Former pour la Relance de l'entrepreneuriat Agropastoral des jeunes

Photo souvenir devant l'Ecole Technique d'Agriculture

A la demande des autorités camerounaises, qui placent l’agriculture et le développement rural en tête de leurs priorités politiques, 11, 9 % de l’enveloppe de la première phase du Contrat de désendettement pour le développement (C2D), soit 64 M€ (42Mds de FCFA) et 60 de l’enveloppe du deuxième C2D,soit 195 M € (128 Mds de F CFA) ont été affectés aux programmes du secteur agricole et rural. Le Programme d’appui à la rénovation et au développement de la formation professionnelle dans les secteurs de l’agriculture, de l’élevage et de la pêche (AFOP) qui bénéficie d’une subvention d’un montant de 11,9 M€ (phase 1) et 35M€ soit 23 Mds F CFA (phase 2) constitue l’un des projets les plus emblématiques des deux C2D agricoles. A travers le programme AFOP, le gouvernement camerounais a choisi de répondre, conformément aux orientations du Document de Stratégie pour la Croissance et l’Emploi (DSCE) aux défis de (i) l’accroissement de la production agricole et de (ii) la lutte contre le chômage par l’insertion professionnelle des jeunes dans les secteurs de l’agriculture, de l’élevage et de la pêche. 

Le Programme AFOP accompagne le gouvernement du Cameroun à travers le Ministère de l’Agriculture et du Développement Rural (MINADER) et le Ministère de l’Elevage, des Pêches et des Industries Animales (MINEPIA) dans la reconstruction d’une offre de formation adaptée aux besoins et à la demande des acteurs du développement agricole et rural. Il a pour finalité l’accroissement des performances économiques de l’agriculture camerounaise, à travers l’amélioration de la qualification professionnelle des acteurs du développement agricole et rural. Le projet AFOP s’adresse aux jeunes projetant de devenir agriculteur, aux agriculteurs en activité et aux jeunes diplômés du secondaire souhaitant se dédier au secteur agropastoral (formations de niveau BTS). Initiée dans sa première phase, le développement de formations spécialisées se poursuivra dans la 2ème phase. Il permettra de densifier le réseau des centres (de 42 à 100) et écoles de formations (de 11 à 25) du MINADER et du MINEPIA. L’innovation de la 2^ème phase par rapport à la première repose sur l’insertion et l’installation professionnelle des jeunes et adultes porteurs de projets et l’évaluation d’un retour sur la qualité des formations dispensées par les centres et écoles rénovés.  L’Ecole Technique d’Agriculture (ETA) de Bafang, fait partie des écoles pilotes pour la mise en œuvre du nouveau référentiel de Formation du programme AFOP. Après deux années de formation, les apprenants de la deuxième promotion du programme Entrepreneur Agropastoral (EAP), tous titulaires au moins du baccalauréat à leurs entrés, ont dû valider toutes leurs capacités avec une moyenne supérieure au égale à 12/20 sans compensation pour en arriver là.

Ce mercredi 23 juillet 2014, 38 jeunes ont reçus officiellement parchemins faisant désormais deux les entrepreneurs agropastoraux qui contribueront sans doute au développement de l’entrepreneuriat rural au Cameroun. En prélude à cet évènement, la plateforme des Jeunes professionnels pour le Développement agricole (YPARD) en collaboration avec l’ETA  a organisé un atelier de discussion sur les opportunités d’insertion pour ces jeunes entrepreneurs. La Mutuelle pour la promotion de l’Epargne et l’Investissement (MUPECI), et l’entreprise PhytograinesSARL, respectivement établissement de microfinance et fournisseur d’intrants, ont pris part aux échanges. Au terme de cet atelier, Phytograines SARL, a offert un stage d’insertion professionnelle aux 5 premiers lauréat de cette promotion avec possibilité d’emploi si les essais sont concluants.

