Programs and Opportunities
World Community
Focuses on Africa
September 2005
Printable version
By Mary Rekas
Since
Congress enacted AGOA (the African Growth and
Opportunity Act) in 2000, a framework has been in place
to support the growth of democracy and economies in
sub-Saharan Africa. Reform is the ticket for entry, and
37 African countries are now AGOA-eligible.
AGOA
opens the U.S. marketplace to duty-free imports of
African goods. It also supports investment, linkages and
trade capacity building programs to help African
economies. And positive results are already evident.
In 2000,
before implementation of AGOA, eligible countries
exported $716.6 million worth of agricultural products
to the United States. By 2004, that trade had risen 41
percent, to more than $1 billion.
|
An
African Summer |
| There is renewed determination in the United
States to raise agriculture productivity among
African nations, which have often been beset with
war, famine, drought, disease, debt and political
corruption.
Africa has long been a destination for food aid.
While feeding the hungry will always be a priority
for the United States, there is a new
international focus on helping African nations
achieve improved food security through increased
agricultural productivity and trade.
The President’s MCA (Millennium Challenge Account)
Initiative will invest in agricultural
development, education, private sector
development, governance, health and trade capacity
building in many countries.
Eight MCA countries are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Madagascar was the first African country approved
with a funding compact for $110 million over four
years.
This summer, the world community focused on
Africa’s plight. The G8 countries, led by United
Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair, committed to
increase aid to Africa by $25 billion a year by
2010, fight malaria among African children and
enhance the Africa Union’s ability to deploy a
stabilizing force. The pop music world also
contributed proceeds from the nine LIVE 8 concerts
on July 2, 2005. |
On the
Ground With USDA
USDA has
been supporting African agribusinesses with programs
designed to develop trade capacity.
What is
trade capacity building? It’s international
collaboration that assists with development of
regulations, policies, institutions and infrastructure
that facilitate trade.
Agricultural technical training programs include many
how-to’s — creating SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary)
standards and regulations for foods to meet
international requirements, pest risk assessments,
marketing techniques and technology transfer.
USDA
provides seminars on how to meet the World Trade
Organization’s SPS standards. USDA experts in three
Global Competitiveness Hubs managed by USAID (the U.S.
Agency for International Development) — in Botswana,
Uganda and Ghana — are working closely with African
officials and producers to establish pest risk
assessments for agricultural commodities destined for
the U.S. market.
Two
science and technology conferences, in Burkina Faso and
Mali, have raised awareness about sustainable
agricultural practices and the promise of biotechnology.
The U.S.
private sector has also made important contributions.
The National Cotton Council of America has been working
with representatives of the West African cotton sector
to implement current production technology, market their
products and integrate their cotton industry with
textile production.
Deliverables in the Works
USDA and
USAID are developing a trade enhancement program that
will include private and public sectors. This
collaboration will smooth the entry of African fresh
fruits and vegetables into the global market by
improving African phytosanitary standards.
Also
later this year, USDA will sponsor a trade and
investment mission to the Southern African region. The
mission will encourage joint ventures, support bilateral
trade and boost investment in the region’s rich
agricultural sector. More missions are planned for other
regions in Africa in 2006.
USDA has
also been working with the ADB (African Development
Bank) and the Africa Business Roundtable on a new
program to encourage agricultural investments. The ADB
has a private sector program for equipment loans.
Collaboration Yields Results
Two USDA
initiatives, the Cochran Fellowship Program and the
Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and
Technology Fellows Program, provide short-term technical
training in the United States for public and private
professionals from eligible countries.
The
Cochran program, active since the mid-1980s, trained 106
participants from sub-Saharan Africa in 2004. Training
opportunities in the agricultural industry include
agricultural trade, marketing, management, policy and
technology transfer.
The
Borlaug Program, a faculty and scientist exchange
program, was begun in 2004 following the first
USDA/USAID-sponsored Ministerial Conference and Expo on
Agricultural Science and Technology in Sacramento,
Calif. It provides short-term scientific training for
international agricultural research scientists and
policymakers.
|
International Dialogue |
International events
serve an important function in increasing
awareness in U.S. and African businesses of the
expanding opportunities for African products.
-
In
2005, the G8 and the African Union/New
Partnership for Africa’s Development sponsored a
continent-wide summit on the Comprehensive
African Agricultural Development Program.
-
In
June, the Corporate Council on Africa
U.S.-Africa Business Summit focused on
strengthening trade and investment ties between
the United States and Africa.
-
In
July, the Fourth AGOA conference in Senegal
brought together U.S. and African delegates from
the private and public sectors to form
partnerships conducive to trade and investment.
|
Currents
of Freedom
The United States has a long-term commitment to growth
and development in Africa. With open economies and free
markets, the pathway to prosperity can be accelerated
for many countries.
Shared
goals of the United States and AGOA governments,
businesses and other interested groups are to ensure
increased exports, investment opportunities, employment,
and income in each country.
Expanding trade and investment tend to accompany
economic and social reform. There is a growing
realization among African leaders that sustained growth
and development can only occur in open economies with an
active private sector.
The
United States plans to help that reform process in
Africa, step-by-step — to create a political and
economic environment where individual freedom and
growing prosperity are the rule, not the exception.
The author is a public affairs specialist in the FAS
Public Affairs Division. E-mail:
Mary.Rekas@usda.gov
For more information on USDA’s African programs,
contact:
Virginia Wolf, FAS International Cooperation and
Development area. E-mail:
Virginia.Wolf@usda.gov
|
