The magazine for agricultural and rural development in ACP countries http://spore.cta.int N°157 february-march 2012 INTERVIEW Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary-General of COMESA ACP AGRICULTURAL TRADE Emerging countries. A new Eldorado? KOLA NUT More than just a symbol URBAN AGRICULTURE City farmers tabLE OF contents SPORE N° 157 - fEBRUARy-mARCh 2012 ACP AGRICULTURAL TRADE SINDISO NGWENYA Emerging Strength in Editorial Adding value countries. A numbers The term ‘value chain’ new Eldorado? has become very much in vogue in the past decade 4 COVER STORY 12 intervieW among those working in agricultural development, URBAN AGRICULTURE with an increasing number of aid organisations using it City farmers to guide their development interventions, both for upgrading existing chains and promoting innovation and as a tool to identify market access opportunities for small farmers. CTA’s Strategic Plan for 2011-15 identifies value chain improvement as being essential for agricultural and rural development. 13 DOSSIER As a first step, we commissioned a ‘Mapping Study’ to better understand how the value chain concept was being used in ACP countries 4 | Cover story and the potential role for CTA. This study 6 | News stressed that CTA could best assist in areas such as improving capacities, promoting 7 | Crops stakeholder networking and facilitating 8 | Fisheries and livestock knowledge sharing. These are, of course, core 9 | Environment areas of CTA’s expertise, which we can now apply to value chain development issues. 10 | Research We are also planning a major international 11 | Business and trade conference in November, to bring together agricultural value chain practitioners from 12 | Interview around the world and expose policymakers, the private sector, civil society and others 13 | DOSSIER to the major issues. Topics likely to be Urban agriculture: city farmers discussed include how value chains can be environmentally sustainable, how small- Source of food and revenue, urban agriculture is becoming increasingly popular. scale pilot interventions can be ‘scaled up’ to 17 | Viewpoint a commercial size, the role of governments in Job Ndebele: planning urban spaces supporting value chain development, financing Planning is crucial if conflicts are to be avoided. of value chains and capacity development, including making existing materials more 18 | Field report relevant to ACP users. We hope that many of Kenya: vertical gardens and mini greenhouses the speakers will come from the ACP’s private Sacks and mini greenhouses produce impressive results. sector to talk about their innovative approaches to value chain development. 20 | Sector We will also publish a special issue of Spore Kola nut: more than just a symbol on agricultural value chains prior to the Conference. 21 | Publications Michael Hailu 25 | Get on board with CTA Director - CTA is the bi-monthly magazine of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA). CTA operates under the Cotonou Agreement between the countries of the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group and the European Union and is financed by the EU. • Postbus 380 • 6700 AJ Wageningen, The Netherlands • Tel: +31 317 467 100 • Fax: +31 317 460 067 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.cta.int • publisher: Michael Hailu • editorial board: Thierry Doudet, Stéphane Gambier, Anne Legroscollard, Armelle Degrave, Isolina Boto, Vincent Fautrel, José Filipe Fonseca, Ibrahim Tiémogo • MarKETING : Thérèse Burke • editorial staff: Executive editor: Marie-Agnès Leplaideur • Editor of French version and coordinator: Anne Perrin • Syfia International, 20 rue du Carré-du-Roi, 34 000 Montpellier, France • Editor of English version: Clare Pedrick • Via dello Spagna 18, 06049 Spoleto (PG), Italy • Editor of Portuguese version: João de Azevedo, Sítio Alportel 20 A, 8150-014 S, Brás de Alportel, Portugal • CorrespoNdeNts: the following contributed to this issue: N Ackbarrally (Madagascar and Mauritius), B Bafana (Zimbabwe), I Esipisu (Kenya), G Kamadi (Kenya), A Labey (France), S Maâzou (Niger), I Maïga (Burkina Faso), W Mawire (Zimbabwe), D Mitchell (Jamaica), M Mumero (Kenya), A Nabwowe (Uganda), F Nangoli (Uganda), C Nforgang (Cameroon), C Njeru (Kenya), J Saizonou (Benin), M Seck (Senegal) and A Taitt (Barbados) • other CoNtributors: L Andahazy-Colo, J Bodichon, J Cessou, L de Araújo, Tradcatts, Trado Verso • layout aNd Cover photo: © FAO/J Koelen © FAO/J photo: Cover desiGN: Intactile DESIGN, France • priNter: Pure Impression, France • © CTA 2012 – ISSN 1011-0054 FEBRUARy-mARCh 2012 | SPORE 157 | 3 COVER STORY ACP AGRICULTURAL TRADE Emerging countries. A new Eldorado? The ‘emerging’ countries are carving out a role as new players in ACP agricultural trade. Their traditional partner, the EU, no longer has exclusive rights. Is this just a passing phase or does it signal an irreversible shift? ith a market of 900 million people in 2010, Coveted raw materials a figure that is expected to reach 2 billion However, while the partners may be ‘new’, the trade