Les premiers lauréats ont également reçus le petit équipement pour la mise en pratique des acquis de la formation. Des pulvérisateurs, des bottes, des seaux, des machettes et des intrants ont été distribués pour encourager ces jeunes entrepreneurs à s’impliquer fermement dans leur nouveau métier. Et comme le soulignait le Directeur de cette école dans sons discours de clôture : « nous savons que certains ont encore des doutes pour leur insertion, mais une chose est sure, c’est que la terre ne trompe pas ».

Analyse :

Ce nouveau profil des entrepreneurs mis sur le marché constitue un pan pour la relance de l’entrepreneuriat des jeunes en milieu rural. Mais l’on se questionne sur l’effectivité des appuis à l’insertion de ce programme qui s’achève en en 2016. Les jeunes formés auront-ils facilement accès aux ressources (financières) pour s’installer en milieu rural? Quelles stratégies mettre en place pour une relance véritable de l’agribusiness en milieu rural camerounais ?

6th all Africa conference on animal agriculture – youth session announcement

In Nairobi, in October (27-30), the All Africa Society for Animal Production (AASAP) in conjunction with the Animal Production Society of Kenya (APSK) and the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MoALF) will hold its biannual conference with the theme “Africa’s Animal Agriculture: Macro-trends and future opportunities”.

The conference will provide an opportunity for multi-disciplinary players within and outside the African continent to exchange ideas on key issues around the five themes and seek ways to address associated challenges while harnessing the opportunities such challenges present for the Animal agriculture sector in the continent. In particular, The Youth and Future of Animal Agriculture will be a core thematic area of the conference.

The Youth session is set against the back drop that, Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s youngest population and is home to over 200 million young people. Two out of three inhabitants are under the age of 25 years and 44% of its population is below the age of 15. About 70% of the youth reside in rural areas and those that are employed work primarily in the agricultural sector, where they account for 65% of the labour force. Young African men and women are critical to the development of agriculture and for consolidating efforts to attain food and nutrition security in the continent. They are the future farmers, policy makers, leaders, and researchers as well as the future drivers of Africa’s socio-economic and technological development!

The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) and Dr Joram Mwacharo of The International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) have partnered to convene The Youth Session on 28th October 2014 during the 6th All African Conference on Animal Agriculture. Through this session we hope to drive the debate away from questions such as “How can farming be made more attractive to young people?” toward a broader analysis of the opportunities and challenges for different categories of young people in animal agriculture. Such an analysis will take account of changes not only in food production, but also in processing (value addition) and transformation, marketing, retail, governance, information technology etc. We also intend to have a question and answer session involving three to four panelists that will be followed by an open discussion.

Participants if you are:

• Involved in the animal agriculture (dairy, beef, swine, small ruminant, poultry, the horse industry, aquaculture, wildlife, veterinary medicine, livestock business and marketing, animal welfare and behavior, animal nutrition science, animal reproduction science, or genetics).
• Involved in the business, banking and information technology sector
• 15–35 years of age OR older and working with the youth.
• Someone with a success story related to youth involvement in animal agriculture

An engaging and inspiring speaker and leader who is passionate about youth issues.

Then you are the person needed for the Youth Session.

To participate/apply, please send us a concise abstract of 250 words maximum, written in English. Authors may submit articles based on practical experiences, research findings, case reports/studies, retrospective studies or expressing interest to participate in exhibitions or practical demonstrations within the realms of the Youth Session Theme - Animal Agriculture: The next frontier for the youth in Africa. Authors are requested to indicate their preference for oral or poster presentation. Selected papers will be published in a special journal issue of the East African Agricultural and Forestry Journal (EAAFJ) hosted by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

Please send your abstracts/applications to Joram.Mwacharo@nottingham.ac.uk by May 16th, 2014, highlighting in the email subject line your interest to participate in the AACAA Youth Session. Potential speakers will be put forward to a selection committee and will be notified by June 1st, 2014. The selection of participants will take into account continental, regional, country and gender balance.

