The DRI, Dr Irene Annor-Frempong attained the mandatory retirement age of 62 years on 7th June 2020. She reached this milestone after 12 years of dedicated service to FARA in different capacities, starting as a consultant, then joining staff as a programme officer, rising to become the Director for Capacity Strengthening and rising further to become the DRI. Over these years, Dr. Annor-Frempong has contributed outstandingly to advancing FARA’s work and reputation.
In line with FARA’s human resources policy Dr Annor-Frempong’s tenure as a regular staff ended on 30th June 2020. She is currently serving in an Advisory role (as a consultant) for the rest of the year.
Following many discussions and considerations, the Board endorsed the appointment of the Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Communications (DSEC), Dr. Aggrey Agumya as interim Director for Research and Innovation with effect from 1st September 2020.
Dr Aggrey Agumya (Director for Research and Innovation- interim)
Dr. Agumya has worked very closely with Dr. Annor-Frempong ever since the latter took on the DRI position, and previously when she served as the Director for Capacity Strengthening. The two directorates are very closely interlinked which makes Dr. Agumya very familiar with the programme portfolio under the DRI. He is also very familiar with the current FARA implementation model and the one FARA is migrating to. In terms of experience, Dr. Agumya has 20 years’ post-doctoral experience in hands-on research and research management, obtained at the World Agroforestry Centre (6 years) and FARA (14 years) respectively. He joined FARA in 2006 as a programme officer for the sub-Saharan Africa Challenge Programme (SSA CP), which at the time was FARA’s largest programme. In that role he was instrumental in driving the SSA CP’s advancement from its inception phase to full implementation. This involved assembling 10 multi-disciplinary research teams from across the continent and working with these teams to define a compelling methodology for what was essentially a large-scale experiment in institutional innovation with no precedent in the agriculture research domain.
After two years with the SSA CP Dr. Agumya successfully competed for a higher internal position of Technical Advisor to the Executive Director. He held this position for 7.5 years from 2008 to the end of 2015. In this position he served as the bridge between programmes and the Executive Directorate. He led the team that formulated FARA’s 2014-2018 strategy and operational plan and defended it at the General Assembly in 2013. He and Dr. Annor-Frempong coordinated the formulation of the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa. When the Secretariat was restructured at the end of 2015, Dr. Agumya was appointed Director for Partnerships and Communication with effect from 1 January 2016. This Directorate was subsequently renamed “Stakeholder Engagement and Communications”. In addition to having a solid firsthand understanding of the work of the Directorate for Research and Innovation, Dr. Agumya commands strong rapport and respect among the DRI team and among FARA’s partners. He has a very strong institutional acumen and memory that we consider to be exceptional in the house.
You cannot work for food, while there is no food for work -African Proverb
As the African proverb suggests, increasing women and youth participation in agriculture without creating job opportunities can be detrimental. While we advocate for active participation of youth and women in AR4D, it should be noted that 250 million[i] people in Africa, are experiencing hunger.
As the world observes World Food Day on October 16, 2020, what does this mean for Africa’s agriculture? Over the years, efforts have been made to strengthen the collaboration among all actors in the food system including producers, the private sector, civil society, the youth, agricultural researchers, education and training providers, extensionists, policymakers and consumers. The purpose is to deploy a systems approach in formulating solutions to address the complex set of factors responsible for the prevalence of hunger. The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) has been at the forefront of championing the shift to the innovation systems approach to agriculture. This also involves intermediating as well as building the capacities of the diverse groups of stakeholders in the agricultural innovation system to play their roles effectively and cohesively. Despite this shift, several challenges remain, including:
Low participation of women in some components of the agriculture innovation system such as research where only 22%[ii] of agricultural researchers are female. Women account for over 40%[iii] of agricultural labour in Africa.
Africa is still spending over $45 billion on food imports and this has been forecasted to reach $110 billion by 2025[iv].
More than one in six young people, often young women[v], have lost their jobs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s World Food Day presents an opportunity for African countries to take stock and re-evaluate priorities presented in the wake of the ongoing pandemic. Consequently, this is a chance to adopt innovative solutions based on scientific technologies and evidence that work for the end-user. It is also an opportunity to tighten collaboration among key actors of agricultural innovation system notably, the producers, the private sector, researchers, and policymakers, towards rebuilding elements of the food system that have been affected by the COVID-19 shocks. In 2020, FARA has convened dialogues, workshops and seminars to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders on foresight processes and commercialization of research products. It is anticipated that the collaboration cited above will accelerate the establishment of joint COVID-19 recovery plans. This will help countries to better manage risks and improve resilience.
