Africa: 'Agriculture Needs Green Growth'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200807030445.html [2008-7-4]
Tag : green food
Best known for developing a system of biological protection againstthe mealybug insect that threatened to destroy cassava productionin Africa during the 1980s, Herren took issue with recommendationsmade by Jeffrey Sachs, the prominent economist who is one of thetop advisers to the United Nations on the fight against poverty.
Whereas Sachs has been advocating that fertilisers should beprovided in bulk to African farmers, Herren noted the liberal useof chemical fertilisers can cause widespread pollution.
Describing fertilisers as only "an interim solution",Herren added: "Yes, we need phosphates in some areas that aretoo poor but with nitrogen we have to be careful because it veryeasily pollutes rivers.
"What I fear is that the whole crisis around food and foodprices will just promote quick fixes that are not really dealingwith the causes (of the underlying problems for Africanagriculture)," Herren told IPS. "We have to deal with allthis as an ensemble. You cannot just pick out something."
Referring to the ongoing Doha round of world trade talks, Herrencontended that dismantling tariffs that are designed to ensure thatfarmers in poor countries are not submerged by imports, will notprove beneficial. "In Europe we have barriers, so why should aKenyan farmer not be protected from imported maize?" he asked.
Herren visited Brussels Jul. 2 to discuss a recently publishedreport by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge,Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). The IAASTD islinked to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the groupwhich binds together scientists advising the UN's member countries.
According to the IAASTD study, sub-Saharan Africa has been anexception to the pattern of agricultural development seen in mostof the world since the 1960s. Although world cereal production hasdoubled, hunger and malnutrition remain high in south Asia and muchof Africa.
Aid specifically geared to help unlock the potential of Africanagriculture has slumped, too. Even though the total amount of alldevelopment aid given by rich countries to the poor grew by 250percent between the early 1980s and 2005, the proportion of thatassistance devoted to farming fell from 17 percent to 3 percent.
The IAASTD also argues that public funding is more likely to helppoor farmers than private sector investment, and that a concertedeffort is required to ensure the long-term sustainability ofagriculture. At the moment, agriculture accounts for over half ofall worldwide emissions of methane and nitrous oxide that arelinked to human activity. Both these gases, which are released as aresult of chemical use and intensive livestock rearing, contributeto climate change.
A somewhat different analysis was offered by Akin Adesina, theNigerian-born vice-president of the Alliance for a Green Revolutionin Africa (AGRA).
"Fertiliser use per hectare in sub-Saharan Africa is thelowest in the world," said Adesina. "It is the onlyregion in the world with a huge fertiliser deficit. Fertiliser isnot the only solution but without it no agriculture grows."
Chaired by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, AGRA ismainly financed by two outlets for corporate philanthropy: the Billand Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Nonetheless, Adesina argued that efforts to develop farming mustpay heed to ecological concerns. "What Africa needs is auniquely African 'green revolution', one that recognisesbiodiversity and one that takes issues of the environment veryseriously," he argued, alluding to a process of growth infarming that began in Mexico in the 1940s before being emulated byother poor countries such as India.
Adesina also lamented that Africa has been "enduring a silenthunger for so long" and that the "only reason we aretalking about it today is that it has spilled out of the ruralareas into urban areas" where unrest has occurred because ofpublic anger over price increases. He suggested that high foodimports in Africa -- which climbed from 88 billion dollars to 119billion dollars between 2006 and last year -- has hampered thedevelopment of agriculture on the continent. "Why shouldAfrica be the only region in the world that is begging forfood?" he asked. "That is totally unacceptable."
Best known for developing a system of biological protection againstthe mealybug insect that threatened to destroy cassava productionin Africa during the 1980s, Herren took issue with recommendationsmade by Jeffrey Sachs, the prominent economist who is one of thetop advisers to the United Nations on the fight against poverty.
Whereas Sachs has been advocating that fertilisers should beprovided in bulk to African farmers, Herren noted the liberal useof chemical fertilisers can cause widespread pollution.
Describing fertilisers as only "an interim solution",Herren added: "Yes, we need phosphates in some areas that aretoo poor but with nitrogen we have to be careful because it veryeasily pollutes rivers.
"What I fear is that the whole crisis around food and foodprices will just promote quick fixes that are not really dealingwith the causes (of the underlying problems for Africanagriculture)," Herren told IPS. "We have to deal with allthis as an ensemble. You cannot just pick out something."
Referring to the ongoing Doha round of world trade talks, Herrencontended that dismantling tariffs that are designed to ensure thatfarmers in poor countries are not submerged by imports, will notprove beneficial. "In Europe we have barriers, so why should aKenyan farmer not be protected from imported maize?" he asked.
Herren visited Brussels Jul. 2 to discuss a recently publishedreport by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge,Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). The IAASTD islinked to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the groupwhich binds together scientists advising the UN's member countries.
According to the IAASTD study, sub-Saharan Africa has been anexception to the pattern of agricultural development seen in mostof the world since the 1960s. Although world cereal production hasdoubled, hunger and malnutrition remain high in south Asia and muchof Africa.
Aid specifically geared to help unlock the potential of Africanagriculture has slumped, too. Even though the total amount of alldevelopment aid given by rich countries to the poor grew by 250percent between the early 1980s and 2005, the proportion of thatassistance devoted to farming fell from 17 percent to 3 percent.
The IAASTD also argues that public funding is more likely to helppoor farmers than private sector investment, and that a concertedeffort is required to ensure the long-term sustainability ofagriculture. At the moment, agriculture accounts for over half ofall worldwide emissions of methane and nitrous oxide that arelinked to human activity. Both these gases, which are released as aresult of chemical use and intensive livestock rearing, contributeto climate change.
A somewhat different analysis was offered by Akin Adesina, theNigerian-born vice-president of the Alliance for a Green Revolutionin Africa (AGRA).
"Fertiliser use per hectare in sub-Saharan Africa is thelowest in the world," said Adesina. "It is the onlyregion in the world with a huge fertiliser deficit. Fertiliser isnot the only solution but without it no agriculture grows."
Chaired by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary general, AGRA ismainly financed by two outlets for corporate philanthropy: the Billand Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Nonetheless, Adesina argued that efforts to develop farming mustpay heed to ecological concerns. "What Africa needs is auniquely African 'green revolution', one that recognisesbiodiversity and one that takes issues of the environment veryseriously," he argued, alluding to a process of growth infarming that began in Mexico in the 1940s before being emulated byother poor countries such as India.
Adesina also lamented that Africa has been "enduring a silenthunger for so long" and that the "only reason we aretalking about it today is that it has spilled out of the ruralareas into urban areas" where unrest has occurred because ofpublic anger over price increases. He suggested that high foodimports in Africa -- which climbed from 88 billion dollars to 119billion dollars between 2006 and last year -- has hampered thedevelopment of agriculture on the continent. "Why shouldAfrica be the only region in the world that is begging forfood?" he asked. "That is totally unacceptable."
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