company based in Norway and member of ‘New Vision for Agriculture’, a public-private initiative of the World Economic Forum which aims to promote market-oriented sustainable agricultural development strategies.

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With 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land and agricultural yields far below global averages, African countries have the scope to make a significant contribution to increasing food production globally. The development of new public-private partnerships for agricultural growth, and positive signs of government investment to support agri-businesses, provides a more optimistic outlook for Africa’s agricultural future.

INTERVIEW


LABoUR CoNDITIoNS

Ongoing projects

From large farms to small plots, working conditions, even for children, are often harsh and dangerous - accidents, health problems related to the misuse of pesticides, environmental pollution. Improvements will require increased ratification of International Labour Organization conventions, stricter legal frameworks, and implementation of policies and programmes to ensure adequate protection for agricultural workers.

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17 | VIEWPOINT Tometo Kalhoulé: Good legislation and ratification

18 | FIELD REPORT FROM MALI Agricultural work - beware!

DOSSIER


F ollowing the miners’ strikes in South Africa, farm workers in the country have been demonstrat-ing since early November 2012 to demand wage increases. Most of these workers earn ZAR69 to

75 (€6 to €6.4) a day, which is close to the lowest pay in the country. The working and housing conditions are also often deplorable and were denounced by Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its August 2011 report on the situa-tion on wealthy fruit farms and vineyards in the Western Cape region. HRW singled out the lack of decent hous-ing, exposure to pesticides without proper safety equip-ment, the absence of access to toilets or drinking water at working sites and the efforts of the employers to deter farm workers from forming unions. In developing coun-tries low pay and harsh working conditions are often the common fate of farm workers and smallholders.

Poverty and child labourThis precarious situation encourages the use of

child labour in the fi elds and forces large numbers of people out of rural areas and into cities. According to the International Labour Offi ce, the agricultural sector alone accounts for around 70% of child labour world-wide. “Some agricultural activities - mixing and apply-ing pesticides, using certain types of machinery - are so dangerous that children should be clearly prohibited from engaging in them,” indicates Parviz Koohafkan, Director of FAO’s Rural Development Division. However, not all of the work that children do is harmful to their development. “When it comes to subsistence and family agriculture, children’s participation in family farm activi-ties helps them learn valuable skills, build self-esteem and contribute to the generation of household income, which has a positive impact on their own livelihoods,” says Koohafkan.

At the international level, several conventions drawn up by the International Labour Organization (ILO) have been adopted to combat child labour, including the Minimum Age Convention No. 138 (1973) and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention No. 182 (1999). The fi rst specifi es that light work, which does not prejudice attendance at school, may be tolerated from the age of 12, while work that is not classifi ed as dangerous may be carried out by youths of at least 15 years old. The second convention aims to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, i.e. slavery or comparable practices, such as the sale and traffi cking of children, debt bondage and serf-dom, forced or compulsory labour, and work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children. Convention No. 182 was ratifi ed by 176 countries in April 2012. Among ACP countries, only Eritrea, the Marshall Islands, Somalia and Vanuatu have not yet signed.

The child labour situation varies, however, in differ-ent ACP regions. In Caribbean countries, child labour is

used to different extents but it is believed that the worst forms are not widespread. A 2005 study by the Bureau of Statistics of Guyana on child labour revealed that children working on farms were subject to most of the common hazards including, “heavy workloads, inappropriate use of agrochemicals and cutting tools, as well as other physi-cal hazards.” Agricultural child labour in the Caribbean is usually carried out on family farms or, but less com-monly, as part of a community activity. In Amerindian vil-lages in Guyana, for instance, children naturally take part in the agricultural, fi shing and hunting activities of their community.

A child ploughing a fi eld in

Burkina Faso

DOSSIER


Cocoa sector exposedThe situation is harsher in other areas. The forms of work

that children are subjected to in the cocoa sector in Côte d’Ivoire have been regularly denounced in many reports and documentaries since the late 1990s. Over 250,000 chil-dren work in the cocoa sector in West Africa according to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and 60% of them are under 14 years old. The US State Department documented many cases of child traffi cking in its report on human rights practices in Côte d’Ivoire in 2000. These children, mostly Malian, had been sold by their families or kidnapped to work on cocoa plantations in Côte d’Ivoire.

Accused of turning a blind eye, chocolate manufacturers have been forced to revise their policies and to be more concerned about the conditions under which their raw materials are produced. In 2009, the ‘Nestlé Cocoa Plan’, entitled Improving the Living Conditions of Cocoa-growing Communities, was launched. However, in February 2012, when the group delegated the Fair Labour Association (FLA) to investigate its supply sectors in Côte d’Ivoire, this was the fi rst real sign of its commitment to combat the worst forms of child labour. In its fi nal report, published in June 2012, FLA submitted detailed recommendations to Nestlé, the Government, and other international buyers on how to mitigate the risks to workers throughout the global supply chain. The Swiss food giant committed itself to following these recommendations.

The International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture (ILO, FAO, IFAD, CGIAR, IUF) assists countries in developing and applying labour policies. In Mali, the partnership has underpinned the development of a roadmap outlining priority initiatives to be imple-mented, and a study was conducted on child labour in the rice and cotton sectors with the aim of identifying viable alternatives. Special attention is focused on labour-saving technologies and safer agricultural practices.

Health hazards are also prevalent in the agricultural sector - according to ILO, out of a total estimated number of 335,000 fatal accidents that occur at work every year worldwide, some 170,000 are agricultural workers. The hazards range from burns to accidents caused by machin-ery, intoxication by pesticides, fertilisers or fuels, and exposure to dust.

Half a million tonnes of obsolete pesticides are dis-persed in developing countries according to FAO, which has made disposal of these products a priority through its Programme on the Prevention and Disposal of Obsolete Pesticides. Stockpiles that remain in place will degrade, frequently contaminating the environment and endanger-ing local inhabitants. Those most affected are often poor rural communities, sometimes not even aware of the tox-icity of the chemicals that they are exposed to daily.