Therefore, as countries begin to establish COVID 19 recovery plans, one key factor that is recommended is investments to increase agricultural productivity, agro-processing and storage capacities. This is especially important for staple commodities such as rice, wheat, millet, sorghum, potatoes and maize. In Sudan for example, the prices of sorghum and millet increased in September 2020 reaching new record highs[vi] largely because the country recorded low yields in 2019. In Senegal, the prices of millet equally increased[vii] reflecting the disruptions caused by the pandemic. However, in Southern Africa, the price of maize remained stable in August and September 2020[viii], because the yield was above average. The prices for the key staples are unstable because the measures traditionally deployed to cushion the prices from the impact of fluctuations in domestic production are inadequate. These measures include facilities for storage and agro-processing to extend shelf life. The interventions to increase productivity address the shortcomings responsible for price instability across the continent are laid out in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the African Development Bank’s Feed Africa Strategy[ix]. These interventions will ultimately create job opportunities for women and youth.
World Food Day is a day for reflecting on actions towards alleviating hunger. Actors in Africa’s agriculture innovation system should consider actions centred on strengthening partnerships for sharing knowledge, skills and infrastructure for increasing production and productivity and for facilitating trade and delivery of food to consumers. It is also critical to ensure that the agenda for COVID-19 recovery processes prioritizes the adoption of science and technology as a necessary tool for increasing access and availability of food, while giving special attention to expanding opportunities for women and youth employment. This will continue to be an essential agenda of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.
[i]The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2020), xviii, accessed October 16, 2020, http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca9692en.
[ii] “Report reveals low participation of women in agricultural research,” AWARD, accessed October 15, 2020, https://awardfellowships.org/news/report-reveals-low-participation-of-women-in-agricultural-research/
[iii] “Women, Agriculture and Work in Africa,” Text/HTML, World Bank, accessed October 15, 2020, https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/africa-myths-and-facts/publication/women-agriculture-and-work-in-africa.
[iv] “COVID-19: A Threat to Food Security in Africa | UNCTAD,” accessed October 15, 2020, https://unctad.org/news/covid-19-threat-food-security-africa.
[v] “Boosting Youth Employment in Africa during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic,” IDRC – International Development Research Centre, accessed October 15, 2020, https://www.idrc.ca/en/research-in-action/boosting-youth-employment-africa-during-and-after-covid-19-pandemic.
[vi] “Prices of Coarse Grains, Higher Year on Year, Continued to Increase Seasonally in Most Countries | Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,” accessed October 15, 2020, http://www.fao.org/giews/food-prices/regional-roundups/detail/en/c/1313836/.
[viii] “Prices of Maize Remained Generally Firm | Food Price Monitoring and Analysis (FPMA) | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,” accessed October 15, 2020, http://www.fao.org/giews/food-prices/regional-roundups/detail/en/c/1313842/.
[ix] “Feed_Africa-_Strategy_for_Agricultural_Transformation_in_Africa_2016-2025.Pdf,” n.d., accessed October 15, 2020, https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Generic-Documents/Feed_Africa-_Strategy_for_Agricultural_Transformation_in_Africa_2016-2025.pdf.
The theme for this year’s World Food Day is “Grow, nourish, sustain! Together. Our actions are our future.” The truth in this theme cannot be overemphasized in the case of Africa. Our actions will define our future. (more…)
FARA has reiterated strong calls on the core stakeholders of African soil health for the sustainable use of agricultural land in Africa and to ensure the sustainability of the more than 80% of its workforce who obtain livelihoods therefrom.
Speaking at the ongoing African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) hosted by the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo underscored the urgency for collective action by all stakeholders to save the very basis of the survival of the continent’s food and nutrition system. He noted that a crucial element in Africa soil is its fertility status; 83% of the agricultural land has various fertility and other constraints that require costly interventions to correct in order to sustain production. This he indicated, means that Africa soil should be used with lots of caution to sustain the serviceability of Africa’s soils and its preservation for posterity.
