NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Experts drawn from different institutions under the umbrella of the Association of International Research and Development Centres for Agriculture (AIRCA) have commenced on a journey towards implementation of Sustainable Development Goal number 2 (SDG 2), which calls for diversification of agriculture and nutrition.
During the 21st session of negotiations on Climate Change – Conference of Parties (COP 21) in Paris, France last year, research leaders agreed on a Global Action Plan for Agricultural Diversification (GAPAD) to address sustainable development through agricultural diversification beyond only major crops.
However, Dr James Nyoro, an agricultural economist, formerly a Senior Food Security and Climate Change Advisor to the Presidency – Government of Kenya, has warned that such efforts will terribly fail, if there will be no political goodwill.
Nyoro told agriculture and nutrition experts during a roundtable event organized by CAB International in Nairobi that there is evidence to show that where the government takes the driver’s seat, and sets the agenda for agricultural development and transformation, there has always been a positive change.
“Majority of our governments today have no political goodwill for the agricultural transformation agenda,” said Nyoro. Unless that is addressed, he added, “We can hold these meetings until cows come back home,” he said.
He referred to a recent report released during the 2016 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), which showed that countries that adopted the policies promoted by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) not long after it was created by African Union governments in 2003 saw productivity on existing farmlands rise by 5.9 to 6.7 percent per year.
By contrast, countries that sat on the sidelines saw farm productivity rise by less than 3 percent a year and Gross Domestic Product by just 2.2 percent, said the Africa Agriculture Status Report 2016.
It was in the same regard that Her Excellency Mrs Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union Commission observed that key indicators of success and likely impact of GAPAD will be the number of countries that endorse the plan, along with the number that elect to develop a National Plan of Action for its implementation.
“The Paris Climate Agreement has given us a clear roadmap for sustainable development in the years to come, but without meaningful implementation on the ground, these goals will [only] remain aspiration in nature,” she said.
John Feakes, the Australian High Commissioner said that given the changing global climatic conditions, countries cannot afford to get it wrong. “Climate is changing, and it is posing significant challenge to achieving sustainable development,” said Feakes. “Many decisions being made today have long-term consequences and are sensitive to climate conditions – water, energy, agriculture, fisheries and forests, to name but a few. We simply can’t afford to get it wrong,” he told the experts at the GAPAD meeting.
Dr Dennis Rangi, Director General, Development, CAB International, noted that there was an immediate need to diversify and supplement the only four crops that feed the whole world.
“From over half a million plant species on the planet, we currently rely on wheat rice, maize and soybean for more than three-quarters of our food supply,” he said noting that the crops are grown in a limited number of exporting countries, usually as monocultures, and are highly dependent on inputs such as fertilisers and irrigation.
“With climate change, these crops alone cannot feed a hotter world. We need options for agricultural diversification that include a wider range of crops and cropping systems,” said Dr Rangi.
The forum brought together representatives from governments, research institutions, Nongovernmental organisations, and intergovernmental organisation.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan as Acting Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Mr. Hamdok takes the reigns effective 1 November 2016, following the departure of Carlos Lopes of Guinea-Bissau on 31 October. Mr. Lopes served the ECA for four years with commitment and dedication and leaves the United Nations after 28 years of service in various capacities.
With over 30 years’ experience in the areas of public sector reforms, governance, regional integration and resource management, Mr. Hamdok has headed major portfolios, addressing diverse development challenges of the African policy landscape.
Mr. Hamdok has served as Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the ECA since 2011 prior to which, he successfully headed ECA’s portfolios of activities on development policy management, NEPAD and regional integration, and governance and public administration.
From 2003-2008, he served the International IDEA as its Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East.
His earlier career saw him move progressively into key senior positions in the Public and Private Sector. He held the positions of Chief Technical Advisor (1995-1997) at the International Labour Organization, Zimbabwe; Principal Policy Economist (1997-2001) at the African Development Bank, Cote d’Ivoire; Head of the Public Sector Group and Member of the management committee (1993-1995) at Deloitte & Touche Management Consultants, Zimbabwe; and Senior Official (1981-1987) at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Sudan.
Abdalla Hamdok holds a PhD and MA in Economics from the School of Economic Studies, University of Manchester, UK and a BSc. (honours) from the University of Khartoum, Sudan.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan as Acting Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Mr. Hamdok takes the reigns effective 1 November 2016, following the departure of Carlos Lopes of Guinea-Bissau on 31 October. Mr. Lopes served the ECA for four years with commitment and dedication and leaves the United Nations after 28 years of service in various capacities.
With over 30 years’ experience in the areas of public sector reforms, governance, regional integration and resource management, Mr. Hamdok has headed major portfolios, addressing diverse development challenges of the African policy landscape.
Mr. Hamdok has served as Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the ECA since 2011 prior to which, he successfully headed ECA’s portfolios of activities on development policy management, NEPAD and regional integration, and governance and public administration.
From 2003-2008, he served the International IDEA as its Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East.
His earlier career saw him move progressively into key senior positions in the Public and Private Sector. He held the positions of Chief Technical Advisor (1995-1997) at the International Labour Organization, Zimbabwe; Principal Policy Economist (1997-2001) at the African Development Bank, Cote d’Ivoire; Head of the Public Sector Group and Member of the management committee (1993-1995) at Deloitte & Touche Management Consultants, Zimbabwe; and Senior Official (1981-1987) at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Sudan.
Abdalla Hamdok holds a PhD and MA in Economics from the School of Economic Studies, University of Manchester, UK and a BSc. (honours) from the University of Khartoum, Sudan.
LAIKIPIA, Kenya (PAMACC News) - The Romantic Village is a camp in Dimcom Eden Villa Farm in Sipili, Ng’arua area, Laikipia County. “Making Agriculture and Environmental Conservation Romantic,” is the farm’s vision.