Prevention is better than cureSince 2009, however, national inventories of obsolete

pesticides have been, or are currently being, drawn up in Caribbean countries. A stock of 260 tonnes of obsolete pes-ticides was registered by June 2012, but this excludes the Dominican Republic and Haiti which had not yet completed their inventories. A US$7 million (€5.21 million) funding request was submitted to the Global Environment Facility to cover the disposal of 300 tonnes of obsolete pesticides. Initiatives were also carried out in Pacifi c regions, where the staff of the Samoan Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as well as members of the Secretariat of the Pacifi c Regional Environment Programme participated in environmental assessment training. A review of all

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15FEBRUARy-MARCH 2013 | SpoRE 162 |

registered pesticides in fi ve target countries is planned in the region, with technical assistance from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. In Africa, the quantity of stockpiled obsolete pesticides is estimated at 50,000 tonnes according to FAO, which participates in the Africa Stockpiles Programme that was launched in 2005. Apart from the disposal of pesticide stocks, preven-tion is also essential. Locust outbreaks in Africa require large-scale control measures as well as efforts to avoid stockpiling of obsolete pesticides following locust control campaigns and to reduce the environmental impact.

The health, safety and environmental hazards faced by farmers in ACP countries are compounded by a lack of information and protective equipment. These farmers are also facing new dangers due to the increasing use of chemicals that are sometimes very toxic. Users often do not have access to information on the dangers associated with the use of such products, or on precautionary meas-ures to be taken during their use and proper dosages.

Indispensable ratifi cationsILO recognises that agricultural workers, especially

those on large farms, are at risk of contracting some cancers, respiratory diseases and injuries. At the inter-national level, ILO promotes the 2001 Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention (No. 184), which outlines the framework for the development of national policies in this fi eld with the participation of workers’ organisations

and employers. It proposes prevention and protection measures concerning the use of machines, handling and transport of materials, management of chemical products, contact with animals and the

construction and maintenance of agricultural facilities. Fifteen countries have currently ratifi ed this Convention, including Burkina Faso, Fiji, Ghana and São Tomé and Príncipe.

Much remains to be done to improve working condi-tions in the agricultural sector, internationally with the ratifi cation of ILO conventions on this issue, and nation-ally through the adoption of suitable legal frameworks and policies.At the country level, ILO and FAO are collaborating to establish links in the fi elds of social protection and

Promoting labour risk prevention to ensure decent working conditions and enhance agricultural competitiveness in Côte d’Ivoire is the goal of Préventeur Sans Frontière (PSF). This NGO was founded in 2005 by occupational health and safety specialists to raise the awareness of civil society on the prevention of professional hazards such as accidents and diseases, with the support of the International Labour Offi ce and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations. PSF has gradually broadened the scope of its interventions to encompass all activity sectors in several West African countries. PSF recently intervened at around 30 places in the Aboisso and Agboville agricultural regions of southern Côte d’Ivoire to inform farmers as to health dangers associated with uncontrolled pesticide use. This prevention initiative included modules on hygiene, food and health and a word of caution on reusing drums in which chemical products have been stored. Paul Gode, the founding president of this NGO, is satisfi ed that these drums are now being detoxifi ed prior to household use.

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Prevention without borders

Technicians with protective equipment for pesticide use (Madagascar)

DOSSIER


Viewpoint

Tometo Kalhoulé is an occupational health and safety specialist for the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Decent Work Technical Support Team for West Africa.

KEy FIGURES

the average daily wage of a farm labourer in South Africa, one of the lowest wages in the country.

ACP countries have ratified the ILO Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention (No. 184) which came into force in 2003.

children are working in the cocoa sector in West Africa.

tonnes of obsolete pesticides were registered in the Caribbean region in June 2012.

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safety and occupational health. In its outreach pro-gramme, especially through farmer field schools, FAO is increasingly focusing interventions on matters related to occupational health and safety.

ILO’s technical cooperation activities concerning health and safety in agriculture are focused on promoting volun-tary, participatory and action-oriented activities to improve agricultural working conditions and methods in Member States. A training module entitled Work Improvement in Neighbourhood Development has been developed and pro-moted by ILO. This programme is designed to promote specific improvements in agricultural households through family initiatives and is being implemented in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Good legislation and ratificationHow would you assess the application of ILO Conventions on agricultural labour in African countries, especially Convention 184?Conventions pertaining to agriculture, particularly Convention 129 on labour inspection and 184 on health and safety, have only been ratified by a few countries. In French-speaking Africa, for instance, only Burkina Faso ratified 184. This makes it hard to fully assess labour conditions in the agricultural sector, but some countries have enacted labour code laws to protect agricultural workers. Farmers’ unions also have a very important role to play, especially in boosting awareness and overseeing the application of international standards in the agricultural sector.What are the main challenges in applying these conventions effectively?Although Convention 184 protects agricultural workers, family smallholdings are excluded. Another major issue concerns agricultural land grabbing, which is a growing phenomenon in Africa. Some agricultural labourers working on lands procured by foreign public or private opera-tors do not benefit from occupational health and safety provisions available in French-speaking countries.Has legislative progress been achieved regarding child labour in agriculture? Yes. Many French-speaking African countries have passed laws to ban child labour, especially the worst forms. Some laws are very clear-cut, espe-cially for controlling the use of chemicals such as pesticides, or humiliating and degrading work. These initiatives are important because labour con-ditions are often harsh, even on family farms.What is known about working conditions for migrants in the agricultural sector?In Africa, many migrant workers are working ille-gally, which makes it hard to gather accurate infor-mation on their working conditions. Everything depends on the type of agricultural company that has hired them. If it is a legal company and under their administrative control, then migrants will experience the same working conditions as local agricultural workers. The situation gets complicated when the employer is a sub-contractor because there are no health and safety controls, hence less information.

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DOSSIER


Sikasso, in southern Mali, is one of the country’s most prosperous agricultural regions, producing 95% of the country’s cotton. Smallholders are, however, worried because working conditions threaten their health and safety, and that of their children.