Dr. Akinbamijo stressed the need for the continent to place issues around building strong resilient soil facilities and soil usage on the front burners, chiefly because of the aggravated decline in its per capita arable land. He explains that the urgency of the issues around soil health is premised on the fact that soil status has direct or indirect effects on the livelihoods of about 800m people in Africa. This is the proportion of the African working population that have their livelihoods directly linked to the integrity of the soil.
The current use pattern of agricultural soil in Africa is far from the best practice to manage a fragile soil and this threatens its sustainability and longevity. The common continuous cultivation without recourse to nutrient replenishment is a bane of soil fertility in Africa; a situation which can also be linked to the poor land tenure systems in many African communities. Access to arable land is becoming more and more difficult as the continent’s population increases.
“…and when you dig deeper, it is becoming clearer that maintaining the soil, means maintain livelihoods…”
It is critical therefore to examine what the grand plan of Africa is, towards arresting the situation and turning it around. If this is neglected, Dr. Akinbamijo, reiterates, the price the continent and its inhabitants will pay, will be dire. The current yield gaps in many commodities is a pointer to the insidious cost of failing soil systems. He, therefore, called on the stakeholders to leverage fora like the ongoing AGRF2020 to continue to provide sensitization for all players in all the value chains on the need for the maintenance of healthy soil integrity.
The need for the application of fertilizer either in organic or mineral forms is imperative to keep the soil at a productive level as the organic fertilizer is known to play a dual role of supplying nutrients as well as boosting the colloidal properties of the soils through an increase in the soil organic matter.
Making the call to action, the Executive Director highlighted the need to mobilize Africa for a soil’s initiative for a wholesale soil degradation check, taking advantage of the goodwill from external support, which he says is not enough to respond to all the challenges confronting the soil conundrum in Africa.
“Unless we have the facility that can mobilize Africa and Africans for the soils initiative, initiatives like the Agenda 2063, Malabo, STISA and the SDGs, will fail”
He emphasized the role of FARA and the sub-regional agricultural research organizations in championing the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa, which seeks to articulate the science, technology, extension, innovations, policy and social learning that Africa needs to apply in order to meet its agricultural and overall development goals. The Executive Director posited that without science, any attempt at addressing the matter of soil degradation will be an exercise in futility.
Dr. Akinbamijo concluded that considerable effort is required to maintain the soil health in Africa, and such effort will involve investment to operationalize and inventorize the existing technologies and the research to develop sustainable fertility maintenance options that are suitable for commercial agriculture. With increasing clamor for the mechanization of the smallholder systems, suitable machineries for tillage should have the capacity to till within the shallow organic matter layer of Africa soil profile. Efforts should be geared towards the education of soil users especially the farmers; this will include the packaging of existing knowledge on sustainable tillage practices, water management, erosion control, fertilizer application and soil nutrient management practices. The knowledge product should also be disseminated efficiently. The management of Africa soil is vital to the continent’s posterity and prosperity -our soil, our commonwealth, its food and nutritional security.
Making headlines in most media spaces are the heroic deeds of frontline health workers and the tenacity of the health sector in dealing with the novel COVID-19 pandemic. But can they really do this alone? Of course not! At the backstage is their often uncelebrated backbone –the PROCUREMENT SECTOR– providing not only the health sector with the necessary logistics to proactively respond to the ramifications of the virus or mitigate foreseeable implications before they escalate to uncontrollable levels, but to also keep other sectors of the economy running. Just as Covid-19 has affected every activity humanly possible, the procurement bit is not left out.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a threat to procurement transparency as it is to the health of human beings.
Demand patterns have undoubtedly increased as opposed to supply for obvious reasons – shutdowns leading to economic crisis, limited working hours resulting in less productivity and inadequate resources (human inclusive) for optimum production. This is a threat to procurement where adequate goods and services needed to fuel the operations of other sectors of the economy are inadequate or unavailable. These eventually lead to procurement emergencies.
Emergency procurements are bound to happen occasionally due to unforeseen circumstances. The pandemic has however produced more emergencies than usual necessitating frequent emergency procurements resulting in its increment. This reality is as a result of the need to provide the necessary goods and services to sustain businesses and the general needs of the citizenry in spite of the crisis.