Read more on the conference website

For more information please visit the Platform for African European Partnership on Agricultural Research for Development (PAEPARD) website

---

For more information contact:

FANRPAN: Sithembile Mwamakamba: sndema@fanrpan.org
Tshilidzi Madzivhandila: TMadzivhandila@fanrpan.org
Joram Mwacharo: Joram.Mwacharo@nottingham.ac.uk

INTERNATIONAL INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANT FOR REGIONAL AGRIBUSINESS VALUE CHAIN PROJECTS EVALUATION AND KNOWLEDGE GENERATION WORK

Background

In November 2010, UNDP launched a new regional project, “Private Sector and Inclusive Market Development for Poverty Reduction in Africa: African Facility for Inclusive Markets (AFIM)”, to more strongly address private sector development and engagement issues in Africa in support of accelerated achievement of the MDGs. AFIM’s particular focus is on the promotion of Inclusive Market Development (IMD) in Africa through the development and expansion of regional value chains in job creating sectors such as agribusiness, tourism, renewable energy, retailing and mining. Currently, AFIM’s focus of IMD is centred on agribusiness. Applications and concepts shortlisted were referred to the respective project facilitation platforms (PFPs) for a peer review and selection mechanism. Under these PFPs, constructive criticism and improvements to the selected project frameworks were undertaken by respective stakeholders from the different countries where the projects were to be implemented. The Project Facilitation Platforms (PFPs) were conceived as fora for the participatory peer review and selection of specific regional agricultural value chains that promote private sector driven inclusive business models that transcend beyond national borders.  AFIM moderated three PFPs in the EAC, ECOWAS and COMESA regions where shortlisted regional projects were deliberated upon and their project concepts improved upon by respective sector stakeholders.