Below:Villagers from Sokola preparing cotton balls (left) and loading onto containers (centre) to be delivered to the Compagnie malienne de développementdu textile (CMDT)Right:Cotton fl ower

Farmers from Sokola wish to overcome their health problems. Over the cultivation period from June until December, during the rainy season, they are highly susceptible to injuries and diseases generally associ-

ated with their activities.“There is a dispensary in the village, but it’s poorly

equipped, so access to health care is diffi cult,” explains Yadji Koné, sitting under a lean-to, sometimes staring at a group of village youths carrying cotton bales in yellow containers.

Koné is the head of his family and it is his responsibility to supervise the work of these youths. Farmers in this vil-lage of a few hundred inhabitants located 180 km south of Bamako are anxious about the health and safety risks facing them.

Sokola inhabitants would like to avoid these health concerns, but they are poor and the closest doctor is over 10 km away, in the town of Bougouni. “If you cut your-self with the blade of a daba [short-handled hoe], you’ll spend the rest of the cultivation season in bed because you won’t be able to cover the treatment costs,” claims Sibiry Coulibaly.

The children tend livestock in the fi elds and help with the harvests. They are the primary victims of diseases and accidents associated with fi eld work, such as being injured by work animals, cut with a daba or intoxicated by chemi-cal inhalation. “Over a year ago, an ox gored my son in the belly. I had to borrow money to treat him,” says Ali Diarra, another villager.

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FIELD REpoRT FRoM MALIAgricultural work - beware!

DOSSIER


To find out more

FAOInternational Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture, launched in 2007 by FAO, IFAD, ILO, CGIAR, IFAP and IUFhttp://tinyurl.com/a9mdex7

Prevention and Disposal of Obsolete Pesticides FAO collaboration with developing countries toprevent stockpiling of obsolete pesticides anddisposal of existing stockshttp://tinyurl.com/a8xjcfb

Integrated Production and Pest Management Programme in West AfricaFAO programme devoted to crop protection through minimal use of pesticideshttp://tinyurl.com/canoa3h

Food, Agriculture & Decent WorkNational Information Sharing Report on ChildLabour in Agriculture in Mali, Bamako,8-9 December 2011 (in French)http://tinyurl.com/crpogp2

Human Rights WatchSouth Africa: Farmworkers’ Dismal, Dangerous Lives - Workers Protected by Law, but Not in the Fields www.hrw.org/node/101158

IERInstitut d’économie rurale (Mali’s NationalAgricultural Research Institute)www.ier.gouv.ml

Child labour in agriculture in Mali:A Case Study in theRice and Cotton Sectors. Final report, December 2011 (in French)http://tinyurl.com/bryatg5

NestléAssessment of Nestlé Cocoa Supply Chaiin Côte d’Ivoirehttp://tinyurl.com/b6rdtlw

Nestlé sets out actions to address child labour in response to the Fair Labour Association reporthttp://tinyurl.com/abjyhxh

ILOInternational Labour OrganizationRatification by Conventionhttp://tinyurl.com/afedwsr

ILO Regional Office for AfricaSafety and Health in Agriculture: Convention 184/ Recommendation 192 (in French)http://tinyurl.com/cudktcf

Agriculture is the main source of income for inhabitants in the Sikasso region. A report published by the Malian Ministry of Agriculture in 2011 on child labour in agricul-ture indicated that Sikasso “is the main upland crop region, accounting for 37% of the millet and sorghum, 63% of the maize, 13% of the groundnut and over 95% of the cotton produced in the country.” According to the same report, “17% of those interviewed declared that they had fallen ill or been injured at least once over the last 12 months.”

Farmers and their children also contract diseases as a result of field pesticide treatments in the cotton produc-tion zone. The Ministry of Agriculture report goes on to say: “The link between the working conditions and these injuries and diseases was noted by 43% of the children interviewed, while 57% explained them by malaria, humidity and various infections that affect all categories of the population.”

In Mali, however, farmers like Ali Diarra from Sokola are trained by the Compagnie malienne de développement du textile (CMDT) to increase the awareness of villagers on ways to protect themselves from chemical products that are absorbed via skin pores. Every year, extension services such as the Office du Niger conduct awareness campaigns via the local media on the dangers of handling chemical products. These campaigns can be very effective when the national authorities obtain the support of international organisations. As part of an FAO programme on integrated management of crop production and pests in West Africa, one survey carried out in 65 cotton planters’ villages in Mali - that had been the focus of awareness campaigns in 2007-2008 - highlighted a 94% reduction in the use of chemical pesticides. There is still hope for the village of Sokola, even regarding the children’s situation.

Soumaila T. Diarra

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T he Laiterie du Berger (LDB), which was founded in 2005 by the young Senegalese businessman Bagoré Bathily, is promoting and developing

dairy production in Richard Toll, northern Senegal. This dairy currently collects over 2,500 litres of milk per day. Its Dolima dairy products have a prime spot in refrigerated sections of supermarkets and small retail shops in Dakar and they are much cheaper than imported yogurt. The key to LDB’s suc-cess has been financial backing received from the French Development Agency, AFD, and investment fund Investors & Partners, along with the support from international dairy business, Danone, which provides capital and expert advice on marketing and distribution. The returns from these efforts are now ben-efiting both rural and urban centres. In addi-tion to generating a regular income for live-stock farmers in pastoral regions in northern Senegal, LDB helps by supplying them with livestock feed, technical advice and veterinary services.

The example of LDB is unusual. Most other dairy companies in West and Central Africa depend on imported powdered milk, which has created an external dependence to the detriment of the development of local live-stock production. However, powdered milk is a more uniform raw material that can be readily stored which facilitates the work of dairy companies. In most cases local milk is consumed by the dairy farmers themselves or is marketed locally.

