June 16, 2014
Dear All,
It has been yet another busy month for AGRA as we continue our steady progress towards a green revolution in Africa.
Some noteworthy highlights from May: The international debate around climate change continues to heat up and it is increasingly important that Africa’s voice be heard in the discussions – and not just heard, but fully understood. From AGRA’s perspective, we must continue to work closely with our partners to provide Africa’s farmers the tools and knowledge they need to alleviate the effects of climate change. We’re also focusing on the major trends and effects of climate change in the 2014 African Agriculture Status Report.
We take seriously our role in representing the needs of smallholder African farmers at various events, such as the Global Food Security Symposium, which was held in Washington DC last month. At that event, AGRA Chairman Strive Masiyiwa spoke about what he terms the ‘double whammy’ – Africa’s rapidly growing number of mouths to feed, coupled with the very real threat of climate change to our ability to grow the food we need to meet rising demand. Let’s look at a real example. This year in Kenya, the long rains have failed. The long rains used to be extremely reliable and marked the start of the main growing season. With them failing, farmers in many parts of Kenya simply won’t be able to produce enough maize to see us through to the end of the year. So one way we’re working to help farmers overcome such challenges is by supporting the development and dissemination of seed varieties that can still produce a crop even in the face of increasingly variable rainfed growing conditions.
The northern parts of Tanzania play an important role in maize production for the country. However, despite opportunities to improve their productivity and increase their incomes, many farmers are hesitant to invest in new technologies. To help encourage such investments, a local organization has worked with a variety of stakeholders, including AGRA, to form a public-private partnership that is providing better access for farmers in the region to modern agricultural equipment and to much needed finance. Our role in the partnership is to ensure that women smallholders are not forgotten and that they benefit equally from the initiative.
In Ghana, the lack of clear guidelines for delivering extension services to farmers is a major constraint to improving agriculture. These services are extremely important in helping farmers improve their productivity, enabling them to learn about and implement improved agricultural practices. As a result, one of AGRA’s grantees in the country has been working with a variety of parties to develop the needed guidelines and share them widely.
Finally, the President of Niger, H.E. the Honorable Mahamadou Issoufou recently visited Alheri Seed Company (an AGRA grantee) to open their seed new seed warehouse and processing facilities. While there, the President met with a number of AGRA grantees and inquired about the improved seeds now available to farmers in Niger. The lack of improved seed and fertilizer are some of the biggest factors restricting agriculture productivity in the country, but we are making progress through grantees such as Alheri. Click here to see photos from the visit.
I look forward to speaking with you again next month.
Kind Regards,
Jane Karuku
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