Tag Archives: agriculture
UNCTAD praises Kenya policy reforms
For more news visit http://www.ntv.co.ke Follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/ntvkenya Like our FaceBook page http://www.facebook.com/NtvKenya Kenya h… Continue reading
Europe Is Standing In Africa’s Way On Agricultural Expansion
Europe is standing in Africa’s way on agricultural expansion by Thompson Ayodele 17 June 2013 European policy-makers are considering legislation to solve a problem that does not exist and creating circumstances that will relegate African agriculture producers and consumers to second-rate status – claims think-tank Africa is widely recognised as the next frontier in agriculture expansion, offering the greatest opportunity for development and replete with underserved markets. More than 60 per cent of the world’s unutilised land for agriculture is found on the continent. And the United Nation Children’s Fund estimates that malnutrition among Africa’s youth costs national economies some $25bn per year in lost productivity and healthcare costs. Not only are communities not producing enough food but they are also not earning enough money to fully engage in international markets. The solution to this chronic problem that has long plagued communities throughout the Africa is ever more investment, wealth creation, market access and education. But European policy-makers are considering legislation to solve a problem that does not exist and creating circumstances that will relegate African agriculture producers and consumers to second-rate status. A proposal currently being considered in the European Parliament regarding concerns over the theory of indirect land use change or ‘ILUC’ is just such a poison pill that the continent’s agriculture sector is being told to swallow. For ILUC has proven a powerful concept for opponents of the European Union’s biofuel policy but one that also pits them against small farmers throughout the developing world. While European and American communities enjoy the fruits of centuries of unfettered development and agriculture expansion, African communities seeking to enjoy the same prosperity are kept at arms length through a series of policies. A proposal for the introduction of ILUC into the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive by rapporteur MEP Corinne Lepage illustrates this dichotomy clearly. In her proposal, Lepage rejects the use of any biofuel feedstock produced from land converted since 2008 – a date that would have no effect for European biofuel producers but that would deny any aspiring farmer in Ghana or Nigeria from access to Europe’s biofuels market. And lest one should consider this an appropriate measure to ensure the maintenance of sufficient forest cover on the continent, consider a comparison between Lepage’s home country of France and Gabon, one of the frontiers for agriculture development. France boasts a commendable 29 per cent forest cover by developed world standards, while Gabon enjoys more than 85 per cent. Does Lepage or anyone from France’s delegation to the European Parliament feel that French farmers have more of a right to their livelihood than the Gabonese? But what do biofuels have to do with food demand? In a fungible and fluid global agriculture market, the two are inextricably linked. Today’s biofuels hold the potential to be tomorrow’s food. And campaigns against biofuels should not be allowed to impede food production. Unfortunately, by discouraging investment, that is precisely what the current debate on ILUC is at risk of doing. For instance, Malaysia is currently the third largest source of foreign direct investment on the continent, driven in part by its promotion of oil palm development and palm oil production throughout Sub-Saharan Africa – a key food and energy source for communities throughout the world. Malaysia’s Federal Land Development Authority, the largest small farmer coalition in the world, is driving poverty alleviation efforts alongside food production. But this investment and the potential benefits for African producers are as much the result of domestic food demand as from projected biofuel needs in Europe. Meanwhile, there is no evidence of competition between food and fuel needs of food and energy sources such as palm oil. Current palm oil prices are at four-year lows – down by 23 per cent year on year. But with projected demand expected to escalate rapidly – by some estimates doubling by 2020 – policy-makers should be encouraging more production now. And significant advances in the use of oil palm biomass for energy illustrates the extent to which the crop could meet both food and energy needs without any competition – a fact that Lepage has recognised and countered without any explanation in her proposal. Therein lies the tremendous potential offered by the EU’s RED for Africa’s potential trillion dollar agriculture sector – and illustrates the danger from proposals such as Lepage’s that would stifle development. By pandering to environmental campaigners that see biofuels anywhere land is developed for agriculture crops, they are also keeping food out of the mouths of Nigerians, Ghanaians, Ugandans and every other African community that hopes only to alleviate hunger and strive for a better life. There is nothing new to the notion that agriculture might be a driving force for economic prosperity. This was the very model accomplished in the United States and one that is resoundingly endorsed by the World Bank. But for it to succeed, producers need investors and consumers. Europe should not shut itself out but become a part of the solution. Unfortunately, the ILUC concept is part of the problem. Thompson Ayodele is director of the Nigeria-based think-tank the Initiative for Public Policy Analysis Read more: http://www.publicser…n#ixzz2WrOhKKiK Continue reading