Duties and Responsibilities

AFIM now requires an individual consultant to (1) evaluate the results of the 6 regional value chain projects supported through MCG, (2) prepare a report on key lessons learnt from the MCGs as a catalytic mechanism to foster income generation and poverty reduction at the level of value chain actors, and regional integration, (3) support with the convening, preparation and facilitation of a regional agri-food value chain implementation and knowledge sharing workshop convening the regional value chain promoters and their stakeholders, the Regional Economic Communities, and development partners active and/or interested in the space, and (4) write-up a workshop meeting report and a knowledge product. The consultant will work closely with the UNDP RSCA in Addis Ababa. S/he will be under the supervision of the AFIM Project Manager, collaborate closely with AFIM staff, and be responsible for the following tasks: Inception/briefing meeting in Addis Ababa and preparatory work leading to a detailed workplan (by May 7, 2014) Meet with AFIM Team in Addis Ababa to get briefed on the work and get all the relevant background material. Review the background material and prepare a detailed workplan with tentative mission timing to be validated with project promoters and UNDP host COs. Evaluate the results of the 6 Agri-Food Value Chain Projects (until 15 September 2014): Conduct project missions that assess the progress of the project against stated outputs as per the grant agreement submissions, as well as identify challenges, and lessons learnt. The evaluation missions will consult the project promoters, partners and beneficiaries. Email/phone consultations with the RECs will also be expected. The evaluation missions will also gauge the impact of the catalytic fund contribution to project outcomes and impact and discuss the projects vision beyond the catalytic funding phase. The evaluation of the impact of the catalytic fund will look at the following dimensions: Relevance:  Assess the contribution of the catalytic fund towards the achievement of project objectives; Analyze whether the project addresses the needs and demands of the beneficiaries in a disaggregated manner (for men and women), and the community response; Assess the relevance of the approach/tool/instruments/inputs applied by the project towards project outcomes; Assess the relevance and effect of technical assistance provided by the project promoters and partners to the beneficiaries. Effectiveness: Identify the emerging effect of the project on beneficiaries including both men and women. These may include aspects on household income generation/assets formation and job creation due to project interventions; Assess the performance of the project so far with particular reference to qualitative and quantitative achievements of outputs and targets as defined in the project documents and work-plans and with reference to project baselines; Assess the effectiveness of the cost sharing arrangements between the UNDP, project promoters and partners. Efficiency: Assess whether the project has utilized project funding as per the agreed work plan to achieve the projected targets; Assess the timeline and quality of the reporting followed by the project; Analyze the performance of the Monitoring and Evaluation mechanism of the project and the use of various M&E tools; Identify factors and constraints which have affected project implementation including technical, managerial, organizational and institutional factors in addition to other external factors unforeseen during the project design. Sustainability and Impact:  Assess preliminary indications of the degree to which the project results are likely to be sustainable beyond the project’s and provide recommendations for strengthening sustainability; Assess the sustainability of the project interventions in terms of their effect on environment; Analyze the emerging impact on the communities for both men and women in terms of food security, income and asset enhancement; Analyze emerging impact on private-sector regional cooperation/integration; Based on the findings (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability and impact), recommend on the project direction beyond the catalytic funding phase. Network /linkages: Evaluate the level, degree and representation by the beneficiaries and stakeholders, (Government and partners etc.) in the implementation of the project; Assess the alignment of the project with the UNDP COs strategies in relevant countries towards identifying linkages and opportunities for achievement of objectives/targets. Lessons learnt/ Conclusions: Identify significant lessons or conclusions which can be drawn from the project in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability and networking. Prepare evaluation reports (drafts until September 30 2014; final approved report by October 15 2014) Prepare individual project evaluation reports including recommendation for project implementation sustainability and suggested next steps for beyond 2014; Prepare a summary report looking at key results and lessons learnt from the catalytic grants mechanism. This will include: Consulting the RECs on the mechanism and its value to their work and with respect to regional integration; Looking into the relationship and complementarity of the PFP and MCG mechanism with Challenge Fund; Prepare a summary power point presentation of the evaluations results and lessons learnt. Support with the convening, preparation and facilitation of a regional agri-food value chain implementation and knowledge sharing workshop, convening the regional value chain promoters and their stakeholders, the Regional Economic Communities, and development partners active and/or interested in that space (workshop is planned for October 2014)  Prepare workshop concept note (by June 15 2014), agenda, presentations and any other necessary preparation documents; Advise on participants to be invited; Facilitate sessions as relevant. Write-up a workshop meeting report and a knowledge product (draft until October 30, 2014, Final November 15 2014) Prepare a workshop meeting report including the proceedings of the meeting;  Prepare a knowledge product (20-30 pages long) that will take on board the outcome of the workshop and include: Background on the Project Facilitation Platforms and Micro Capital Grant catalytic funding processes; 1-2 pages success stories/results on each of the regional value chain projects; Background on other approaches used by other development partners, as well as key successes obtained from these approaches; Detailing pros and cons of each approach; Lessons learnt on the catalytic attributes of the Micro Capital Grants, including recommendations for next steps, including potential improvements and scale-up. The consultant will be responsible to develop and propose his/her own methodology to carry out the tasks described above. However this should include: Reviewing existing regional value chain projects plans, micro-capital grants agreements, quarterly and final reports (as applicable), and Mid Term Review reports; Planning field missions in a participatory manner with the project promoters and the host UNDP Country Offices; Key informant interviews of and focus groups meetings with key regional value chains stakeholders at country level, during the field mission; Review of any relevant data sources available in the field with project promoters and other relevant project stakeholders; Consultations with the relevant RECs (EAC, ECOWAS, COMESA).

