Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA) Wins Africa Food Prize 2023 at #AGRF23
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Fish Marketing Authority in collaborative talks with JKUAT
The Kenya Fish Marketing Authority (KFMA), a budding state agency established in 2016, has intensified efforts to enhance production and consumption of fish and fisheries products in Kenya. Despite the many nutritional benefits of eating fish, the delicacy is still shunned by some consumers. In addition to being rich in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamins such as D and B2, fish is also a great source of calcium and phosphorus, iron, zinc, iodine, magnesium, and potassium.
Speaking at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, the KFMA Board Chair, Hon. Martin Ogindo, said that among the strategic targets for the Authority is to expand the contribution of the fish industry to the national economy from the current Kshs. 30 billion to Kshs. 150 billion in the next three years.
Hon. Ogindo and Eng. Onyango learn how the two-screw laboratory food extruder works at JKUAT
This, he explained, would be achieved through abatement of postharvest loss, introduction of new value-added fish products, tightening quality assurance of fish products, and tapping on the research and technical expertise for informed evidence-based decision and policy making.
“People have started liking fish. Even in places where fish was not traditionally consumed, the commodity is becoming quite popular,” Ogindo said.
Hon. Ogindo, who was accompanied to JKUAT by the KFMA CEO, Eng. Samuel Onyango, added that they would be keen to learn about the avenues for transfer of the University’s technologies in the blue economy space, where fishery resources are a major component.
The Principal, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (COANRE), Prof. Daniel Sila, informed the visiting team that JKUAT had honed targeted capabilities in sustainable exploitation of blue economy resources. These strengths encompass various innovations in aquaculture, human capital development, and extensive networks.
Some of the forays of JKUAT in the space include working with stakeholders to boost the economic value of silver cyprinid fish, locally known as omena through promotion of consumption and reduction in postharvest loses.
Prof. Sila (third right), Hon. Ogindo (third left) Eng. Onyango (second left) and Prof. Ojijo (left) with other others after the meeting
Prof. Nelson Ojijo from the Department of Food Science & Technology who is the Principal Investigator in the collaborative research project on omena value chain upgrading, said that omena forms the bulk of fish landings from Lake Victoria and supports over two million livelihoods. The omena value chain upgrading project is a sub-component of the regional project dubbed “Strengthening Agricultural Knowledge & Innovation Ecosystem for Inclusive Rural Transformation & Livelihoods in Eastern Africa (AIRTEA)” funded by the EU and coordinated by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA).
Through the project, JKUAT and partners (Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, JKUAT Enterprises Ltd, and Beach Management Units at Dunga, Kisumu County, and Marenga, Busia County) have deployed hybrid (solar and biomass) greenhouse fish drying units at Dunga Beach in Kisumu County and Marenga Omena Beach in Busia County, which are the two project sites. The hybrid unit can dry omena in just three hours leading to significant reduction in postharvest loses.
“Fish is a highly perishable product and fisherfolk can lose up to 50% of landed catch depending on the weather and storage conditions,” Prof. Ojijo noted adding that only 30% of the harvested omena is used for food as the rest is either wasted or utilised to produce animal feeds.
The KFMA officials noted that a partnership with JKUAT would enable the Authority to realize its objectives, which include reducing post-harvest loses from the current average of 30% to below 10%.
Eng. Samuel Onyango noted that fish production in Kenya stood at 163,702 tons in 2021. He added that the sector is currently facing a number of challenges including low adoption of technology, uneven distribution of gains, lack of value-addition technologies and poor state of beach access roads
The per capita fish consumption in Kenya is relatively low and currently stands at 4.5 kg/person/year compared to Africa’s average of 10 kg/person/year. The global average consumption is 20 kg/person/year. The value-added omena-based products currently being developed by Prof. Ojijo and his team under the EU-funded project will go a long way in promoting fish consumption throughout the country.
Kenya currently has 445 documented fish landing points presenting a huge potential for integrated product visioning and value addition.
The meeting between the JKUAT and KFMA teams identified key areas for potential collaborative efforts between the two institutions.
source: JKUAT
Afreximbank stakes $6 billion to strengthen Food Security in Africa
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has staked US$6 billion in development financing to strengthen Africa’s food security prospects which has faced severe challenges due to climatic changes heightened by geo-political conflicts, Oluranti Doherty, Director of Export Development at the Bank, said in Accra today.
Ms. Doherty, who was participating in a panel discussion on “Overcoming the challenges of food security for sustainable development in Africa” at the ongoing Afreximbank Annual meetings (AAM2023), said that the Bank had also released more than US$700 million to support the setting up of special economic zones (SEZs), industrial and agro parks in several of its member countries.
