Photo Coutresy of the Center for Investigative Reporting

Mark Schapiro is a Senior Correspondent for the Center for Investigative Reporting with a focus on environmental and international affairs.  He has authored several articles about the international carbon market, and a book titled Exposed (Chelsea Green) that was published in 2007.  He has also published various stories with Frontline/World’s Carbon Watch series, which was recently nominated for a Webby award.  His recent article in Harper’s magazine titled “Conning the Climate” takes the reader “inside the carbon-trading shell game.”Mark Schapiro has also written for The Nation, Mother Jones and The Atlantic Monthly.  He stopped by the Africa Reporting Project to talk carbon trading, what it is, and why we should all be paying attention to it right now.

by Aude Lorriaux           

Alain de Janvry is a French professor of Agricultural & Resource Economics. Teaching and researching at the University of California at Berkeley, at the high-level expert forum in Rome in October he called for a new paradigm of agriculture, that would push it forward for development, and would consider the roles of poverty, gender, and environment.

Africa Reporting Project : You mentioned a new paradigm in the development of agriculture. What does that mean?

Alain de Janvry : Basically what it says is that agriculture has many functions to play in development. You want to use agriculture not only for growth but you want to use it also for poverty reduction, to manage the environment, to reduce food insecurity, and exposure to shock. Agriculture has all those functions to play and you need to look at what you do with agriculture. How you produce food? Who is producing the food? Who is going to access to the food? You need to answer all those questions in order to jointly try to achieve all of those different goals of development.

ARP : What would be the agriculture of tomorrow? What should we developp?

ADJ : Clearly we have to raise yields and it should be done in an environmental and sustainable fashion. The opposition between agro-ecology and GMO is a false dichotomy. You can use GMOs and put them into agro-ecological farming systems which incorporate scientific technology. I don’t believe that farmers can do alone. I think there’s a very important role for science. Unfortunately, there’s a big lag in adoption of avalaible technology. Yet, it’s perfectly within reach. Science should include what the genetic progress has to offer instead of staying with the old tools of the plant breeders who do plant selection without using GMO’s. The worst you can do is to prevent investment into the science that  molecular biotechnology provides. But it has to be environmentally sustainable and it has to be accessible to small farmers in a social manner.

ARP : Why did the first Green Revolution, that allowed yields to be raised in India, not work for Africa ?

ADJ : The first reason is neglect.  The policies were bad policies in the sense of price incentive; public budget and foreign aid also didn’t support agriculture. There’s still a lack of investment in the agricultural research. The second reason is that in Asia you had already the public goods and infrastructure but in Africa you have to build everything at the same time. So it requires a kind of inter- or multi-sectors approach that would in the same time manage agriculture and health and public services. You need to create a complementarity accross sectors.

And also one of the difficulties is, because of the specificity and variety, you need local governements and therefore, decentralization. Many countries have been decentralizing but it’s still something that is not satisfying the people. Burkina Faso has been decentralizing but the local governments still would need to invest more in agriculture.

There has not been enough attention given to agriculture, not enough investment. The growth in agriculture consequently has only been the area expansion. Area, yet, is running out. Per capita area where people are tends to decline. There are some areas of course in Africa , but it’s not where people are. Actually, there are areas where agriculture could be eventually put in production but there would need to be some investments to link them to the markets, which is what the foreigners are looking forward to do.

China, Korea, and India are looking into accessing those lands in Africa. They could put in those infrastructures and bring some water control.

It’s the only region in the world where agriculture is laging so badly : yields are stagnant, food production per capita is really low.  Otherwise the specificity of the African agriculture is that it’s 90% rain-fed, as opposed to Asian agriculture which is mostly irrigated. As a result you have a much more complex system. Anything that has to do with rain-fed agriculture is much more complex. What was done in the Philippines with rice or in Mexico with corn could relatively easily translated to India and China. But in Africa the farming system is different. In Africa you don’t only have cereals, you have cassava, millet, potato, teff.  So from the beginning it’s a much more complex situation.

ARP : Is the rain-fed agriculture cultural or is it mainly because of the lack of investments?