In sub-Saharan Africa, milk production increased from 17.4 to 21.8 million tonnes between 2005 and 2010, but imports of milk also rose from 2.5 to 3.1 million tonnes over the same period. Hence the supply of dairy products is not sufficient to cover consumer demand, which is increasing partly because of growing urbanisation and changing diets in African countries. Despite a twofold increase in milk production between 1981 and 2006

(rising from 1 to 2 million litres per year), the level of self-sufficiency has not risen above 50% in West Africa.

A policy that imposed lower tariffs for imported milk while also facilitating the import process has impeded development of the local dairy sector. There are also structural handicaps such as a lack of road infrastructures between production and consumption cen-tres and low herd productivity. Milk farmers are also geographically scattered and poorly organised, thus hampering effective organisa-tion of the milk sector. Some countries such as Burkina Faso and Mali have adopted national programmes to promote the local dairy sector. However, FAO, in its Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative study published in 2012, states that existing mini-dairies are not accounted for in these programmes. Global milk demand is nevertheless growing by 15 million tonnes per year, mostly in developing countries.

Kenya sets the exampleSome countries like Kenya, Tanzania and

South Africa have long been investing in local dairy sector development, sometimes even focusing attacks directly on powdered milk.

Imported milk has become much more expensive than local milk in Kenya since the country raised the tariff by 60% in 2005. Although such State intervention has been effective in Kenya where there is a well structured dairy sector, the situ-ation differs in many other countries. “Kenya has been backing the development of the sec-tor since the 1950s, while supporting rural livestock farming. The State had the means to apply its policies and was able to raise import taxes on milk powder because high volumes of local milk were available for collection,” claims Guillaume Duteurtre, a researcher with CIRAD, the French agricultural research for development institute. “The debate on customs tariffs should not mask the real chal-lenges to the development of the dairy sector today. They concern initiatives necessary for developing local production of milk collected from peri-urban farmers and agro-pastoralists in rural areas,” continued Duteurtre. “The cus-toms tariffs issue is crucial, but unfortunately it would not be feasible in the short run to replace powdered milk by local milk.”

Local dairy companies and consumers in ACP countries generally source their powdered milk via imports, but this should not hamper the organisation of a highly promising local dairy sector.

DAIRy pRoDUCTS

Local milk a hot item

Dairy bar in Kenya,

a national model for the development

of the local dairy industry

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Whether as a food or a raw material for the animal feed and starch indus-

tries, cassava production in the tropics has many advantages over its rival, maize. Tolerance of low soil fertility, acidity and drought are just some of the attributes of a crop which is synonymous with stabil-ity, even during extreme weather events. But despite its natural advantages, cassava needs to be more competitive, with more

productive cultivars that meet the differing needs of industry and consumers, strength-ening of new markets, and value addition, such as further development of nutrient-rich varieties.

This comprehensive volume, updated from the 2002 publication La Yuca en el Tercer Milenio, summarises the current state of knowledge in cassava cultivation and research, including agronomic practice, approaches to pest and disease manage-ment, improved methods of breeding and fi eld operation, and postharvest manage-ment technologies for different markets. It is complemented by a practical fi eld hand-book to aid identifi cation of major cassava pests, diseases and nutritional disorders.

Cassava in the Third Millennium:Modern Production, Processing,Use and Marketing SystemsBy B ospina & H CeballosCIAT/CLAyUCA/CTA, 2012; 584 pp.ISBN 978-95-8694-112-9CTA no. 171280 credit pointsPractical Handbookfor Managing Cassava Diseases,Pests and Nutritional DisordersBy E Álvarez et al.CIAT/CLAyUCA/CTA, 2012; 120 pp.ISBN 978-95-8694-113-6CTA no. 17135 credit points

How to write

Effective science writing is essential, not only for career

progression, but to ensure that research out-puts are disseminated and used. Preparing a paper for publication in a scientifi c jour-nal can be a daunting challenge, not least because of the myriad conventions that must be observed. But the well structured guid-ance presented here, complemented by sug-gestions for training activities, should instil confi dence in those new to paper-writing, or looking to improve their rate of acceptance.

This highly practical manual explains the technicalities of effective science writing in clear, reader-friendly language. Topics cov-ered include: choosing the target audience and selecting the most appropriate journal to reach them; identifying ‘signifi cant results’; understanding the main component sec-tions of a paper; language and style; using tables and illustrations; reporting statistics; and making citations and references. Further chapters discuss oral presentations, writing posters, proposals and reports, online pub-lishing and communicating with non-scien-tifi c audiences.

Scientifi c Writing for Agricultural Research Scientists: A Training Resource ManualEdited by A youdeowei, p Stapleton & R obuboCTA, 2012; 192 pp.ISBN 978-92-9081-506-8CTA no. 170020 credit points

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/c8n2s4e

Root crop reference

Green economiesHome to more than 50 million people, Small Island

Developing States (SIDS) tend to be extremely vulnerable to environmental and economic shocks. To enhance the resilience of SIDS, this brief highlights the importance of making small islands part of the global green economy, increasing power through unity, economic diversifi cation, mainstreaming agriculture and stemming the ‘brain drain’.

Building Resilience in Small Island Economies: From Vulnerabilities to OpportunitiesBy J HaskinsCTA, 2012; 4 pp.CTA no. PB008E

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/bhdj5bh

@ Sustainability

To feed the world’s rapidly expanding population,

farmers will have to produce as much food in the next 40 years as they have in the past 8,000. Meeting this challenge will be made all the more diffi cult by climate change. In response, this brief calls on governments to promote policies that encourage ‘climate-smart’ agriculture and encourage research into the best ways of helping farmers reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

Promoting Climate-Smart Agriculturein ACP CountriesBy C pye-SmithCTA, 2012; 4 pp.CTA no. PB009E

Downloadable as pDF fi le from: http://tinyurl.com/c5zc6w8

@

@ FundingTo help determine future agricultural policy and research directions, this paper synthesises knowledge on the impact of public investments in and for agriculture in developing countries. The paper highlights, for example, the potential for agricultural investments to have signifi cant eff ects on health and nutrition, with biofortifi cation programmes shown to be particularly cost-eff ective.

The Impacts of Public Investment in and for AgricultureBy T Mogues et al.IFpRI, 2012; 72 pp.

