AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Several positive developments suggest Africa is on the road to
greater food security and economic growth
• Africa GDP to grow 5.5 - 6% in 2010: AfDB
• Growth in agriculture and economy in most countries higher than
population growth rate
– Malawi transformed itself to a net exporter of maize
– Rwanda increased its food production by >15 percent in 2007 and
2008
– In Tanzania, supporting farmers with vouchers to purchase seeds and
fertilisers enabled 700,000 smallholder farmers to produce five million
tonnes of maize.
• Africa's agricultural sector has the potential not only to feed its
own people but to become the breadbasket of the world
The good news – Africa on move
AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Despite abundant natural resources African agriculture remained stagnant for decades
• Since 1970, the population of sub-Saharan
Africa has more than doubled
• Poor soils and seeds, lack of finance and
markets, and weak policy support remain
major hurdles
• These have been compounded by climate
change
• IFPRI estimates that Africa will need $32 to
$39 billion of investment annually to realise
the full economic potential of its farm sector
But there are challenges
AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Require demand driven
research with high impact
factor
• Conducive policy environment
• Connecting smallholders
to markets
Linking farmers to export
markets for pigeonpea
gets them a higher share
of the final price.
Innovative approaches are required
75
61
42
32
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Urban exporter
Rural open-air retailer
Urban open-air retailer
Urban supermarket
Percent
Farmers' share of final price
AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Helping smallholders to
adapt to new conditions
and become more
productive
– Improving awareness and information can significantly increase adoption of new varieties
Innovative approaches are required
14
38
2726
43
12
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
All farmers Aware farmers Adoption gap
%
Adoption rates for new varieties
Pigeonpea Groundnuts
AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Institutional innovations for
facilitating technology adoption
and market access
Farmer organizations (e.g., PMGs in
Kenya) found to improve farm-gate
prices by 20-25%
Elisa kits for Aflatoxin detection with
NASFAM facilitated fair-trade certification for groundnuts
Farmer groups and innovation
platforms for crop-livestock marketing
in Zimbabwe improved market outlets
for livestock and inputs
Innovative approaches are required
AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Reducing risk and vulnerability,
especially to extremes in weather
Precision conservation farming -A
viable option for areas with less than
700 mm rain/year
Reduced risk of crop failure even
without timely planting and
weeding
150,000 households supported in
2009 in Zimbabwe with partners in
Protracted Relief Program
Innovative approaches are required
AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Understand how crop value chains
work, and entry points for
improving them
• Devise profitable crop
management – improved variety
synergies (a la Green Revolution)
• Add higher-value products to the
mix
• Do not overlook input supply
chains and market output
channels!
R4D through value chain approach
AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Assist farmers to grow their way out of
poverty through market oriented
agriculture
• Attaining a whole new level of
resource access, stability, security and
productivity
• Employ a systems perspective to
ensure that all issues along the
pathway are addressed holistically
through complementary, strategic
partnerships
IMOD– A new way to conduct research
Source: Innovation systems approach - SSACP
AgriBusiness Forum 2010 | 3 – 6 October 2010 | Kampala, Uganda.
• Improve staple crop yields to ensure food security
and generate marketable surplus
• Generate cash from surpluses by building market
linkages
• Cash enables input purchases, raising yields in a self-
reinforcing investment cycle
• Once farmers are connected to markets and can
invest, they widen their strategy to include higher
value crops
• Conducive policy environment
The IMOD Pathway