Competencies

Technical / Functional Competencies:  Knowledge of private sector and pro-poor market development, in particular of agriculture value chain approaches; Knowledge of regional private sector companies and financial institutions, especially in the agro-food industry; Knowledge of UNDP and other UN agencies are beneficial; Strong analytical aptitude, communication and presentation skills; Outstanding communication skills in English; French an asset; Capacity to communicate fluently with different stakeholders (civil society, government authorities, local communities, project staff); and  Computer proficiency: MS Office. Core Competencies: Demonstrates integrity by modelling the UN’s values and ethical standards; Strong project management skills; Positive, constructive attitude and approaches work with energy; Demonstrates openness to change and ability to receive / integrate feedback; Good networking skills to engage with both internal and external partners.

Required Skills and Experience

Education: At least Masters Degree in international development, economics, business, finance, agricultural economics, agribusiness, marketing or related field. Work Experience: A minimum of ten years of progressive experience in private sector development and/or private sector engagement or partnerships for development is required; Experience in project conducting and writing evaluations; Experience in developing knowledge products; Experience working with African regional agricultural value chains as well as public and private sector agribusiness sector institutions; Experience of inclusive business models to engage private sector companies in projects that contribute to the MDGs and poverty reduction; Hands on work experience in project development and delivery in developing countries in general  and Africa in particular; Facilitation and training experience in the agribusiness field; Computer skills: Full command of Microsoft applications (word, excel, PowerPoint) and common internet applications will be required. Languages: Excellent knowledge of English, including the ability to write reports clearly and concisely, and to set out a coherent argument in presentations and group interactions; Working knowledge of French an asset. Application procedure Please refer to the below link to refer to the detail Terms of Reference and Procurement Notice: http://www.et.undp.org/content/ethiopia/en/home/operations/procurement/agribusinessvaluechain/  Interested consultants are required to upload their CVs here and to send their technical and financial proposals in two different electronic files to our secured email address procurement.et@undp.org  no later than April 30, 2014. Duty Station  Home-based with travel to Addis Ababa and to project sites in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Zambia and Mozambique.   Original Post: UNDP

What strategies for boosting agribusiness in Africa: Do you have others ideas?

Photo source: IFDC

Agricultural transformation in Africa needs a lot of change and new strategies. every actors within the value chain has a great role to play. in order to better perceive what people think about agribusiness in Africa, I launched a discussion on my linkedin network under the group African Agribusiness. Various ideas comes out which can conribute to build a good strategy for boosting agribusiness in Africa. some relevant contribution are listed below. You can also add your thoughts and ideas:

"When i listen to words like boosting agricbusiness in Africa, i begin to wonder why learned africans should say so. This is because we have not yet realised that we are pooled by words which we live in, but failed to transform them into realities. Agric business is it different from producing at a larger scale for both subsistence and profit making..." ( JohnTsewele). 

"Through intensive extension services to farmers, offering affordable credit services, subdising farm inputs and educating farmers on post harvest management and marketing, also reducing the intermediaries on the agricultural product value chain" (CharlesMutugi) 

"The first problem will be to clearly define agricultural land and property titles. Then, farmers will have to choose between subsistence farming (food crop) or agribusiness. Creating cooperative would help develop both targets because the size of most of the farmers' lands are barely big enough to feed them all. African youth would be interested in agriculture if only they can make profit and live from their land. Governments could invest in dedicated training centers where farmers could improve their skills. Thus, the more efficient they would be the more likely they would increase productivity and profits. This will simply means more jobs, more development..."( Patrick-Jean Pichavant)

"To boost agribusiness in Africa, secondary stakeholders in the sector should stop using a rural development and poverty enhancement approach in implementing their programs/projects, they should use an agri-business approach as it will enable the primary stakeholders in the sector to establish and manage small scale agri-enterprise. Moreover, farmers should be organize in an active network and be encouraged by enabling them have access to agricultural incentives" ( Chukwudi Anyanaso). 