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/bko5e8b

PUBLICATIONS


As the global population has doubled and ■

doubled again during the last 100 years, agriculture has managed to meet the hugely increased demand for food. But it has been achieved at a high cost, with depleted and eroded soils and compromised water sup-plies, while many remain impoverished, malnourished and hungry. How to transform agriculture to achieve even greater output but without such environmental and human costs is the challenge answered by Living with the Trees of Life.

The book critiques the successes and short-comings of modern agriculture before con-sidering how incorporating trees in farming systems - agroforesty - could make good the lack of soil nutrients, while improved man-agement of water would simultaneously halt erosion and better utilise available moisture, all to the benefi t of producers and consum-ers. Agroforesty systems are low input but provide potentially much higher output than many widely practised cropping systems. The only obstacle in adopting the practise more widely, argues Leakey, is a lack of political will and appropriate policies.

SeasonalityThe Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of ChangeBy R Thurowpublic Aff airs, 2012; 304 pp.ISBN 978-16-1039-067-5US$26.99 • €21public Aff airs1094 Flex DriveJackson, TN 38301USAwww.publicaff airsbooks.com

Innovation in Seed Potato Systems in East AfricaBy p R GildemacherKIT publishers, 2012; 184 pp.ISBN 978-94-6022-211-5€25Downloadable as pDF fi le from: http://tinyurl.com/bgpeayg KIT publisherspostbus 950011090 HA AmsterdamThe Netherlandswww.kitpublishers.nl

Living with the Trees of Life: Towards the Transformation of Tropical AgricultureBy R Leakey CABI, 2012; 200 pp.ISBN: 978-17-8064-098-3£27.50 • €34CABI publishingNosworthy WayWallingfordoX10 8DE, UKwww.cabi.org

Most of Africa’s food production is from ■

small subsistence farms; the aim of this book is to demonstrate how small farmers, often dismissed as marginal by policymak-ers, can, with the right assistance, sustain-ably increase yields without damaging their environment. The author recounts the struggles of four host families in western Kenya, who are assisted to improve their subsistence farming practices through loans and training made available by a US-based NGO, One Acre.

The Last Hunger Season describes the con-ditions of village life, the social interactions, and the poverty that limits or denies health and education. Written in the form of a diary, successive chapters chronicle the lives of the farmers from the dry season to the rains, the hunger gap, harvest and second planting, and the festival days that close the year. It highlights the challenges the villagers face and the choices they have to make as they struggle to overcome hunger. By trial and error, the farmers learn how to grow more to feed their families and pro-vide better lives for their children.

Cutting edge

Potato yields in eastern Africa are well ■

below the world average. To boost farmer incomes and improve food security in the region, Innovation in Seed Potato Systems in East Africa highlights the importance of improving the quality of seed potatoes as a key strategy for increased production. Currently, farmers largely rely on farm-saved seed potatoes, given the absence of affordable high quality seed potatoes and limited market security. Other technology based opportunities for innovation include integrated management of bacterial wilt and late blight, and soil fertility management.

Improvement of potato supply chains and enhancing knowledge exchange in the sector are identifi ed as more systemic opportunities to strengthen the potato sec-tor. The author also highlights the central importance of innovation, and of research-ers’ room to manoeuvre and immerse them-selves in partnerships with practitioners. “It is worthwhile to search for opportunities for incremental innovation,” the author con-cludes, “and these opportunities can be of a surprisingly simple nature.”

Forestry

HungerWith almost 870 million people, or one in eight, chronically undernourished in 2010-2012, the number of hungry people in the world remains unacceptably high; the vast majority – about 850 million - live in developing countries. The UN hunger report reveals that progress in reducing hunger has slowed since the 2007-2008 economic crisis, but that agricultural growth is particularly eff ective in reducing hunger and malnutrition.

The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2012By FAo, WFp & IFADFAo, 2012; 63 pp.ISBN 978-92-5107-316-2

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/ar3cw63

BiodiversityMany of the world’s poorest people depend on resources they gather from highly diverse ecosystems. This paper examines how interventions to improve the livelihoods of forest users can also conserve biodiversity. With case studies from Burkina Faso, Mali and Uganda, the paper argues for a ‘landscape’ approach, where livelihoods are improved through restoring the functionality of forest landscapes.

Improving Ecosystem Functionality and LivelihoodBy E Barrow, R Fisher & J GordonIUCN, 2012; 20 pp.ISBN 978-28-3171-496-7

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/b6kv52z

Profi ting from wasteToday, 2.5 billion people rely on wood, charcoal and dung as their principal sources of energy for cooking and heating. This paper assesses the potential of the livestock sector as a renewable energy source and considers the viability of biogas and other technologies for small-scale farmers and livestock keepers. It aims to support the design of appropriate livestock development interventions.

Livestock and Renewable EnergyBy A Rota et al.IFAD, 2012; 42 pp.ISBN 978-92-9072-334-9

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/cmqfxe4

PUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONS


One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World?By G Conway & K Wilson Cornell University press, 2012; 427 pp.ISBN 978-08-0147-802-4£15.50 • €20Cornell University press Box 6525, 750 Cascadilla StreetIthaca, Ny 14851-6525USAwww.cornellpress.cornell.edu

What is the Matter with African Agriculture? Veterans’ Visions Between Past and FutureEdited by H Mutsaers & p KleeneKIT, 2012; 384 pp.ISBN: 978-94-6022-178-1€24.50For KIT’s address, see p22

The Global Farms Race: Land Grab, Agricultural Investment, and the Scramble for Food SecurityBy M Kugelman & S LevensteinIsland press, 2012; 248 pp.ISBN: 978-16-1091-187-0US$25 • €20Island press2000 M Street NW, Suite 650Washington, DC 20036USAwww.islandpress.org

Expert opinion

Drawing on half a century of experi- ■

ence, 40 veteran agriculturalists review the achievements, failures and challenges facing African agriculture. Most argue strongly in favour of family farming, but emphasise that in order to feed the ever growing population it must evolve, becoming more mechanised, commercialised, diversifi ed and sustainable.

