Publications: About ISAAA

Advancing Agricultural Development in Africa  

Robert W. Herdt
Director for Agricultural Sciences The Rockefeller Foundation, USA  

Outlook

Barring major crop failures caused by adverse weather conditions, global agricultural production will probably be sufficient to meet demand over the next decade. That overall adequacy, which follows the pattern of the past 20 years, is assured in large part by excess capacity in North America and Europe, and relatively large areas of uncultivated land that could be brought under cultivation in Latin America. The situations in Africa and Asia are more problematic.

Agriculture will therefore have to serve as the motor of domestic economic growth in Africa. The agricultural practices in Africa not only produce low yields but also cause ecological decline ... increasing agricultural productivity while sustaining the natural resource base is the key to reversing the declining trend in well being currently observed in Africa. It may also be essential in creating peace and stability. 

In Asia, consumers with rapidly rising incomes are demanding more milk, meat, fruits, and vegetables, pushing land out of basic staples and into feed grains and other crops. And although shifting demand implies less pressure on basic staples, the demand for rice and wheat has not fallen because populations continue to grow. Rice and wheat yields in the 'breadbaskets' of South India, the Punjab, China, and Java are already pushing against the genetic potential for these two cereals. It seems likely that the region will gradually come to depend on higher levels of food import, unless the yield potentials for these staples can be raised.

Africa already depends on imports for about 25% of its grain consumption, a dependency that has increased over the past 30 years as per capita food production has declined. In recent years about 25% of the imported grain has been donated by industrialized countries. Donations also accounted for 10% of imported edible oils and other commodities. Pulled down by disappointing agricultural performance, average incomes have declined in many African countries over the past 10 to 15 years.

There is no overriding reason why a country should be self-sufficient in food. But if it is not self-sufficient, it must export something else to pay for imported food. Japan and South Korea, for example, import high proportions of their food, but they export large amounts of manufactured goods. Most African economies are based on minerals or agriculture, so agricultural exports have an important part to play in financing imports, at least in the short run. Yet the prospects for most traditional agricultural exports such as cocoa, coffee, tea, and low-grade livestock are not bright. Individual countries will each follow their own path, but agricultural products will dominate exports in many African countries for the next ten to twenty years.

Agriculture will therefore have to serve as the motor of domestic economic growth. The agricultural practices prevailing in Africa not only produce low yields but also cause ecological decline. Under the weight of this double blow farmers cannot rise above poverty. The key to reversing the decline in well-being currently observed in these countries is by increasing agricultural productivity while sustaining the natural resource base. It may also be essential in creating peace and stability in most Afncan countries.

The role of research

Genetics and the environment—the genetic composition of the plant and the complex of external factors such as sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, plant nutrients, diseases, and pests— determine crop growth. Since human beings are unable to control sunlight or carbon dioxide, our efforts to increase crop productivity focus on genetic improvements and on manipulating the nutrients, water, pests, and diseases that interact with crops.

Innumerable experiments have demonstrated that crop yields in Africa are currently far below their genetic potential. For example, in trials at Chetedze Station, Malawi, hybrid maize varieties released to farmers in the early 1990s gave 8 t/ha, compared to 2.5 t/ha achieved on-farm by the best group of communal farmers and an average yield of 1 t/ha achieved by all farmers. At the same station, yields of open-pollinated maize averaged 6 t/ha, while other farms were getting 0.6 t/ha with the same varieties. These results suggest that when farmers grow genetically improved crops, many of them do not make the best use of water and nutrients, nor do they take full advantage of pest and disease management techniques.

The international research system still needs to do more to assist African organizations in educating farmers. 

What can be done by outside organizations to help Africa address its food production needs? The research centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) are conducting germplasm improvement research on the major food crops of interest to African farmers. Although the capacity of African institutions to adapt and appropriate the benefits of research conducted elsewhere remains limited, thanks to the donor community's considerable investments in training and networking over the past quarter century this capacity is certainly stronger than it was.

Biotechnology can contribute much to agricultural development, but its more sophisticated applications require considerable investments in physical and human capital. It used to be thought that unless an outside organization were prepared to provide for these investments in their entirety, the benefits of biotechnology would remain beyond Africa's reach. ISAAA has been able to demonstrate, however, that selected biotechnology tools and products can be successfully transferred to Africa, provided projects are well designed and targeted to real needs. The main need related to germplasm is to build African capacity for evaluating, multiplying, and selling good-quality seeds of important crops.

Biotechnology, of course, has great potential to control pest problems, but the scientific capacity of national institutions must be strengthened before that potential can be widely realized. 

The international research system still needs to do more to assist African organizations in educating farmers about water, soil nutrients, and disease and pest management techniques that could raise crop yields dramatically. African farmers use less than 10 kg of plant nutrients per hectare of arable land, compared to 65 kg in Latin America, 77 kg in South Asia, and 216 kg in East Asia. In part, this low rate of use follows from Africa's comparatively late embrace of the process of agricultural intensification, but it also reflects the fact that less is known about what nutrients are needed and how best to apply them. In addition, poor roads and poor marketing systems mean that fertilizer costs are higher while crop prices are lower than in most other areas of the world. So for fertilizers to be as profitable as they are in other regions, the efficiency of their use—the ratio of outputs to inputs—has to be higher.

