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- 10/21/08: Remarks by Henrietta Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance at the White House Development Summit
- 10/08/08: Remarks by Henrietta Fore, USAID Administrator and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance at The President's Freedom Agenda
- 10/01/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at the Ceremony Marking the Full Operational Capacity of Africa Command (AFRICOM)
- 09/25/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at 2008 Millennium Development Goal Malaria Summit, New York - "U.S. Leadership in the Fight Against Malaria"
- 09/22/08: Remarks by Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator, USAID and Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance, at the White House Symposium on Advancing Global Literacy - "U.S. Commitment to Advancing Global Literacy"
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Remarks by Andrew S. Natsios, USAID Administrator
Expanding Agricultural Productivity Through Science, Technology and Trade
U.S. - Sub-Saharan Africa Trade Forum
Plenary Session
Port Louis, Mauritius
January 15, 2003
Introductory Comments
First, let me say how pleased I am to be here, and to be Co-Chairing this session with Under Secretary J.B. Penn and Minister Muteia.
This session on agriculture is especially relevant to the AGOA precisely because of the importance of agriculture in African trade and economic growth. At present, agriculture accounts for 30% of total GDP, 40% of export earnings, and 70% of the labor force in Africa.
I will provide a few introductory comments. We will then have two presentations. Mr. Mwencha the Secretary General of COMESA will provide a short presentation on challenges and opportunities to increase regional agricultural trade. This will be followed by a 15 minute joint presentation by Mr. Stuart from Hershey Food Corporation and Mr. Lunde from M&M Mars Corporation on strengthening commodity supply chain linkages in the cocoa sector. We will then have open discussion. And, at approximately 3:20 PM I will hand over to Mr. Alan Larson the Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs to do a summary and wrap up of the session.
Before we proceed, I would like to acknowledge the participation of some important development partners that will join us for this session in particular. They include: Mr. Peter McPherson, President of Michigan State University, and Co- Chair of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa; and Mr. David Beckman, President of Bread for the World; and Dr. Seyfu Katema, Executive Secretary of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA).
The U.S. Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa
To provide a bit of background to this session, I would like to introduce the US President's Initiative to End Hunger in Africa, (referred to as the Agricultural Initiative). This Initiative explicitly supports the Millennium Development Goal to Cut Hunger in Half by 2015. And, it directly addresses the need to raise agricultural productivity as a means of tackling hunger and poverty. The Initiative was launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in August, 2002.
The Initiative is borne from broad based recognition that hunger in Africa is one of the most significant and compelling development challenges that we face today. Hunger is widespread, with 1 in 3 people currently undernourished. Projections indicate that by 2010 Africa may account for 2/3 of the undernourished people in the world. Poverty is at the root of this problem.
Low per capita incomes from agriculture are directly linked to hunger. Since poverty limits people's ability to purchase food, while malnutrition and poor health limit their ability to earn income, poverty and hunger form a recurring cycle leading to a low-growth trap.
The Agricultural Initiative is a response to the concern over the low growth trap among leaders in both the U.S. and African countries, and the recognition by the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) that agriculture is the most important engine of economic growth for the continent.
The Agricultural Initiative calls for a partnership with African leaders and governments, donors and private sector groups to work and invest in small holder oriented agricultural growth strategies. In line with this, the Initiative does support the efforts of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa that is actively engaged in building political and financial commitment among public and private development partners in Africa and internationally to cut hunger in half by 2015. We are pleased to have Peter McPherson with us today. He is the co Chair of the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty along with President Chisano from Mozambique and President Museveni from Uganda.
The Initiative recognizes that one of the most lasting solutions that agriculture has to offer in ending hunger is to increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes. It also recognizes that success requires sustained investments in agriculture based strategies, programs and policies.
To launch the multi year effort the President has requested an increase of 25% in the USAID annual budget to support agricultural development efforts in Africa in FY '03, to $142 million. The expanded efforts in agriculture are being made precisely because of the recognition that investments in agriculture are insufficient to solve the problem of hunger and stimulate agricultural growth. The agricultural Initiative will focus efforts in countries with an enabling environment to pursue agricultural growth as well the impetus for growth in the subregion.