Secure land rights and equitable access to land are seen as essential for vibrant and pro-gressive farming, and there is consensus on the importance of ‘value chain’ approaches to agricultural production, as well as the value of strong farmer organisations and cooperatives, strong research and extension support, improved infrastructure and private sector development. Another key area is the formulation of policies and trade regulations that create an enabling environment, liber-alise markets, ensure equity and protect the environment.

“We hope that the next generation will take advantage of our experience and learn from our errors, thereby becoming more suc-cessful in pulling African farming out of its stagnation,” the authors conclude.

Green revolution

Six decades after the technological inno- ■

vations of the Green Revolution, hunger remains a daily reality for a billion peo-ple. With an increasing population, climate change, rising food prices and a limit on our natural resources, feeding the world on no more land with less water becomes an even greater challenge. Yet Professor Sir Gordon Conway is optimistic about a food secure world in 2050. In One Billion Hungry, Conway calls for a ‘doubly green revolution’ a revolution that needs to be at least as pro-ductive as the fi rst, and yet more conserving of natural resources.

Conway stresses the need for greater breeding focus on previously neglected cere-als, pulses and tubers, for increased emphasis on home gardens for nutritionally rich vege-tables, more widespread intercropping, relay cropping, using leguminous trees and shrubs for shade and for mulching in the tropics and for more irrigation in Africa with better utili-sation of water everywhere. Another priority, he believes, is genetic modifi cation research to boost performance and stress-resilience of plants and livestock.

Land rush

Nearly 230 million ha of farmland - an ■

area equivalent to the size of western Europe - have been sold or leased since 2001, with most of these transactions occurring since 2008. As the deals continue, understand-ing them, and their consequences, is vital, not least because the trend has considerable implications for several major 21st century challenges, including food security, natural resource management and climate change. The Global Farms Race aims to equip readers with a proper grounding in this scramble for the world’s soils.

In supporting a more sophisticated under-standing of large-scale land acquisition, this book offers diverse perspectives, featuring contributions from agricultural investment consultants, farmers’ organisations, inter-national NGOs and academics. The book addresses historical context, environmental impacts and social effects, and covers all the major geographic areas of investment in order to examine this growing trend in all its complexity, considering the implications for investors, host countries, and the world as a whole.

BiofuelThe global demand for bioenergy is growing rapidly because of climate change mitigation policies and increasing oil prices. This can create income opportunities and improve access to energy in rural areas but bioenergy development can also increase the pressure on land and water resources. This report aims to help policy-makers understand and manage the risks and opportunities of bioenergy development for food security.

Impacts of Bioenergy on Food SecurityEdited by H Thofern & A RossiFAo, 2012; 60 pp.ISBN 978-92-5107-151-9

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/c54dohz

Food securityThe 2012 Global Hunger Index, which tracks global hunger by region and country, reveals 20 countries with ‘alarming’ or ‘extremely alarming’ levels of hunger. The report focuses on how to ensure sustainable food security under conditions of water, land and energy stress. On-the-ground perspectives on land tenure issues are provided, as well as the impacts of scarce land, water and energy on poor people in Sierra Leone and Tanzania.

2012 Global Hunger Index By K von Grebmer et al.IFpRI/Concern Worldwide/Welthungerhilfe, 2012; 70 pp.ISBN 978-08-9629-942-9

Downloadable as pDF fi le from: http://tinyurl.com/967sc3k

Food intakeWhile over 900 million people in the world suff er from hunger, about 1.5 billion are overweight or obese and an estimated 2 billion suff er from micronutrient malnutrition. To improve the health of humans and the planet, this paper calls for immediate action to promote ‘sustainable diets’, emphasising the positive role of food biodiversity in human nutrition and poverty alleviation.

Sustainable Diets and BiodiversityEdited by B Burlingame & S DerniniFAo, 2012; 308 pp.ISBN 978-92-5107-288-2

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/9ojo26t

PUBLICATIONSPUBLICATIONS


Big Facts: Where Agriculture and Climate Change MeetBy CCAFSwww.ccafs.cgiar.org/bigfacts

Sustainable Food Production Practices in the CaribbeanEdited by W G Ganpat & W p IsaacCTA, 2012; 458 pp.ISBN: 978-97-6637-624-6CTA no. 169940 credit points

Statistics

To highlight the complex relationship ■

between climate change and agriculture, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has launched a suite of 30 key facts. The website, which features info-graphics and photographs, covers every-thing from undernourishment and popu-lation to forestry and fi sheries. To avoid oversimplifi cation of complex issues and to provide additional information, a sub-set of facts supports each ‘Big Fact’.

One of the most striking facts is that glo-bally, roughly one-third of food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted. Another is that the livestock sector in 2008 accounted for about 11% of global green-house gas emissions, and emissions from the sector are expected to increase by 70% by 2050. Regarding mitigation, the seques-tering of carbon in the soils of croplands, grazing lands and rangelands are shown to offer agriculture’s highest potential source of climate change mitigation. These soils can store between 1,500 and 4,500 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

Agro-ecology

With a food import bill in excess of €3.4 billion, the Caribbean is the

least food secure region in the western hemisphere. Sustainable Food Production Practices in the Caribbean reveals how it is possible to increase yields by more than 100% in many cases through the applica-tion of sustainable agricultural practices, especially at the small-scale farmer level.

Although scientifi c and technological aspects are discussed, the contributing authors use their accumulated research and fi eld experience to focus on tested, simple production systems and practices that sus-tain soil fertility, ecosystems and people. They provide practical guides on sustain-able tree crop production, crop protection, aquaculture practices, greenhouse veg-etable production, how to manage diffi cult soils, and appropriate post-harvest activi-ties. In so doing, they consistently advocate crop and livestock production techniques that require an agro-ecological approach, aimed at reducing the use of water, chemi-cals and pesticides and the preservation of the region’s soils.