With such pressure on procurement, the sector is under the threat of facing issues with transparency in an attempt to respond to emergencies stemming from the pandemic.
Emergency responses stemming from the pandemic have culminated into varied fast tracked procurement processes subject to little or no scrutiny, resulting in high incidences of corruption as workers, contractors or state officials cut corners. In addition, relief packages are also likely to be sold or kept for personal benefits when they are passed through the wrong channels. 1This was the case during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, where procurement breaches were recorded according to an audit on international aid and spending during the outbreak in 2015-2016. 2The International Red Cross estimated the cost of corruption to the Ebola outbreak in Guinea and Sierra Leone to be more than US $6 million. 3A case, whose investigations are still ongoing, is reported where six million nose masks ordered by Germany for its health workers disappeared at a Kenyan airport. Given these past and current evidences, the subject of corruption cannot be overlooked.
Opportunities for competitive bidding is also threatened in the wake of this pandemic. The urgency surrounding procurement deals does not give room for competitive bidding and in cases where there is the opportunity to do so, ‘emergency’ might be used as an excuse to ward off that possibility in the first place. This is a great avenue for contracts to be awarded on the basis of nepotism and favouritism rather than meritocracy in a fair competition.
WAY FORWARD….
The use of emergency as an excuse to skip procurement protocols or avoid due diligence during this pandemic cannot be underestimated. While playing it safe so that bureaucratic process does not implicate emergency actions, all such procurement decisions such as the award of direct contracts and activities should be recorded and publicized with justifications so that the essence of emergency procurements will not be abused. This also protects organisations from suppliers who would want to capitalize on emergency situations to engage in fraudulent activities such as the supply of fake goods and services, outrageous pricing or inaccurate invoices.
Generally, procurement has increased amidst the pandemic be it for emergency reasons or for daily operational purposes. With its high propensity for corruption, it is expedient that all procurements are fully publicized to clear any doubts or suspicions of corruption as well as discourage any intended acts in that regard. This helps build trust in systems and public officials, knowing that resources are not misappropriated.
Ease of access to data on emergency procurement is vital for procurement transparency. Having a fraudulent agenda in mind, people can make emergency procurement data unavailable or inaccessible in order to hide behind that and indulge in corrupt practices. Insisting on open emergency procurement data would help to monitor all emergency procurements together with their justifications, leaving room for no corrupt attempts as well as to easily identify ongoing corrupt activities.
Accountability is a catalyst for nipping corruption in the bud so far as procurement is concerned. When procurement activities are allowed to slide without any queries, auditing or any form of accountability, people are motivated to tow the same line thereby increasing corrupt activities. Publication of sanctions for fraudulent activities connotes its disapproval, serving as a deterrent to other perpetrators and also giving room to call out other violators who have been exempted due to nepotism or favoritism thus promoting equality and fairness.
The success story of most countries amidst the pandemic could be attributed to the collaborative efforts of all relevant stakeholders. Similarly, transparency issues in the procurement sector cannot be handled by organisations alone given the pressure they have to deal with and the many oversights that are bound to happen. Working with civil society organisations, investigative journalists and whistle-blowers will help take care of these blind spots and help defeat corruption amidst the pandemic, bringing criminals to book.
By Erick NUNDA MBALA, Communication Expert, YPARD DRC/South Kivu Province
Introduction
In the face of the pandemic and the macabre consequences of coronavirus disease, all countries have been mobilized to mount the response against COVID-19. This multisectoral response aims, firstly, to stop the spread of the virus, equip medical facilities, organize screening, manage confirmed cases and accelerate research studies on the subject. Secondly, it aims to maintain stable agricultural value chains and food and nutritional security in this period of pandemic. Thus, the Senior Officials of African States have exercised their constitutional prerogatives as guarantors of national security to take appropriate measures to fight the outbreak of coronavirus disease and thus achieve the objectives of the multisectoral response.
Unfortunately, African economies, which are highly dependent on the global economy because they are exporters of raw materials and benefit from external financial flows in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) and official development assistance, are victims of the horrors of this exogenous shock with high virulence. As for the projections of the effects of COVID-19, the sustainability of agriculture in the medium and long term is called into question in Africa, following the paralysis of the agricultural production chain in several African regions.