In my view, the best fertilizer policy would be to allow anyone to sell any fertilizer at any price and in any quantity to any person 

There are many ways to improve fertilizer efficiency, but in each case knowledge of specific agro-ecologies is necessary. For instance, methods for diagnosing deficiencies of minor nutrients might increase efficiency. So also might better cropping systems, including rotations, intercropping, and relay cropping patterns. Our understanding of the effects such methods can be expected to produce will be aided by the systematic evaluation of legumes adapted to specific African agro-ecologies.

In addition to greater fertilizer efficiency, improved water control through small-scale irrigation should be pursued. This is especially effective and appropriate when applied to high-value crops. Some parts of Africa have considerable technical potential for small-scale irrigation. The continent lacks, however, a tradition in irrigation, so it is likely that unless vigorous efforts are made, most of Africa's agriculture will continue to be rain fed for the foreseeable future.

Weeds, especially Striga, have a large, baleful effect on Africa's small crop yields. High levels of Striga infestation are often associated with low soil fertility, so many hope that raising soil fertility offers the best hope of controlling the weed. This would have the added advantage of increasing yields directly; in addition other control mechanisms could improve productivity even at the existing low level of soil fertility

Insect pests and diseases undoubtedly extract a huge toll from African food production systems. Aside from the efforts of the Nairobi-based International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), and the work of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in biological control (work which has led to major successes in the cases of the cassava mealybug and the green spider mite), little is being done by the international agricultural research system to address these problems except crop resistance breeding. Biotechnology, of course, has great potential to control pest problems, but the scientific capacity of national institutions must be strengthened before that potential can be widely realized. ICIPE and some national institutions have qualified scientists in the relevant disciplines, but the overall numbers remain extremely small. ISAAA's strategy is directed at precisely this, the strengthening of the absorptive capacity of national programs through targeted transfer of specific applications. Even when capacity is improved, however, operating conditions at many national institutions still give cause for concern. Reliable electricity and water supplies—the most basic operational requirements—are often lacking. Fortunately, chemicals, computers, and other equipment are slowly becoming more available as economies are liberalized. But the ability to support good science with an environment conducive to operational efficiency remains a challenge.

Agriculture can and must play the lead part in African development. It will play this part if Africa's leaders recognize how important agriculture is. 

The policy environment

Aside from technological advances, better information management and more appropriate policies are necessary before African agriculture can prosper. Information in Africa— whether on past research on legumes, current crop prices in the next town or country, or trends in the global availability of fertilizers—is expensive and difficult to get. When after considerable efforts the information has been obtained, it is often incomplete or unusable. Policies in most areas related to agriculture leave a lot to be desired, but the situation is particularly dire with regard to the supply of inputs, especially good-quality seeds and fertilizer.

In many countries, despite the structural adjustment programs of the World Bank, fertilizers and seeds are still sold by government-run or government-controlled monopolies, or by a tiny private sector in which leading public figures have a direct influence. No doubt, governments have an obligation to regulate seed quality and labeling, but in some countries government seed systems have actually created monopolies for locally produced varieties. In some cases the regulating bodies do not even bother to evaluate superior-performing seed from outside organizations. This has the pernicious effect of barring farmers from using yield-improving technology developed elsewhere—a most undesirable result.

Many governments also control fertilizer imports in order to 'protect' farmers from fluctuations in world market prices or to ensure 'fair' prices. In virtually every case such 'protection' actually means that powerful people close to the government prosper because they sell the limited supply of fertilizer to farmers at higher prices than it would otherwise fetch. In my view, the best fertilizer policy would be to allow anyone to sell any fertilizer at any price and in any quantity to any person. While the free market can lead to abuses, experience around the world has shown that farmers quickly learn the value of different fertilizers and how to make the best use of them. Far more important than the price of fertilizer is the opportunity to increase employment opportunities and incomes by allowing entrepreneurs to sell it.

Poor marketing systems are often mentioned as a barrier to greater private-sector involvement in the supply of inputs. This is true, but parastatal marketing systems were prevalent in Africa not only because leaders in the independence movement were attracted to socialist economics. The long distances, poor transport systems, and relatively low density of producers in rural Africa make for a 'thin' market that may fail to attract many private traders. The agricultural marketing systems that are evolving under structural adjustment must be documented. Governments need to invest in roads and in market information systems, both of which will encourage private traders and thus reduce the costs of marketing both inputs and farm outputs.

Conclusion

Agriculture can and must play the lead part in African development. It will play this part if Africa's leaders recognize how important agriculture is for the overall economic development of their people. They must remove policies that restrict the effective functioning of markets, and make appropriate investments in relevant public goods, like roads, market information systems, and agricultural research. On the research side, Africa's friends can help by addressing priority tasks that complement work already under way within the region.

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