LivelihoodsOver the next 40 years, Africa’s population is

predicted to double. Soon, 20 million young people will be entering the labour market each year, but tens of millions of rural Africans currently lack suffi cient work to lift themselves out of poverty. This brief proposes a range of measures to increase rural employment, including policies to stimulate farm and non-farm sectors, investment in education and vocational training, and equal opportunities for women.

Increasing Rural Employmentin sub-Saharan AfricaBy C pye-SmithCTA, 2012; 4 pp.CTA no. PB004E

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/ctwd36u

@ Wild swings

Volatile food prices in 2008 increased import

costs and disrupted local food markets in many ACP countries, hitting poor households, exacerbating malnutrition and triggering civil unrest. This brief recommends measures to limit price swings, or mitigate their eff ects. Creating small-scale emergency food reserves and safety nets for the most vulnerable are short-term measures. In the long-term, increases in productivity, particularly among smallholders, must be promoted.

Coping with Food Price Volatility in ACP CountriesBy p piroCTA, 2012; 4 pp.CTA no. PB005E

Downloadable as pDF fi le from:http://tinyurl.com/ctnv2m6

@

TO OBTAIN PUBLICATIONSpublications marked @ may be downloaded from the following website: http://publications.cta.int

Titles marked with the logo can be obtained as follows:

If you are a subscriber to CTA publications:Use one of these options.• If you have an account with http://publications.cta.int, go on-line and select your books depending on the credit points you have, then click on ‘Add to shopping cart’ and ‘proceed to checkout’.• If you do not have Internet access, you can continue using the order form supplied by CTA.

If you are an ACP organisation involved in agriculture but are not yet a subscriber to CTA publications, you can:Request a subscription online at http://publications.cta.int, by email to [email protected] or by mail to CTA - pDS, po Box 173, 6700 AD Wageningen, the Netherlands.

organisations that subscribe in 2013 will receive 200 credits points. Those already subscribed will receive 200 credit points plus half of the amount of credit points spent in 2012, i.e. a maximum of 400 credit points.

If you are not an ACP organisation involved in agriculture:you can either buy the publications from the publisher or in a book shop. Alternatively you can download certain titles on the website http://publications.cta.int.

More than half of our publications are downloadable free of charge.

Titles marked with the symbolcan be purchased from the publishers cited or from bookstores.

PUBLICATIONS


5 quESTIONS FOR SAMuEL MIKENGAMedia Programme Coordinator

Why is it important for CTA to have a media policy?

In the new strategic plan, CTA will engage the media to raise awareness about agricultural and rural development (ARD) issues and facilitate value chains and ARD policy processes and dialogues. A media policy is therefore essential to guide the way staff interact with the media and handle media-related activities.

What are its main thrusts?The media policy provides guidelines

on (i) media coverage of special events organised or co-organised by CTA, which include: writing media releases and advisories, organising media appearances at key events, monitoring press coverage and procurement of media services; (ii) media relations activities such as proactive and streamlined media engagement or crisis and risk management. In such guidelines, roles, languages, tone of voice, target audiences and contacts are spelt out.

What is the relationship between the media and

agriculture in ACP countries?Research shows that despite the fact that agriculture contributes greatly to GDP in developing countries media coverage of agriculture is low compared to trivia and politics. There are few journalists interested in reporting on agriculture and when they

do, it is mostly negative stories. This is a worrying trend as media creates awareness, informs ARD debates, challenges the status quo, and shapes opinions and agenda.

How can the situation be improved?

We need revolutionary approaches to bridge communication gaps between agriculture and media, and change attitudes, especially of the youth and media workers, towards agriculture. Media owners, publishers and editors should be brought on board as they determine publishing/broadcasting policies. We should also harness the potential of science media groups to support the reporting drive.

What role can CTA play?CTA has already championed an

award-winning initiative that puts media workers at the centre of any media interventions aimed at promoting ARD. It has teamed up with partners to conduct media research studies in ACP countries. The Centre has developed demand-led capacities of media workers and facilitated their engagement in key ARD policy processes and dialogues. CTA is also training its staff to enable them to confidently interact with the media, and strengthen capacities of key partners to work with the media and/or develop communication and advocacy strategies.

A graduate in forestry and science communication (Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, UK), with a diploma in media/public relations (UK), Samuel has a wide range of experience working with a number of international science-based non-profit organisations including WWF.

GET ON BOARDwww.cta.int

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Crucial knowledgeCTA helps its partner organisations to better analyse and organise their knowledge management internally and in their interactions with other institutions. This improved management should ultimately enable these organisations to streamline their information and communication management (continued on page 26).

Key dates

1988 Learn Apple Macintosh computer and internet skills

2000 Graduate from Imperial College (London), celebrate millennium and visit Deep Sea World in Scotland

2001 First visit to Asia: Japan, Thailand and Vietnam

2003 Work with WWF International

2008 Eat the best tasty organic food (in Ghana)

2013 participate in leadership and management course at HEC, paris, France

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Passing on a little helpful advice can change the course of your career. Julia Nijhof was called upon 28 years ago, while working for the International Centre for Development

Oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA), to give some tips to the first secretary of CTA to help this new organisation get on its feet. She had been involved at ICRA from the early days and was recognised for her practi-cal approach. As her conversation with the secretary was coming to an end, as an idle comment, Julia mentioned that if she had the opportunity again to work for a com-pany starting up she would grab it. A couple of weeks later she received a call from Dr. Werner Treitz asking her to attend an inter-view for CTA, and the rest is history!

Describing those early years as the most challenging and rewarding of her career, Julia reflects with pride at how she was there from the very beginning and helped to establish CTA.

She has witnessed much in 28 years. As the seventh member of staff to be hired, she has seen five directors and dozens of col-leagues join CTA. The 20th Anniversary cel-ebrations stand out for her as a milestone because, it was on this occasion, with former colleagues, partners and other dignitaries from all over the world gathered, that she fully understood the impact CTA and its work has had.