ADJ : Obviously it’s because of the lack of investments but the question is why haven’t there been more investments. One of the issues which is important in that sense is that most of Africa is low population density. Places like the delta area in Vietnam or along the main rivers in China or the Gangetic plains in India have been able to invest in irrigation because there was a lot of population there. But what we observe is that Africa has a low population and then building infrastructure in Africa is very costly—organizing large scale water irrigation systems become very expensive per capita.

Though there are a few places in Africa where investments have been done. In Mali for example, where there’s the Office du Niger, and in Sudan, with the Gezira Scheme. Mali is working well in part because it has a good agriculture policy and good farmers organizations. And the infrasturcture, in part left by the colonial power, is good.  It’s not well-maintained because there is an invasion of Jacinthe, and they are unable to deal with this. But still the office du Niger is one of the most successful cases, along with Ghana and Senegal. So Mali is exporting crops, quite high-value crops.

ARP : And what country is not successful and why?

ADJ : In comparison, Nigeria is not successful. They have neglected to invest. The petrol there was so appreciating the exchange rate so they had unfavorable prices as a consequence. They have an influx of foreign currency, which means that imports are cheap and exports are not competitive. And as a consequence agriculture is facing cheap import.

Photo courtesy of American University

Deborah Brautigam, professor in the International Development Program at American University, has been studying relations between China and Africa for decades.  Her research also focuses on foreign aid, industrialization, state-building and development.  She has served as a consultant for the United Nations, the World Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and various Sub-Saharan African countries. She has authored dozens of articles on the issues of foreign aid and governance, development and economic policy, as well as a recent book on China-African relations, The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa.  Deborah stopped by the Africa Reporting Project where we talked China, Africa and textiles.

Hunger looms as biofuels take root in Uganda–Ugandan farmers are seeing the effects of growing food for fuel.  Jatropha, a plant with non-edible seeds that are made into biofuels has become popular in various parts of the country.  Because farmers see more potential for profit with biofuel crops many have stopped or reduced food crop production in favor of growing this tree.  Geofrey Kamese, the program officer for energy and climate change at the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), a local NGO, believes that biofuel production will more likely increase food shortages and promote poverty.  And while biofuel promoters and experts disagree on the subject, food security of the country is the main focus for organizations like the World Food Program—whose Ugandan representatives caution against unstructured policy for growing biofuels.

Nigeria annually spends $700 million to import rice from Thailand according to www.africa-agriculture.com. Prasit Damrongshitama, CEO of Chareon Pokphand reported that Nigeria imports one million tons of rice from Thailand every year.  As “good economic growth and friendly investment climate” bolstered a decision to look into more investment opportunities, his company is now looking to grow rice and maize in Nigeria.  So far agricultural entrepreneurs in Nigeria have been open to the Thai company’s plan and expect positive changes as a result.

- ARP Staff

JOHANNESBURG — As most of South Africa gets ready for the World Cup, a not so small group of followers got together and celebrated another form of arts and entertainment in Sandton City–fashion.  Joburg Fashion Week kicked off last Wednesday at the Sandton Convention Center, and the verdict is in—chictopia is the theme. Designers, stylists, guests and South African fashion elite—including Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe, president of African Fashion International—packed into the convention center to talk fashion, business, the collections, and to show off their impeccably styled outfits.

A piece from Spero Villioti's couture collection

But while fashion was the foreground, designers were faced with the question of whether a booming African fashion industry could bolster a possible African textiles industry. While a tricky subject for many to explore, designers and fashion elite all agreed that developing a textiles industry is important for the growth of the continent.

South African designer Machere Pooe of House of Machere, whose collection packed an entire auditorium, stressed the importance of using traditional African textiles in her line. She explained that the inspiration from the current collection comes from the colors and traditional designs of evening dancers of the Tsonga tribe. One of the dresses uses Mocheka, a traditional Tsonga fabric with a graphic called “mother with baby on her back.”

“I’m South African.  I wanted my collection to represent who I am,” she said. “If I travel to New York I want to look like I’m from here. I don’t want to look like I’m from Atlanta. We’ve got so much culture, so much history in South Africa.”

House of Machere

The collection was a mix of fabrics and colors, with silhouettes that would flatter any woman’s figure, whether size 0 or size 22. It was sexy and classy, with a number of pieces that could be worn everywhere from work, to dinner, to a garden party with simply adding or taking away a jacket or sweater.