"I think it is not only the government that has a role in boosting agri-business.This is because this has not yeilded much over the years...how about what individual can do to give agri-business a new face in Africa? Especially if the facilities and infrastructures are there without much interest in agriculture"(Oluwabusayo Sotunde) 

 

"One reason explaining how people especially youth are not interested in agriculture is the fact that there is no legal statute of farmer inmost African countries. Farmers are still considered as "peasant" instead "entrpreneur". If more intrests are given to agriculture susch away that agriculture can beind an organized profession like others, young people can give more intrest to this sector and consequently, boost agribusiness. I agree with you concerning organization and networking. That is why most African countries are now encourage farmers to organize themselves as cooperatives. according to the fact that cooperative is an entreprise, farmer who are member of one cooperative will be considered as entrepreneur with social capital within the cooperative. if farmers are members of cooperative or regional advocacy organization's, agribusiness can be a catalyser for agricultural transformation in Africa" (  Nestor NGOUAMBE)  

"African youths must be involved considering the age of average farmers in Africa is between 60-70 years and in this note our goverment should must Agriculture attractive to the youth by provding all the resource needed" ( atu obinna andrew )

 

"Zimbabwe pre the year 2000 had the best agribusiness farming model in Africa. It was a success story that not only enable Zimbabawe to be self sufficient in feeding itself but also had abundant surplus to export to neighbouring countries that could not produce enough for themselves . It had developed its owns food processing factories, fertilizer and seed houses which created jobs and value added to the produce. The farms were on average around 1500 ha and the climate allowed for a multitude of crops to be grown, ranging from grains to tree crops to tobacco vegetables and livestock . The agribusiness sector of the ecomony was the largest employer of people and was the base of the countries ecomony. Unfortunately a dictorial and selfish Governance destroyed the model which has had a negative impact on the well being of the country and region as a whole. If Cameroon could ientify land and make available areas large enough to ensure a viable farming business based on the old Zimbabwe model, it will go along way in improving the agribusiness sector of the country, create the oppurtunity for value adding processing plants and create an avenue for employment" (Daniel Conradie) . 

"In Ethiopia we have Ethiopian Commodity Exchange which is established some years ago and it actually helps the farming communities indeed. And of course I think there is a need to establish Africa agri-business network under the umbrella of AU to facilitate Agribusiness in Africa" (Maru Degefa)

.

"The right way to improve agriculture in Africa is to identify areas suitable for growing certain commodities. Processing hub for those commodities should then be planned and established in the area. Out grower contracts must then be entered into with the surrounding farmers (big and small). Using these agreements the farmers have the security of knowing what to plant and how much they will earn from their yields. It also creates an opportunity for entrepreneurs to establish companies to do all the mechanical soil preparation, planting, weeding and harvesting for the farmers. This will save the farmers large amounts of money as they would not have to buy this expensive equipment. To be successful these two have to go hand in hand.

As Africans we need to start continental trading. One half of the continent is in the Northern Hemisphere and the other in the Southern Hemisphere which means we have the opportunity to supply each other with out of season crops. Currently we are trading much more with other continents and very little with each other on the same continent. Why is that?"(Pieter Joubert).

   

"Education and mechanised farming on a huge commercial scale is one of the main solutions. In addition governments need to assist farmers in obtaining cheap loans from banks , give subsidies to farmers as it is done on the West etc. I agree with you to a certain extent. However, what I really mean is for the government to assist the small farmers who are often poor and uneducated obtain loans from banks and provide them with subsidies as it is done in the west from where we spend millions of dollars to import food, food we can grow ourselves. Farmers in the West are able to farm on a large scale because of the support they get from their governments, such support is lacking in African. However thanks to Mr. Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria who is trying to address the problem. African farmers and farmers in the west are not on level playing fields. African farmers need more support from their governments. Most of them are poor and cannot afford to farm on a large scale." ( Ade Odele)

  

"I can agree to start up grants for farmers if the government can afford it.