She said that with food insecurity constituting a major challenge to Africa’s economic independence and growth, Afreximbank was reinvigorating its approach to supporting the continent to achieve self-sufficiency in food production.
“At Afreximbank, we are firmly convinced that industrial parks and SEZs are critical tools the continent can deploy to fast-track its agricultural development, promote intra-African trade and facilitate export development,” she said. “This is a priority for the Bank as it remains pragmatic in providing workable solutions to challenges facing its member countries”.
Also speaking, Dr. Josefa Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Development, called for the implementation of the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, which set a targeted approach to achieving the continent’s aim of food security and sustainability for economic growth and poverty reduction.
Noting that Africa boasted of abundant aquatic resources, over 60 per cent of uncultivated arable lands and a young population, Dr. Sacko said that what remained was the effective implementation of such policies as the Malabo Declaration.
She commended Afreximbank for the role it was playing to help make Africa a sustainable and food secure continent and expressed regret that, at the moment, 38 African countries were net importers of food. That situation called for urgent action from every player.
“We cannot be food secure in a conflict-filled environment,” said Dr. Sacko. “Let us silence guns all over Africa, implement already generated policies around sustainability for profitable agriculture and watch as the continent becomes the world’s food basket.”
Also participating in the panel were Hardy Pemhiwa, President and CEO of Cassava Technologies, and Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.
AAM2023, which ends on 21 June, is being attended by political and business leaders, bankers and other trade and trade finance practitioners from across Africa and beyond, including leaders of several member countries of the Caribbean Community.
AATF and FARA sign pact to raise agricultural productivity in Africa.
[Durban, South Africa, June 8, 2023]: AATF and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) have signed a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to raise productivity, competitiveness, and resilience of agriculture in Africa through research, policy advocacy, technological development, delivery, and uptake.
The partnerships agreement will promote generation and uptake of Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) to accelerate agricultural development in Africa, including diversification of agricultural technologies.
Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, the outgoing Executive Director, FARA, noted that the pact will support in enhancing the capacity of Africa to advance climate smart agriculture, especially improving climate change resilience among farmers in Africa.
Dr. Canisius Kanangire, the Executive Director of AATF and Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, outgoing Executive Director, FARA, during the signing of the MoU at the Durban International Conventional Centre in Durban, South Africa, in June 2023.
He observed that through the agreement, the two organisations commit to promote a conducive policy environment for the access, development and delivery of agricultural technologies and products with focus on acceleration of their commercialization for a food secure Africa.
“Our joint activities would include, among others, to design and leveraging of mechanisms for exchange of technology-based innovations, information and knowledge that will empower Africa’s researchers, decision makers, influencers and technology users,” said Dr. Akinbamijo.
According to Dr. Canisius Kanangire, the Executive Director of AATF, the partnership agreement with FARA will help raise agricultural productivity to improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers on the continent, noting that AATF is keen on transforming farmers livelihoods in Africa through scaling of agricultural technologies.
“Our strategy 2023-2027 reinforces the need for partnerships with like-minded organisations and leveraging each other’s strength to deliver our mandate to farmers in Africa. We are therefore committed to building partnerships with continental bodies such as governments, national and international research institutions, FARA and its constituent bodies, Regional Economic Communities, farmer organisations, the private sector, and all players along the agriculture value chain, to deliver agricultural value to our farmers,” he noted.
He added that smallholder farmers in Africa continue to face various constraints that hinder their ability to increase their yields, improve their incomes, and contribute to food security.
According to Dr. Kanangire, the situation can change by investing in new farming technology for Africa—from better seeds to digital tools to machinery—which hold promise for transforming African agriculture into an engine of economic growth that will have benefits far beyond the farm sector.
The MoU was signed during the 8th Africa Agribusiness and Science Week held in Durban, South Africa.