Quarantine, bans, restrictions on the movement of people and goods have a significant socio-economic repercussions on people’s livelihoods. While these restrictions are necessary to limit the spread of the coronavirus, they often lead to disruption of market chains and trade of agricultural and non-agricultural products, with significant potential impacts on the populations that depend on them for their livelihoods and their food and nutrition security. In terms of agriculture value chain, many researchers show the following submissions as the medium/long-term impact of the Covid-19:
Farmers incapacity to maintain their activities due to loss of incomes: lower sales, lower incomes and increase in price, difficulty to access to essential inputs (such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides)
Speculative hoarding by retailers on increased logistics cost may increase consumer prices and likely cause social unrest arising from food shortage in densely populated areas
Increase completion for agricultural jobs with people returning from urban areas that may reduce wages and so purchasing power and exclude women as men are preferred workers
Reduced resources for livelihoods and increase the expenditures on health care.
The on-going COVID – 19 pandemic represents one of such opportunities for leveraging on the shocks it has created, in order to learn to mitigate its negative impacts. This is how the stability of Africa’s agri-food-system will be maintained by capitalizing on the agripreneurship of young African professionals.
Towards sustainable agricultural systems
The objective of sustainability of agricultural systems leads us to consider biophysical processes in their socio-economic context and to take into account all scales (agro-ecological, socio-territorial and economic). All this is done in a dynamic perspective that takes into account the capacity of farms to maintain themselves over time and to adapt to stress or shocks linked to the ecological, social, economic and political contexts. Sustainable agriculture is therefore highly resilient because of its capacity to adapt and transform itself in the face of disturbances.
Figure1. The different levels of sustainability of an agricultural system
Source: Terrier & al (2013).
In this perspective, the young professionals for agricultural development (YPARD) in DRC have mobilized to implement agricultural production strategies that make it possible to maintain the sustainability of agricultural systems and ensure household food accessibility in this pandemic.
Deal with the challenge of climate change (through mitigation and adaptation)
5
Contribute to food safety and sovereignty
6
Contribute to employment and territorial development
Restricted Sustainability
7
Ensure the economic viability and long-term survival of the farm
8
Contribute to the quality of life
9
Maintain independence and freedom to act
10
Make ethically responsible commitments
11
Generate and share knowledge and know-how
12
Ensure the health and wellbeing of livestock
Source: Zahm & al (2018)
Agri-Entrepreneurship capitalization of the YPARD DRC/South Kivu province
Thus, in the province of South Kivu in the East of the DRC, the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) has launched, in this period of pandemic, to supply the population of the Bukavu city and its cravings for green vegetables and edible mushrooms since May 11, 2020.
In the long term, the fish production in the fish ponds owned by YPARD in the territory of Walungu (5 ponds), Kabare (5 ponds) and a planned production in the floating cages on Lake Kivu in the African Great Lakes region. YPARD DRC is one of the beneficiaries of a floating cage (with a production capacity of about 7 tons of fish per production cycle) in the “Pilot project for the production of Tilapia caged fish in Lake Kivu” within the framework of the 100-day programme of the Congolese President Félix Antoine TSHISEKEDI TSHILOMBO, with the support of the Fund for the Promotion of Industry (FPI), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Provincial Ministry of Agriculture.
Thus, YPARD DRC believes that, during and after the pandemic, the urgency of maintaining the functioning of food production systems, based on the objectives of sustainable agriculture, technology and management of available resources, will be resolved.
Our thanks go to the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and its Partners, the Global Representation of YPARD and the National Representation of YPARD DRC.
African Union Commission (2020). The impact of COVID-19) on the African Economy OECD (2020), OECD Economic Outlook, Interim Report March 2020, OECD, Paris,
Terrier, M., Gasselin, P. Le Blanc, J., 2013. Assessing the Sustainability of Activity Systems to Support Households’ Farming Projects. In: Marta-Costa, A.A., Soares da Silva, E., (Eds). Methods and Procedures for Building Sustainable Farming Systems. Application in the European Context. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 47-61.
Zahm, F., Alonso, A., Barbier, J., Boureau, H., & Del, B. (2018). Evaluating sustainability of farms : introducing a new conceptual framework based on three dimensions and five key properties relating to the sustainability of agriculture. The IDEA method version 4, 1–5.