Debt is destroying farming across the globeIndia has shown that loans and debt can be a terrible burden on smallholders. Here is some links you should read

India
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/sainath/farmers-suicide-rates-soar-above-the-rest/article4725101.ece

France
http://www.thelocal.fr/20131010/french-farmers-hit-by-500-suicides-in-three-years

USA
Farmer debt
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100739419
Farmer suicide rate
http://www.minyanville.com/business-news/editors-pick/articles/For-Farmers-Rise-in-Suicide-Rate/5/8/2013/id/49640

  I can not support farming systems that will be detrimental to the people and the environment in Africa. Africa has the opportunity to be the world supplier of organically grown crops unless we follow the example of other continents and destroy our resources. The demand for organically grown crops is growing every day. The FAO has declared 2014 as the year of family farming not the year of commercial farming. http://www.fao.org/family-farming-2014/en/."  (Pieter Joubert)

"To boost agriculture productivity in Africa, African governments and the people must accept the following :
1) Agriculture must be seen as an economic development sector and graduate it from being seen as a battle ground for poverty alleviation. Poverty alleviation approaches must be done under social welfare or safety net programs.
2) invest in rural re-settlement to release land for precision agriculture and reorganize land for high productivity.
3) organise marketing systems for the agriculture commodities including warehousing, transportation and shipping systems comparable to oil industry.
4) organise the people.
5) Provide banking facilities to afford technologies for high productivity.
Agriculture remains a steady economic platform for industrialization in Africa." ( Felix Elia Jumbe)

"We (Government and Private Sector) must also get our farmers and those involved in food processing to understand basic book keeping methods. If for nothing at all, how to record income on one side and Expenditure on the other side of a column in a note book not forgetting the dates. They must also be exposed to packaging methods to make their final products look attractive thereby adding value to their farm produce".(  Gabriel Boateng-Appiah)

"Many comments have spoken to the importance of enlightening farmers, but farmers are brighter than we think. Meeting the challenge in stimulating agribusiness in Africa will stem from scale. Scale comes from an organized farming community who understands where its best interests can be met. Often government is called in to vouch for farmers--an approach whose results leave much to be desired. The market for agriculture exists, but many competitors for producing staples such as rice, chicken and other staples, African farmers will need to produce efficiently or they will be sidelined and earn very little. Finally, land tenure issues also need to be resolved for African farmers to be capable of taking ownership of their decisions." ( Leonard Garden)

 

"In one of recent Pieter suggestion I bow. He suggested "I have a suggestion, why don't we all cooperate and build up a central data base of what crops we have available for export in our respective countries. I have the capacity to have the data base hosted on the internet so we all have access to the information. " And this is the practical stuff that can make the use of internet valuable to the development of agribusiness in Africa. However, I want to make 3 points:
1- Maybe strategically and in the course of his normal business/ professional activities, Pieter is far more advance about walking the talk than most the people who contribute to this discussion. Hence, maybe no one here is able to seize the practical opportunity he offers. It had always been like that in electronic fora: a mix of people who know exactly what they are talking about and people who theorize. The truth is that liked-minded and motivated people rarely meet at the cross road of actions. They are very rarely at the right place at the right time.

2- If the market that Pieter offers for share here is, products is needed right now! But in agriculture, and in Africa it needs some time and capricious climate to grow any thing. Plus, the technical itinerary must be as effective and strict to the outcome to match the quality criteria of the market. It is not obvious that subsistence farmers supply such a demand, neither a beginner agribusiness entrepreneur. So, more information is needed about how viable and persistent is the market and what kind of contract Mr. Pieter can have some beginners secure and invest in. Banks in Africa do not want to invest in Agriculture! import of rice is OK because the risk is known and it is low. Governments...? Donors and development institutions outside Africa had better participate in African agriculture development than local governments for most of the time. Hence, who want take the financial risk and leadership?

3. This brings me back to the intervention of Mrs. Oluwabusayo Sotunde. If an individual decide to do it, he will put more of himself and resource in and the only thing at the end of his tunnel is success. However, a small individual success is not what we are talking about here. " (Andre Ahouissoussi)

 

You can also share your experiences and ideas by living the comments unders this article.