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About AATF (www.aatf-africa.org)
Founded in 2003 to address Africa’s food security prospects through agricultural technology, AATF believes that the agricultural sector is a key foundational pillar as Africa consolidates its economic growth and carves out its new position as a major global economic powerhouse and the next growth market in the world. It was formed in response to the need for an effective mechanism that would facilitate and support negotiation for technology access and delivery and formation of appropriate partnerships to manage the development & deployment of innovative technologies for use by smallholder farmers in SSA:
About FARA (www.faraafrica.org)
FARA is the continental apex organization for agricultural research and innovation in Africa. With its Secretariat based in Accra, Ghana, FARA serves as a platform for stakeholders in the continent’s agriculture research and innovation space to mobilize collective actions including the articulation of common positions. FARA is mandated by the African Union Commission and the African Union Development Agency (AUDA)-NEPAD to coordinate the formulation and operationalization of continental research and innovation policies, initiatives and programmes designed to achieve the continent’s food and agriculture development targets. These targets include doubling agricultural productivity, improving nutritional status, halving post-harvest losses, tripling intra-Africa trade in agricultural commodities and increasing resilience to climatic, pest and disease shocks. FARA performs these functions in collaboration with sub-regional agricultural research and innovation organizations in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), Southern Africa (CCARDESA), West and Central Africa (CORAF) and North Africa (NAASRO), as well as the Africa Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS). FARA counts on the CGIAR, AATF, amongst others, as a key strategic partner.
For more information contact:
George Achia, Communications Officer, East and Southern Africa, AATF; [email protected] ; +254 785 334163
Benjamin Abugri, Knowledge Management & Communications Officer, FARA; [email protected] ; +233201734038
FARA outdoors Bongiwe Njobe, Aggrey Agumya at 9th General Assembly
by Daniel Abugre Anyorigya (CitiNewsRoom)
The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa has inaugurated Bongiwe Njobe and Aggrey Agumya as its Board Chairperson and Executive Director respectively.
The ceremony took place at the 9th FARA General Assembly during the 8th African Agriculture and Science Week in Durban, South Africa.
The Board Chair of FARA, Bongiwe Njobe in her address applauded the Government of Ghana and her predecessors for their continuous support and assured that in the next three years she will “deliver on the strategic vision based on the achievements till date and work together to enhance the overall effectiveness of the organization.”
She further added that her leadership will focus on “tackling the critical and much-needed relationship from enhanced participation in the ecosystem by the private sector through drawing insights from our relationship with the African Development Bank, AFRIEXIM Bank, African Business Council, etc. that are aimed at boosting intra-Africa trade.”
The immediate-past Board Chair of FARA , Dr Alioune Fall applauded participating organizations and sponsors for a successful FARA general assembly and the 8th African Agriculture and Science Week.
Giving an account of the board’s work, Dr Fall recalled that during the heights of COVID, the solutions and recovery plans showed the power of collated efforts among the scientists.
He boasted of the board’s work in operationalizing FARA’s business plan, the formation of CAADP-XP4, relocation of FARA’s office, appointing of external auditor for 2021 to 2023 financial year, various partnerships to streamline operations, among others.
The Executive Director of FARA, Dr Aggrey Agumya presenting on FARA’s medium term strategy said that the institution is in a transition phase [in both business and leadership] therefore it “will draw an institutional assessment carried out in the context of CCGAR which will be in line with CAADP research and innovation strategy.”
Recounting FARA’s successes in the past years, he said that the entity still had “it’s mandate and convening power, aligned with the CAADP and AUC, among others”, however low funding affected its operations.
Also, “fragmentation in innovation system is a challenge but there has been progress”, he assured.
Dr Aggrey Agumya succeeds Dr Yemi Akinbammijo who served as the second Executive Director of FARA from 2013 – 2023.
The board chaired by Madam Bongiwe Njobe comprises Dr Abdou Tenkouano, Mr Philip Boahen, Dr Simeon Ehui, Dr Enock Warinda, Prof Cliff Dlamini , Prof Mohamed Soliman, Madam Elizabeth Nsimadala, Madam Janet Ngombalu, Mrs Beatrice Nakacwa-Egulu, Mr Christophe Larose, Mr Anthony Boateng, and Dr Aggrey Agumya who is FARA’s Executive Director and Secretary to the Board.
The ceremony was held at the 8th Africa Agriculture and Science Week.
About FARA
The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is the apex continental organization responsible for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research for development (AR4D). FARA serves as the technical arm of the Africa Union Commission on matters concerning agriculture science, technology and innovation.
FARA was conceived in the late 1990s by a core group of committed champions, including both African scientists and enlightened donor aid officials, who believed in agriculture’s potential to lift the continent from poverty, yet realized that this would only be achieved if the continent’s weak and fragmented agricultural research systems could somehow be brought together and strengthened under a common banner.
FARA was then voted into existence in 1997 by the Sub-Regional Organizations, including CORAF/WECARD, ASARECA and SADC-FANR, at the 17th Plenary of the Special Programme for African Agricultural Research (SPAAR), a precursor organization to FARA, situated within the World Bank.