Speech by Dr. Akin Adesina

Presented in Washington, DC at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Annual Legislative Conference

28 September 2007
Washington, DC

Africa faces a huge food challenge. It is the only region of the world where per capita food production has been declining for the past three decades, and an estimated one-third of the continent’s population suffers from hunger. Cereal yields in Africa are a quarter of the global average, and its soils are the poorest and most depleted in the world.

Feeding the majority of the poor and vulnerable populations in Africa, while preserving the natural resource base and the environment, is one of the most pressing development challenges of the century. Unless there is a dramatic change of direction, the numbers of hungry and poor will surge, as the population of Africa is expected to grow from 600 million in 2000 to nearly a billion by 2020.

And so, there is desperate poverty across Africa – but we are not despairing, because there is also progress and hope for change. Let me tell you why. The reason begins with people like Mrs. Phiri, a small-scale farmer and the mother of five, who lives in Malawi, which is known as one of the poorest countries in the world. Although a maize farmer all of her life, until recently, Mrs. Phiri was barely able to grow enough food to feed her family. The quality of her seed was poor, and her soils depleted. So, what has changed? An infusion of resources have enabled African scientists to develop high-yielding maize varieties suitable for Malawi’s environments. And these are made affordable to poor farmers through government financed “smart subsidies,” delivered through certified “agro-dealers.” Mrs. Phiri can purchase the seed and fertilizer she needs at a local agro-dealer – a rural farm supply store that has opened close to her farm. She now not only grows enough food to feed her family, but also to pay for her children’s school fees.

And, Mrs. Phiri has built on this success, diversifying to grow ginger and cassava, and to processing the cassava into flour. She has reached out to her neighbors to help them get hold of the new crop varieties and organized a women’s group that produces cassava flour and experiments with small scale irrigation.

Indeed, things have changed for Mrs. Phiri, her neighbors, and the country of Malawi! A green revolution is underway in Malawi. From being highly dependent on food aid, Malawi is now a net exporter of maize. In 2007 it exported $160 million of maize to its neighboring countries, and it became a donor country, donating 10,000 tons of maize to Lesotho and Swaziland.

This experience shows how even the poorest farmers can benefit when they are able to get the products of agricultural science. It shows that even a country as small and poor as Malawi can transform its situation and solve its food crisis when the right government policies and resources are in place. Nonetheless, it is still true that Malawi’s success remains the exception rather than the rule. Today, all of Africa needs its own, uniquely African, Green Revolution.

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, or AGRA, was initiated to help make this revolution a reality. AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. It was launched in 2006 with initial funding of $150 million by the Rockefeller Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

AGRA provides a platform for a broad set of partnerships: of farmers, scientists, national research organizations, the private and public sector and others.

We are committed to getting small-scale farmers the best available science and technology.

We are pro-poor and pro-environment.

And our initiatives address critical parts of agricultural value chain – from seeds, to soil health and water, to markets, agricultural education and public policy.

The tools and technologies for our revolution are largely available. Many people ask: Why then is Africa not feeding itself? The crux of the matter is political. It is about political will, policies and resources. African agriculture is suffering from decades of neglect by both African governments and the international donor community. Africa needs new pro-poor policies that support for research, address price incentives, marketing systems, financing for farmers, and more. There is new hope with the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program, or CAADP, of NEPAD to which African governments have signed up with the goals of (a) raising budget allocations to agriculture to 10% of their national budgets; and (b) achieving at least a 6% growth in the agriculture sector over the next decade.

With the policies and resources in place, we could build on the scientific gains of recent decades and bring them “to scale,” implementing broad-based changes that make a difference for millions of farmers, their families and communities.

With former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as our Chairman, and with strong and growing partnerships around the continent, AGRA will work to galvanize both the support and resources needed for sustained change.

AGRA has already initiated a number of major programs:

• We are training a new generation of African PhD crop breeders who are focusing on improving the long-neglected African crops that millions of people rely upon for their daily food.
• We are working with national agricultural research institutions and networks of crop breeders to develop about 1000 new crop varieties that are higher yielding, disease- and drought-resistant.
• We are supporting the development of small and medium size seed companies - of which there are now only a handful - that can commercialize new varieties at prices affordable to small scale farmers.
• We are building national networks of agro-dealers, who can carry and deliver improved seeds, soil nutrients and other farm inputs to small-scale farmers.