The early steps of the Initiative will be to focus on developing multi- year action plans with partners, that will guide investments and implementation. In its first stage, the Initiative is being implemented in three regional settings (for East, West, and Southern Africa) and three focus countries (Mozambique, Mali, and Uganda).
The Initiative will fundamentally focus on two core themes to encourage agricultural growth:
- Harnessing Science and Technology for African Agriculture, and
- Unleashing the Power of Markets for Africa's Small Farmers.
Let me now turn to the heart of the issue this session is addressing, and that is the need for effective linkages to be created between trade and technology to stimulate agricultural growth.
Linkages Between Hunger, Agricultural Productivity and Agricultural Trade
At the heart of agricultural trade is the demand for agricultural goods and services that someone is interested in paying to have.
Recent analysis by IFPRI indicates that with an increase of 3% to 4% per year in crop and livestock yields, per capita incomes would rise by almost three times in Africa. In turn, Africans would demand 20 to 30 percent more staple foods and their meat consumption would increase another 56%. Per capita consumption of calories would rise to 2,990 kilocalories per day, and the number of malnourished children would drop by 40%. The basic conclusion is that raising agricultural productivity in Africa could create enormous opportunities for agricultural trade in Africa, and reduce malnutrition.
Several examples of positive achievements in raising productivity that give us confidence that it is possible to succeed, include:
- Maize yields amongst small holder farmers in Uganda increased 46% over the period 1996-2001 as a result of productivity increases due to the introduction of improved agricultural technologies.
- In Mali, record rice harvests have been recorded over the past three years as a result of land tenure and marketing reform, the introduction of new high-yielding rice varieties, and the promotion of private investments in irrigation, which has increased the amount of land under irrigation by 27% over the past ten years.
- Cassava production in southern Africa has increased significantly as a result of the widespread adoption by farmers of improved varieties.
At present, African agriculture exports account for over 40% of foreign exchange earnings. Tree crops produced by small holder producers that Africa has a comparative advantage to produce, such as coffee, cocoa and cashew account for approximately 50% of agricultural exports. As a dominant source of income for millions of African households, the trade of these commodities has a major influence on their food security. Yet, over the past thirty years there has been almost no change or increase in the productivity of coffee and cocoa, while production costs continue to increase, undermining incomes and in turn food security. The lack of increases in productivity of agricultural commodities also has a major influence on Africa's share of global markets and competitiveness.
The panelist presentations today will introduce and open discussion on the challenges and opportunities to raising agricultural trade within Africa, as well as strengthening supply chains between African producers and developed country consumers. We hope they will stimulate discussion so that we can jointly identify options to improve agricultural trade in Africa and globally, which is so vital to economic growth and ending hunger.
Our first panel presentation is by Mr. Erastus Mwencha, the Secretary General of COMESA, which is the third largest trade area in the World, following the EU and NAFTA. Mr. Mwencha is one of the leaders and champions of African trade and capacity building efforts. He is not a stranger to this audience. He is well known among both the African and US participants. He is Kenyan. He resides in Zambia, which is where the headquarters of COMESA are located, and has traveled and worked extensively throughout East and Southern Africa in the COMESA member countries. He is now involved in helping to develop the policy context, create business linkages and build capacity to grow agricultural trade in Africa and globally.
Mr. Mwencha, the floor is yours.
Our second panel presentation will be a joint effort involving representatives from two companies that are typically competitors. They are: Mr. David Stuart from Hershey Foods Corporation, and Mr. John Lunde from M&M Mars Corporation. They are here today representing a unique global alliance among the worlds' cocoa and chocolate leaders, that are collectively partnering with the US Government (including USAID and USDA), the governments of Cote d' Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon and Guinea, as well as with international research and development organizations, local and international NGOs, and a host of local businesses to support and implement the Sustainable Tree Crops Program in West Africa. Mr. Stuart is responsible for Hershey Foods relations with all external trade groups and research partnerships related to raw materials. Hershey Foods is the largest chocolate manufacturer in the United States. Mr. Lunde is responsible for M&M Mars programs on cocoa sustainability and chairs the US Industries American Cocoa Research Institute's Sustainable Cocoa Committee.
Mr. Lunde, I believe you are beginning the presentation. The floor is yours.
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