David Tlale, whose much anticipated autumn/winter collection that showed on Friday, talked about his evolution as a designer, and why his collections moved from more traditional textiles to rich fabrics from all over the world.  Incorporating leather and silks in his installation piece titled “Fantastical Structures,” the show left almost all guests ready to place orders.  As fashion week ended on Saturday January 23 designers like Vesselina Pentcheva, whose houndstooth and polka dot combinations strayed from the traditional South African textiles, but received several nods from fashionistas in house.  For many designers East meets West was the true sentiment of the event; being true to South African roots while creating clothes that are wearable anywhere.

New York Times: Threats Lead Food Agency to Curtail Aid in Somalia
The World Food Program announced Tuesday that it was suspending food aid to one million people in southern Somalia after receiving several threats and demands to pay a “security fee” to the Shabab, an Islamic extremist group.  Peter Smerdon, a spokesman for the program, said that the demands had been followed by a rise in intimidation, threats and harassment.  The Shabab pressed a demand that the agency not import food during the harvest season in order to encourage the development of local agriculture. Several previous Shabab statements accused the agency of undermining local agriculture, as well as importing poor quality food.  Smerdon said the agency tried to negotiate with the Shabab and community elders but ultimately made the decision to close several distribution centers.  The suspension is indefinite and will affect about a third of the 2.8 million people that the program anticipated feeding in January.

Farming Matters Magazine: What Is The Future of Family Farming
A debate between Rudy Rabbinge and Fabio Kessler Dal Soglio ensues about whether family farming can essentially compete with large-scale agriculture and feed the growing world population.  For Rabbinge “family farming should not be romanticised. Weeding and ploughing for a meagre crop is not romantic, but pure poverty.  Supporting existing structures and romanticising the poor life of farmers in fact consolidates poverty.”  He says that farmers’ children will move to cities to find other relevant work and farmers will therefore need to increase the scale of their farming.  Dal Soglio says “in general, technologies generated by family farmers are better suited to the local socio-economic and ecological conditions, and therefore are appropriate for sustainable development.”  He believes that family farming technologies adopted have essentially ensured the world’s food supply.

— ARP Staff

As a reporter my job is to take complicated issues and frame them so that they make sense to the average person—or so I thought. But by the end of this World Summit on Food Security, I too am confused about this behemoth of an issue. I’ve collected all the papers. I’ve read the documents. I’ve listened to the statements made by delegates from various countries. And I still wonder: has anything come from this summit, funded by the Saudis for $2.5 million.

I am unsure how to appease the reader when it comes to the huge multi-faceted issue at the end of a summit that essentially has not reached a solution.

Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, said that he “believes that we have agreed on important things.” And although he concedes that a summit cannot solve the problems, but only actions of the leaders who have made promises can do that, he said that some progress has been made.

I think about this as I reflect on this experience. During a short break between the conclusion of the summit and Diouf’s press conference I went to lunch across the street with some colleagues. We settled at an outside table of a nice restaurant with mid-range prices; about seven euros for a margherita pizza. After a miscommunication about a plate of tortellini ensued my colleagues and I left only paying for what we thought was fair, leaving a cold plate of tortellini on the table—almost completely untouched. I ordered tortellini with cream sauce, as described and pictured on the menu not expecting it to have small pieces of ham sprinkled on top. I don’t eat ham for religious reasons, and asked that the food be taken back.

I couldn’t even begin to figure out the value of that plate of tortellini in the larger scheme of food and agriculture, but I know I felt guilty as I replayed in my head the words of African visitors attending the summit. Most of them were from NGOs in developing countries, hoping for the chance to be heard by UN leaders regarding the lack of access to food in their countries. Here I was leaving food on a table, because of a religious restriction nonetheless, but interviewing people who have seen famine and drought in their homes.

Particularly I thought about Aichatori Sami from Niger. I met her at the Food Sovereignty Forum’s events on the first day of the summit. In a park across the street from the FAO building, surrounded by police officers, she gathered with other NGO leaders to discuss what absolutely needs to be done to end hunger. She spoke softly, with no malice in her voice.

“I am with the regional Peasants Platform from Niger and we are part of La Via Campesina, which is an umbrella organization,” she said. “We are very proud to come to this forum. We have great hope that our governments may be able to insist, and to press upon FAO so that they can really implement the concept of food sovereignty—which to me means being able to be fed, to eat as much as you need to. And when I say eat I mean good quality food.