“Carbon Farming” Makes Waves at Stalled Bonn Talks
By Stephen Leahy Civil society organisations warn that if agriculture becomes part of a carbon market, it will spur more land grabbing in Africa. Credit: Patrick Burnett/IPS UXBRIDGE, Canada, Jun 12 2013 (IPS) – U.N. climate talks have largely stalled with the suspension of one of three negotiating tracks at a key mid-year session in Bonn, Germany. Meanwhile, civil society organisations claim the controversial issue of “carbon farming” has been pushed back onto the agenda after African nations objected to the use of their lands to absorb carbon emissions. “There is a profound danger to agriculture here, with real potential for more land grabbing and expansion of monocultures in order to harvest credits.” — Helena Paul of EcoNexus At the Bonn Climate Change Conference this week, Russia insisted on new procedural rules. That blocked all activity in one track of negotiations called the “Subsidiary Body for Implementation” (SBI). The SBI is a technical body that was supposed to discuss finance to help developing countries cope with climate change, as well as proposals for “loss and damage” to compensate countries for damages. The SBI talks were suspended Wednesday. “This development is unfortunate,” said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Figueres also said the two-week Bonn conference, which ends Friday, had made considerable progress in the two other tracks. A complex new global climate treaty is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015 with the goal of keeping global warming to less than two degrees C. “Governments need to look up from their legal and procedural tricks and focus on the planetary emergency that is hitting Africa first and hardest,” said Mithika Mwenda of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), an African-wide climate movement with over 300 organisations in 45 countries. And where there is “progress” at the climate talks it is in the wrong direction, according to civil society. “We’ve seen many governments in Bonn call for a review of the current failed carbon markets to see what went wrong, why they haven’t actually reduced emissions and why they haven’t raised finance on a significant scale,” said Kate Dooley, a consultant on market mechanisms to the Third World Network. “If we don’t learn these lessons we’ll be doomed to repeat these environmentally and financially risky schemes, at the cost of real action to reduce emissions,” Dooley said in a statement. In Bonn, two key African negotiators appear to be pushing the World Bank agenda rather than their national interests, civil society organisations claim. Those negotiators are also working for organisations receiving World Bank funding. One appears to want African nations’ mitigation actions to be based on agriculture, they said. The World Bank and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation and other organisations favour what they call “climate smart” agriculture. This is defined as forms of farming that are sustainable, increase productivity and with a focus on soaking up carbon from the atmosphere. African environment ministers from 54 nations recently stated they were not obligated to use their lands to mitigate carbon emissions since Africa is not responsible for climate change. They also instructed African negotiators at the Bonn climate talks to focus on helping African agriculture adapt to a changing climate. “Are these people serving two masters?” asked Mariam Mayet of the Africa Centre for Biosafety, which works to protect farmers’ rights and biodiversity across the continent. “What is the World Bank’s level of influence over these individuals, and is there a risk that this is impacting on their actions and the outcome here?” Mayet told IPS. In December 2011, more than 100 African and international civil society organisations sent a joint letter to African ministers asking for “no soil carbon markets in Africa”. Globally, agriculture is a major source of global warming gases like carbon and methane – directly accounting for 15 percent to 30 percent of global emissions. Changes in agricultural practices such as reducing or eliminating plowing and fertiliser use can greatly reduce emissions. Agriculture can also be used to absorb or trap carbon in the soil. When a plant grows, it takes CO2 out the atmosphere and releases oxygen. The more of a crop – maize, soy or vegetable – that remains after harvest, the more carbon is returned to the soil. Civil society organisations warn that if agriculture becomes part of a carbon market, it will spur more land grabbing in Africa, with woodlands being used mainly for carbon sequestration instead of food production. “There is a profound danger to agriculture here, with real potential for more land grabbing and expansion of monocultures in order to harvest credits,” Helena Paul of EcoNexus, an environmental NGO, previously told IPS. Soils are extraordinarily variable and different climatic regimes affect how they function, said Ólafur Arnalds, a soil scientist at the Agricultural University of Iceland. While soils are a key part of the planet’s carbon cycle, we don’t know enough about soil carbon, Arnalds told IPS at a recent Soil Carbon Sequestration conference in Iceland. That complexity does not suit carbon markets well and drives up costs of accounting and verification. However, Arnalds does believe that soils and agriculture have an important role in climate change and farmers should be compensated for their efforts. Continue reading