While she is now looking forward to more quality time with friends and family, she acknowledges that she will miss CTA and the unique experience of being among so many diverse nationalities. We wish her all the best for whatever her future might bring.©

CTA

DEpARTURE

Our colleague Julia Nijhof moves on

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Crucial knowledge(continued from page 25) Sending infor-

mation to the right people at the right time so that they will have access to key infor-mation for making the necessary decisions is vital. This requires effective knowledge management at the institutional level.

How does this management work? Michel Sergheeraert offers a clear defini-tion. Knowledge management, “is a set of initiatives, techniques and methods that enable the collection, identification, analy-sis, organisation, storage and sharing of information between organisation mem-bers, especially knowledge created by the organisation itself (in its marketing and

R&D activities) or acquired externally (via economic intelligence) for the purpose of meeting a specific goal.”

Knowledge management is a priority theme in CTA’s Strategic Plan. This is why the Centre has recently organised exten-sive consultations with some of its partner organisations. These consultations have led to the development of an action plan for knowledge management assessment within and between institutions/organisations and drawing up of a common questionnaire that could be tailored to the needs of each organ-isation. Each institution will therefore con-duct an in-house investigation to determine

how it manages knowledge and plans inter-ventions with the aim of improving this management internally and in its interac-tions with other institutions and organisa-tions. The institutions can in turn develop documented knowledge management strat-egies with the help of specialised consult-ants. CTA intends to facilitate all processes that will pave the way to successful project completion during the development of dif-ferent knowledge management strategies. Decisions made by these institutions will thus be more hard-hitting.

Does this topic interest you? Contact Krishan Bheenick ([email protected]).

CTA is organising a •

conference on ICTs in

agriculture to be held in

November 2013. More news in

upcoming issues.

CTA’s Policy Brief no. 8 •

on small island economies

and no. 9 on promoting

climate-smart agriculture

have been published. Check

them out at www.cta.int.

CTA is launching a new •

book collection:

‘Farm-to-market’ in order

to promote the inclusion

of smallholders in value

chains.

SMS


Serious disadvantagesIdenge Malebo Adolphe reacted to olivier De Schutter’s opinion on food reported in issue 158, “Mr De Schutter points out that governments can take action at the local level by guaranteeing prices to producers and off ering subsidies to consumers. He gives examples in China and India, where governments have launched schemes to stockpile foodstuff s so as to bolster producer revenues while releasing these stocks when the need arises. This article really struck us because we, in Kamanyola

(South Kivu), have a serious problem regarding markets for selling our harvested produce. We have developed synergy between 18 cooperative maize farmers and benefi t

from a storage depot for our harvested produce. Marketing is

the main chronic problem. Here, buyers and consumers set and impose purchase prices and conditions to their own benefi t. Farmers who do not know where to market their produce stay poor all their lives, even though they continue working in their fi elds year-round. The scarcity of rainfall and prevalence of bush fi res are another problem.”

Supporting farmersAfter reading the article on the onion sector in Spore 159, N. Célestin Koudougou commented that, “Diff erent research studies on African development have confi rmed that agriculture has the potential to pull the continent out of its infamous underdeveloped situation. Agriculture could be a bulwark to foster the emergence of African peoples. There are, however, still huge obstacles that stand fi rmly in the way of its development. The article ‘onions: a fl ourishing market’ clearly illustrates this situation. Besides the lack of trade fl ow for onions and the dearth of outlets, other bottlenecks such as the lack of organisation amongst producers, of involvement of public authorities and of adequate equipment for production, etc., should also be kept in mind. All eff orts should focus on maximising the chances of successful agricultural development because our development is dependent on it.”

Organic chocolateKouassi Sylvain Konan reacted to a report he read in issue 160 on a

cooperative that produces organic chocolate in Grenada. “I would like to congratulate the editors of your magazine for the ‘Field report from Grenada’ published in Spore 160 which highlights the extent of healthy chocolate production by an environment-friendly company (Grenada Chocolate

Company). It is hoped that such initiatives will now be taken by many other companies attentive to sustainable environmental management and that they will be encouraged by rewards like the medal awarded by the Academy of Chocolate. Stakeholder companies in Côte d’Ivoire (the fi rst country for cocoa production and export) should follow this example, even though some of them have already opted to produce cocoa in a sustainable manner. Note that it is possible for organic cocoa to be produced in Côte

d’Ivoire since all the necessary human and technical resources are available. This option could

encourage young people to become growers, thus revitalising

cocoa production, which is currently being managed by an ageing

population.”

Company). It is hoped that such initiatives will now be taken by many

chocolate in Grenada. “I would like to congratulate the editors of your magazine for the ‘Field report from Grenada’ published in

N. Célestin Koudougoucommented that, “Diff erent

for organic cocoa to be produced in Côte and of adequate equipment for production, etc., should also be kept in mind. All eff orts should focus on maximising the chances of successful

because our development being managed by an ageing

population.”

(South Kivu), have a serious problem regarding markets for selling our harvested produce.

Schutter points out that governments our harvested produce. Marketing is

Reader servicesWrite to SporeCTA - Spore redactionpo Box 3806700 AJ WageningenThe NetherlandsFax: +31 317 460067Email: [email protected]

Subscribe to SporeSUBSCRIpTIoNS FoRTHE pRINTED VERSIoN ARE:• Free for organisations and individuals involved in rural development and residing in an ACp country (African, Caribbean and pacifi c):- via http://publications.cta.int by clicking on ‘Apply for a free subscription’- by post (po Box 173, 6700 AD Wageningen, the Netherlands) or send an email to [email protected]• for other individuals and organisations: €36 annually (6 issues) from:SMI (Distribution Services) Ltd:po Box 119StevenageHertfordshire SG1 4TpUnited KingdomFax: +44 1438 748844Email: [email protected]

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Reproduce Spore• Articles in Spore can be freely reproduced for non-commercial use, if credited as coming from Spore. please send a copy to the editors. • Reproduction for commercial use requires prior permission.

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Education

Planting for Arid Areas, Using Groasis Boxes to Reduce Water Usage by 80 Percent