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Agricultural & Food Shortage Solutions for Africa

March 26th, 2012

The summit on Strategic Agricultural and Food Shortage Solutions for Africa’s intention is to bring together stakeholders from the private sector, government and leading international agricultural experts.

Speakers will include top agricultural government representatives to address the impacts, strategies, best practices and new methodologies for undertaking agriculture challenges and food insecurity in Africa. The main aim of the summit is to focus on the viability, sustainability and profitability of Africa’s agricultural sector. Through applying agricultural innovation, sustainable agriculture processes, knowledge sharing and management. This summit will examines the social , environmental and economic challenges that are the backbone of Africa’s food insecurity and proposes a solution for action to be taken by governments, NGO’s, Representatives of Farmer Groups and the international community in order to sustain greater food security. The summit will examine methods in which to minimize any instability to food security and agricultural sustainability through innovation and knowledge management.

Target Market:

Agricultural Government Departments
Representative of Farmer Groups
Agricultural Cooperatives
Financial Institutions and Banks
Agricultural Societies
Agriculture Funds
Institutional Investors, privatization and investment promotion agencies
Regulators and Government Agencies
Investment Banks
Development Agencies and Development Banks
Food Processing and Agri-Companies Ÿ
Exporters & Importers
Municipalities
NGO’s

Sustainable social and economic development in Africa has to be driven by the development of its agricultural sector, which is the mainstay for 70% of its population and 80% of its poor. Under such conditions, significant efforts are clearly needed to make African agriculture more productive and more efficient, but also more resilient to climate change.

SUMMIT PROGRAM

DAY 1: 26th March 2012

07:30 Registration and Morning Coffee

08:30 Welcoming Remarks form the Chairman

08:45 Importance of Agriculture to Society and the Economy

Performance
Growth of agricultural production vs. population growth
Africa’s per capita grain output
Sirte Ministerial Declaration
Sharm el Sheikh Declaration

Confirmed: Hon Edward W Lutaaya, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Kingdom of Buganda

09:30 Socio Economic Factors

HIV / Aids
Poverty
Gender inequality
Challenges facing Women involved in agriculture
Low water availability

Confirmed: Grace Mijiga Mhango, Director, Women in Agribusiness in Sub-Saharan Africa (WASAA) – Malawi

10:15 Morning Tea

10:45 Political Factors

Governance
Corruption
Private and Public Partnerships
International Investment restrains
Infrastructure

Confirmed: Dr. Jude Ssebuwufu, Director, Institute of Ethics and Development Studies – Uganda

11:30 The Impact of Climate Change on Africa’s Agriculture

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) clearly stated, in its fourth assessment report published in 2007, that global warming and extreme weather events will affect the world’s poorest regions most. In sub-Saharan Africa, rain fed crop yields could fall by half between now and 2020. The mitigation of these impacts is going to depend on the investments that will be made in water control, irrigation, storage facilities, rural roads, seed production and multiplication and conservation agriculture.

Higher temperatures
Greater variability of rainfall
Extreme events – floods & droughts
Water availability
Animal and plant diseases

Confirmed: Dr Evans Sikinyi, Seed Trade Association of Kenya – Kenya

12:15 Sponsored Lunch

13:15 Panel Discussion: Africa’s Food Imports

Facing the challenges of higher food import bills and people’s limited access to energy.

14:00 Importance of Fertilizer

Discussing the Green Revolution – Selected Seeds, Seed control system
Organic fertilizers
The Importance of Transport infrastructure on Harvest losses
Storage and packing

Confirmed: Dr Mwamburi Mcharo, Manager (High Value Non-Staple Crops Programme), ASARECA – Uganda

14:45 Afternoon Tea

15:15 Insurance and Risk Management

Types of agricultural risk
Implications of climate change for agricultural risks
Price risk and volatility
Risk management tools
Policies and strategies that underpin the development of agriculture
Agricultural insurance: policy experiences to improve the efficiency of insurance markets

Confirmed: Prof J.H Nyeko Pen-Mogi, Vice Chancellor, Gulu University – Uganda

16:00 End of Day One

DAY 2: 27th March 2012

07:30 Morning Coffee

08:30 Welcoming Remarks form the Chairman

08:45 Applying Irrigated Agriculture

Irrigated Agriculture, occupies 20%of the world’s arable land, accounts for more than 40% of total agricultural production. Irrigated agriculture is much less vulnerable to climate Sirte 08 variability and other changes than rain fed agriculture. Yields from irrigated agriculture are three times higher than those from rain fed agriculture. Unfortunately, in Africa, only 7% of arable land is irrigated, with an even lower 4% in sub-Saharan Africa compared to 38% in Asia. The continent only uses 4% of its water reserves (less than 3% in sub-Saharan Africa), against 20% in Asia. That means that on 93% of Africa’s agricultural land, the population has to rely on rainfall to live or rather to survive; and rain is becoming increasingly unpredictable on account of climate change.