And, future AGRA programs will include large investments in soil fertility, market development, wise water management and small-scale irrigation, and education and financial services for farmers.

We are doing this in partnership with African leaders and governments who have committed to significantly increasing the share of the national budgets allocated to agriculture, and who have likewise called for an African green revolution.

With our partners, we are doing a lot. And, today we need you, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, to join us as well, by paying attention to issues that may not normally fall under your purview. These are issues that have an impact on Africa: issues like agriculture, international trade, the structure of food aid and development assistance for Africa. There are many problems which make it harder for African farmers to succeed. So we ask you to look hard at these issues:

• Official Development Assistance. The US government, which has traditionally been a major donor for agricultural development assistance, has shifted its focus away from agriculture and Africa, hurting our small-scale farmers.
• Trade-distorting subsidies. Current subsidies to US farmers have a direct impact on African farmers. Cotton is one example: subsidies for US cotton farmers make it impossible for African cotton farmers to compete on the international market. This deprives the governments of African countries of export earnings, leading them to cut back on infrastructure investments and additional institutional support for farmers growing food crops.
• Food aid. The US government donates about $2 billion in food aid annually. Nearly all of this aid is in the form of surplus commodities rather than cash. Some donor countries provide more aid in the form of cash, which is then used to purchase food aid in the local or regional markets of developing countries. Instead of “food for peace,” these local and regional purchases provide “markets for peace” by strengthening local and regional agricultural markets and by offering new opportunities to farmers in developing countries.
• Climate Change. Climate change caused by high levels of emissions of carbon dioxide and other green house gases is perhaps the greatest challenge facing earth. According to some estimates, the net effects of climate change in Africa could be as high as $133 billion with agriculture bearing the brunt of these costs. Others pollute and Africa pays the price. Much is needed to assist Africa, especially its vulnerable farmers, to adapt to the impacts of climate change such as increased droughts and flooding.

In addition to these addressing these issues, partnerships between US universities and African universities could be encouraged and strengthened. The historical black colleges in the US and the land grant universities can play a critical role, through faculty exchanges and joint research and PhD training of Africans. Other avenues could include “technology missions”, especially in the area of biotechnology, as recently called for by Professor Calestous Juma.

America’s support for Africa in its quest for achieving a green revolution is critical. The US has such a history, as its resources, scientists and philanthropic organizations helped to create the first green revolution in Asia. The United States Congress this year recognized the unique contributions of the American hero, Dr. Borlaug, “the man who fed the world”, by awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, the highest civilian award in the United States.

Jim Wallis said in his book “God’s Politics” “the way to reach common ground is to move to the higher ground”. Today, let us move to the higher ground. Let us find new moral and political language; deliver a new vision; forge on with courage and determination; foster creative technical, financing and partnership approaches that transcend old divisions, and serve the common good for a green revolution for Africa.

Dr. Martin Luther King inspired hope all across America and the world. His words echo in our hearts in our quest for a green revolution in Africa. Today we inspire ourselves again on possibilities. The Africa green revolution is possible. Just imagine what Africa will look like when there are no more malnourished children; when the continent is no longer paraded as the ‘last continent’; when we are able to feed all of our people with dignity. When the rising of the sun on the continent does not signal another day of hopelessness, but the advent of a better day. It will be a better day for Mrs. Phiri, her children and her community.

A better day when the voices of all of Africa’s children will be resonating with hope across every village, on the top of every hill and in every valley across the beautiful African landscapes. You will hear them singing a new song in the new dawn: better at last, better at last, thank God Almighty our lives are better at last!

####

About the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. AGRA programmes develop practical solutions to significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment. AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain ­from seeds, soil health and water to markets and agricultural education.

AGRA's Board of Directors is chaired by Kofi A Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. Dr Namanga Ngongi, former Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme, is AGRA's president. With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UK's Department for International Development and other donors, AGRA works across sub-Saharan Africa and maintains offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and Accra, Ghana.