At this small park, Charles Mureithi, a secondary school teacher, receives scores of farmers. He offers free lectures on how to transform a semi-arid parcel of land into an arable piece to enhance food security.
“I try to make agriculture attractive to young people,” Mureithi explains. “If I don’t, our children will hate farming.”
Mureithi envisions his farm turning out the most beautiful in the world. “I know I can make it,” he exudes confidence. “People will come from very far to visit my farm. They’ll pay me a lot of money while I watch television over there,” he says, pointing at the cottage in which he receives visitors.
“There is a very good future in farming. Some years from now, farmers will be among the richest people,” he predicts. “I’ll sell my pineapple at shillings 500 because the demand will be high.”
Mureithi bought the seven-and-a-half-acre land in 2001 and started growing maize and wheat. He chanced on fruit farming after some embarrassment.
“I came back one day from work only to find my two kids eating the peals of pineapples supplied by a certain vendor, “ he recalls. “These vendors were poorer and had smaller farms than mine.” The picture that confronted him was the turning point for him.
When he planted his fruits in 2005, the 150 vines of passion he started with, “had given me so much money that all my input was recovered.” Since then, “I realized there is money in fruits and I have never looked back.”
JICA funded a trip to Japan in 2011 for 19 participants from 11 African countries. Mureithi was among them. They attended a course on the Implementation and Promotion of Agri-business in African Countries.
It’s while in Japan that he learned of the “one village one product” concept. This implies growing the right crop for the right region. “At times we force ourselves on what is not meant for our regions,” he laments.
Mureithi is convinced that Ng’arua, is not a place for maize and wheat. “Fruits are our products. They can make us very rich.”
Mureithi does grafting himself. A fruit-tree costs shillings 50 before grafting. After grafting, he makes shillings 100 more. When visitors come over, he imparts these grafting skills on them and even asks them to do it practically as he conducts them on a tour of his farm.
He’s grafted his mangoes in a way that he reaps five or seven varieties from the same tree. “These trees are like my social security fund,” he says, gesturing towards the trees spanning his farm.
“I’m teaching you hoping that you’ll share this knowledge with others. I believe we have the ability but we don’t want to fully exploit our potential.”
He tells all to discard the impression that greenhouses are very expensive to construct. He spent sh. 25,000 on his, using local material.
“My dad doesn’t like it when we throw away seeds,” his eldest daughter, Doreen Maina, 17, asserts. To her father, this is tantamount to throwing away money.
If Mureithi spots an avocado seed by the roadside, he picks it. For him this is sh. 150.
His farm help, Samuel Kamau assists him to plant pawpaw seeds in polythene papers. The seeds germinate a few days later. “This plant is shillings 50,” from a seed that was initially disregarded. “If one has 50 pawpaws how much is that?”
He believes if he were to sell every plant in his greenhouse, he could easily pay his children’s school fees for a whole year.
In this greenhouse are also coffee, cotton and other plants that are not for commercial use. Many school children have never seen such plants. When they come on a learning tour, they satisfy their curiosity.
“The issue of food security is not the government’s responsibility. It’s ours,” Mureithi says. “Every time we bother the government for aid yet we have land,” he finds it ridiculous.
He guides us to a yam he says he planted in 2004. Some of us see this for the first time. This is a tuber many read about mostly in West African literature. Every year he harvests a substantial amount.
His farm-help, Kamau, is busy plucking the yams from underneath the surface of the ground. “If there was famine now, my family and I would be safe while others would go to bed hungry,” Mureithi declares.
“I have never used any fertilizer or chemical. I don’t even weed,” he says. He promises to demonstrate his hospitality by feeding all of us with the yams at lunchtime! “Next year I’ll come to the same spot for another harvest.”
Yams are not for ancient people. He pleads with the team to ask how they are grown so that these farmers replicate the crops in their farms.
Everything here is done from a business perspective. “If I take this pawpaw and eat it with my family, I assume I have bought it at say, sh. 100. I record in my diary.”
If he does some work, he assesses how much he would have paid himself and fills this in his diary as well. Even his children know this approach. At the end of the year he analyzes the data to gauge whether this agricultural venture is viable or not.
“The fruit with the biggest profit margin is the pineapple,” he says, continuing, “It’s drought-resistant. It collects the morning dew and directs it to the plant. It can keep producing for about 7 years.”
Perched on a mound of soil and stones scooped from a deep furrow, he explains how he harvests surface run-off water when it rains and channels it to the desired area. This could be into a ‘storage tank’ excavated from the ground or directly into some furrows. One result is giant, healthy kales. He rarely buys vegetables.
His youngest child, Ivy Maina, 10, says, “We come here, pick some fruits even if it is not harvesting time.” She enjoys helping her father to plant various seeds. Her sister Doreen Maina says, “The best part is harvesting because we harvest as we eat.”
Mureithi’s son, Paul Maina, 13, desires to follow his father’s footsteps. “When I grow up, I must have a farm.” He has been observing his father taking farmers round their farm. The boy believes he can explain what happens on their farm as well as his father does.
Mureithi’s wife, Grace Maina, does marketing of their produce. She says there is adequate market for fruits. “Even locally, our customers don’t get enough.”
“If we had many of us growing fruits, we would export to Japan and elsewhere,” Mureithi wishes. “But mine alone is not enough. It’s just meant for the domestic market.”
Based on what he’s seen, Robert Mwangi says, “I didn’t know that there is a lot more I can do on my farm to earn money. I would like to be self-sufficient.”
Lucy Mwangi has been Mureithi’s colleague and customer. “I have decided to increase the fruits on my farm. I’ll use Mureithi’s methods of preserving the seeds of fruits consumed in my home.” She hopes to realize a marked difference in five years.