Small water harnessing
Irrigation
Drainage works
Blair Report
Soil Moisture Management

Confirmed: Hon Prof Magembe, Minister, Ministry of Agriculture – Tanzania

09:30 The Use of ICT in Agriculture

The use of ICTs in Africa has the potential to enhance the efficiency of governments in formulating and implementing their agricultural policies, a study undertaken with the purpose of evaluating the use of mobile phones and its implication on farm production in western Kenya revealed that mobile phones greatly helped farmers in their output, ability to bargain and access to funds. Unfortunately, most national ICT and agricultural policies in Africa do not prioritize the use and application of ICTs for rural communities. However, use of ICTs such as mobile phones can be hindered by lack of information, low levels of education and the cost e.g. of the phones and Airtime. IDASA, Kenya, 2010

Confirmed: Judith Payne, e-Business Advisor, USAID (EGAT/I&E/ICT) – Kenya

80:15 Morning Tea

10:45 Water Control

Investment needs for water control
Analysing current Countries Water Policies and procedures
Legislation
Production factors
Dry spells and supplementary irrigation

Confirmed: Dr Hezron Mogaka, Director of NRM&B Programme, ASARECA – Uganda

11:30 Land Resource Management

Retention of soil moisture
Catchment of runoff water
Capturing of Rainwater
Re-use of groundwater

Confirmed: Drake Mubiru, SRO, National Agriculture Research Organisation – Uganda

12:15 Sponsored Lunch

13:15 Water Technology and Hydro-agricultural Works

Encourage the adaptation of current technologies
Promoting innovative technology an research
Technological Measures
Discussing irrigation and hydropower potential
Reasons for current operations performing below capacity
Technical and economic reasons
institutional and social reasons

Confirmed: Dr Kodjo P. Abassa, Agricultural Advisor and Coordinator, Biotechnology Program – UNECA

14:00 Genetically Modified Seeds (GMO)

Pros and cons of GMO
Risks of GM crops -toxic health, environmental effects
International bans on GM
Alternatives other than GMO’s

Confirmed: Dr Kodjo P. Abassa, Agricultural Advisor and Coordinator, Biotechnology Program – UNECA

14:45 Afternoon Tea

15:15 The Role of CAAPD and COMESA

Under CAADP, African governments are committed to increase their national budget expenditure on agriculture to at least 10 %. The Programme, agreed by heads of state at the 2003 summit of the African Union, expects a six % growth rate in agriculture every year.

How can CAADP and other organisations build a future together?
Linking agricultural policies and programmes to CAAPD’s four pillars
Discussing the part of FANRPAN

Confirmed: Peter Muchoki Njoroge, Chair-Competition Commission, COMESA – Kenya

16:00 End of Day Two

DAY 3 – 28th March 2012

07:30 Morning Coffee

08:30 Welcoming Remarks form the Chairman

08:45 Private Sector Investment in Agriculture

The public and private sectors need to work together to create an environment which unleashes the entrepreneurship of the peoples of Africa, generates employment and encourages individuals and firms, both domestic and foreign, to invest – Sirte 2008

Highlighting Africa’s untapped resources and agricultural possibilities
Investment priorities
Tariffs and Tax incentives
Improve policies for enhancing private sector investments
Financing Agriculture through financial institutions
Addressing the structure of existing investment portfolios
Adaptation to future needs,
private sector investment e.g. hydroelectric energy

Confirmed: Dr Monty P Jones, Executive Director, FARA – Ghana

09:30 Forestry

Geospatial information
Risk Management in forestry
Role of Forestry in Africa’s Agriculture as a hole
Addressing the potential of agriculture and forest management in combating climate change
Strategies to do reforestation or afforestation – Soil Fertility, Crop health, Insect infestations, Drainage patterns

Confirmed: Dr Evans Sikinyi, Head: Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service, KEPHIS – Kenya

10:15 Morning Coffee

10:45 Highlighting the Need and Importance of Infrastructure Support

Market Access
Storage
Rural roads
Small scale irrigation
Role of the ADEA

Confirmed: Mr. Zachary Makanya, Country Coordinator, PELUM – Kenya

11:30 Climate Smart Agriculture

Productivity
Resilience
Greenhouse gases
Food security
Development goals

Confirmed: Dr. Charles Ssekyewa, Director of the African Research and Documentation Centre, UMU – Uganda

12:30 Sponsored Lunch

13:30 Using Bio Energy in Agriculture

New innovations and opportunities for Bio Energy in Africa
Using Renewable Energy for efficient waste management
Using agriculture to become a significant source for bio-fuel production

Confirmed: Dr Anthony Mshandete, Researcher, UDMS: Molecular Biology and Biotechnology – Tanzania

14:15 Organic Farming

Partnerships between farmers, farmer groups, NGOs and civil society organizations (CSOs), organic movement organizations, governments and certifying bodies at all levels foster successful organic agriculture. In order to facilitate the spread of organic agriculture there is a need to work at all levels: local, national and international, as well as to encourage more links between governments, NGOs and the private sector. UN 2008