“As I see it, during the last years, efforts for food security are still too weak. There has been a decline in the percentage of food aid to developing countries. I think that our governments should stand up and pressure the people at UNICEF, FAO and other institutions so that they really do the things discussed here this week.”

At the press conference most reporters touched on similar subjects. This summit failed, these talks led to nothing. The sentiment was skepticism. After previous meetings like this, nothing has happened. So people like Sami, and reporters, are understandably wary of believing that anything will change this time. If effective fights against hunger failed to materialize from previous events like this why should we believe. As of right now the summit has just ended. And whether or not promises will be kept is to be seen. And it is the hope of people like Aichatori Sami that this summit won’t be added to the list of examples of failed talks. And as human being with a heart, and a reporter who sees the passion of both sides—the intent of the UN leaders and doubt of the hungry people—it’s my hope as well.

Audio slideshow produced by SHALWAH EVANS and ALEXIA UNDERWOOD

Here is a summary of Day 2 at the People’s Food Sovereignty Forum.

Video by MARTIN RICARD and ALEXIA UNDERWOOD

3:10 p.m

Beyond the police barricades and legions of international security officers, a group of more than 30 representatives of the People’s Food Sovereignty Forum gathered.  Many were in national dress, hoisting signs, flags and speaking with members of the media.

Their message: In an age where agrobusiness corporations tend to dominate the conversation, remember the small farmer.

The People’s Forum, which is happening at the same time as the World Food Security Summit in Rome, is a civil society conference made up of farmers, indigenous people, women, youth and international non-governmental organizations.

“Small food producers are the solution to the food crisis,” their website proclaims. “With local agriculture and local markets we can cool the planet.”

While police watched from several feet away, representatives spoke in Italian, French, Spanish and English about the importance of small-scale agricultural solutions.

Some of their demands included equal access to land and water for indigenous people, banning genetically modified food, and allowing local populations to decide how land is used and food is produced.

Representatives of individual NGOs also spoke up for their causes.  Abla Mahdi Abdel Moniem of Sudan talked about stopping Israel from uprooting trees on Palestinian land.  One man from the Philippines silently stood in front of the cameras, holding a sign explaining that he was on a hunger strike.  “No to Large Scale Mining, Yes to Food Security,” it read.

“We have great hope that our governments may be able to press upon FAO so that they can really implement the concept of food sovereignty,” said Aichatori Sami, a representative of the organization Plate Forme P, in Niger.

–Alexia Underwood

12:50 p.m.: Pope Benedict just finished addressing the summit. Dressed in a white cassock, the pope spoke about the importance of balancing social responsibility and cooperation in addressing hunger.

He said the problem of food insecurity needs to be addressed with a long-term process that sorts out issues relating to subsidies and eliminates greed so that food is placed on “equal footing just as any other commodity.”

He also implored leaders to redefine the principles governing international relations on food security. He said the response should not be beholden to corporations but rather to the “members of the worldwide human family.”

“If the aim is to eliminate hunger, we need to promote balance and economic growth,” he said, “but also secure new parameters … which are capable of inspiring the cooperation required to create parity between different states in development.”

He also spoke about the importance of addressing climate change in eliminating hunger. He said countries and international organizations have a “moral duty” to protect the environment as a shared goal.

“It is important to remember that the destruction of a nation is connected to the culture that shapes human coexistence,” the pope said.

–Martin Ricard

Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization addresses the summit.

10 a.m.: The United Nations World Summit on Food Security began in Rome this morning. Sirens could be heard throughout the city as delegates and ambassadors made their way to the Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters.

The Honorable Jacques Diouf, director-general of the FAO, addressed his colleagues in a passionate speech that focused on “putting food security at the top of the global agenda.”

Diouf, who called for a day of fasting last week, spoke about food quality and safety standards.  He also thanked the European Union and World Food Program for participation in past programs that helped provide poor farmers in developing countries with otherwise costly seeds and inputs.

The summit will continue through Wednesday, allowing representatives from various countries to address their colleagues. Delegates from Africa include Kgalema Motlanthe, deputy president of South Africa, Fidelia Akuabata Njeze, minister of state for agriculture and water resources of Nigeria, and Jean Ping, president of the Africa Union.

–Shalwah Evans