they in 2050, Africa is much sought after by the are engaged in is all too familiar: African countries are ‘emerging countries’ – developing coun- exporting raw materials and the emerging countries are Wtries that are not part of the group of Least Developed exporting processed goods. In the case of the Caribbean, Countries and which are often known by the acronym the situation is slightly different, with several countries BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and its variants, developing exports of products with high added value. BRICS, which includes South Africa and BRIICS which The Jamaican government is placing more emphasis on includes Indonesia. Characterised by their rapid integra- the role of private companies in identifying and develop- tion into the global economy in the trade and finance sec- ing new markets, especially in China. tors, common features of the emerging countries include The bulk of Africa’s trade is with Brazil, China and a booming population, strong economic growth and a India, all of which view agriculture as a priority sector. For BRICS Cooperation burgeoning middle class. BRICS account for more than China, the stakes are both economic and diplomatic and Forum, Sanya, Hainan Province, 40% of the world population and 18% of global GDP. pragmatism is the order of the day. One-tenth of African China, 2011 Brazil and India are also seeking to become perma- nent members of the UN Security Council, and the 54 African states are important allies when it comes to votes or negotiations within international organisations. From the ACP perspective, a key priority is to strengthen the regional integration process, encouraging countries to form larger economic groupings and promote growth and investment. Current negotiations to launch a tripartite agreement between the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are evidence of this trend (see interview with Sindiso Ngwenya, COMESA Secretary-General, page 12). This new scenario is leading to a rethinking of the North- South relations forged after Independence and offers new opportunities for emerging countries. Brazil, China and India are agricultural powerhouses that carry considerable weight within the WTO. Their agricultural policies or imports and exports have strong repercussions on world trade and especially on food security in Africa, as shown by the 2007-2008 crises. All these countries have taken a growing interest in Africa’s oil and mining natural resources, and in its ara- ble land. The growth of some African countries is also proving strong and, if macro-economic indicators are to be believed, the trend is standing up well to the global economic crisis. Trade between Africa and BRICS rose 20-fold between 1990 and 2008, reaching US$166 bil- lion (€127.34 billion), according to a study by Standard Bank. 4 | SPORE 157 | fEBRUARy-mARCh 2012 COVER STORY exports now go to China, which has extended the list of put them within reach of many small-scale producers who duty-free African products from 190 to 4,000. China has previously could not afford them. a pressing need for raw materials, especially agricultural ones such as cotton, timber and cocoa. As far as Chinese New risks and opportunities agricultural exports to Africa are concerned, rice and tea New trade flows, new investments – the arrival of the continue to dominate, with West Africa accounting for emerging countries in ACP countries clearly signals a new nearly 40% of Chinese exports in 2008. The dynamism of era. These new partners are potential sources of technol- Brazilian President Lula, who visited 20 African countries ogy transfer, and the relocation of manufacturing units to in two mandates, has paid dividends. For this country, a Africa cannot be ruled out. The emerging countries are key commodity is cotton and the signing of the ‘Cotton also investing in research. A case in point is China, which 4’ agreement (with Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali) recently opened an agricultural research station in Benin has made the expertise of Brazil’s cotton sector available to carry out trials on high potential sectors such as palm to West African producers, with a budget of US$700,000 oil, for which Benin is expecting an investment of more (€535,299). The rice sector is also noteworthy: although than US$9 billion (€7.05 billion). barely self-sufficient until 2 or 3 years ago, Brazil now But most investments carried out by the emerging coun- exports to Southern and Eastern Africa (Benin, Nigeria, tries appear to be made without much concern for the Senegal and South Africa) and the Caribbean (Cuba, Haiti environment or sustainable development. For this reason, and Trinidad and Tobago), competing with the Asian increased production of palm oil, which contributes to countries and also the USA. deforestation, is highly controversial. It is also important that these new relationships do not Complementary partner hamper the already complex process of regional integra- Is the EU likely to suffer from these new trade relations? tion.