Climate Action 2011-2012

These technologies are often quite simple, such as
greenhouse farming, improved seeds, or information and
communication technology (ICT) to access weather and
price information.
Another example is ESOKO, a Ghana-based trading
platform for those in the agricultural value chain. Users
can sign up for SMS alerts for commodities and markets
of their choice and receive instant alerts for offers to buy
or sell as soon as anyone else on the network has submitted
an offer on their mobile phone. Users can also request and
receive real-time prices for more than 80 commodities from
400 markets across West Africa, reducing the transaction
costs substantially.
enhAncing sustAinAble
productivity
Enhancing sustainable productivity must be the centre of
efforts to make agriculture more economically dynamic.
We need to achieve more crops per drop of water, per
acre of land, per measure of inputs. Producers need to be
integrated in value chains and new activities need to be
developed in processing and other sectors to improve rural
incomes and ensure that growth in productivity translates
into better livelihoods.
Enhancing sustainable
productivity must be the centre
of efforts to make agriculture
more economically dynamic.
Global leaders should foster agricultural research and
development to reverse a generation’s decline in aid for the
sector. Agriculture’s share of official development assistance
(ODA) dropped to five per cent in 2004, down from 22
per cent 30 years ago, and it has also dropped in absolute
terms. Agriculture is a knowledge-intensive sector. Farmers,
especially women farmers, need to have access to training,
extension services, and sharing of traditional knowledge
that can encourage the production of abundant and
nutritious crops and mixed diets. Knowledge helps farmers
adopt practices that maximise the efficiency of the inputs
they use and help protect the natural resources on which
they depend.
Providing this education to rural communities in a
systematic, participatory manner is essential to improving
their production, income and quality of life. Extension
services disseminate practical information related to
agriculture, including correct use of improved seeds,
fertilisers, tools, tillage practices, water management,
livestock management and welfare, marketing techniques
and basic business skills to address poverty. Extension is also
an essential pillar for rural community progress, including
support for the organisational capacity of farmers’ groups
and the formation of co-operatives.
policies For production
Governments must create aligned policy environments
which support farmers as small-scale entrepreneurs.
They can support future food and nutrition security by
encouraging a range of crops and produce to be grown to
avoid hunger and malnutrition. This effort will rely on
increasing the productive capacity of farmers, especially in
food-insecure countries, through a focus on:
• Land tenure security;
• Access to banking and micro-credit;
• Access to inputs and irrigation;
• Agricultural extension services to share knowledge with
farmers;
• Reduced post harvest losses through storage;
• Rural infrastructure.
For example, in Kenya, more than one million households,
mostly smallholders, depend on dairy farming as a source
of income. TechnoServe is working with these farmers
and processors to improve milk productivity and quality
and increase market access for small-scale farmers. New
farmer-owned bulk collection and cooling centres enable
rural farmer groups to sell to major urban processors. These
centres also serve as hubs for farm supplies and veterinary
and financial services.
the need For more intrA-AFricA
trAde
For goods to move across national boundaries there is need
to foster international agreements which in turn will create
non tariff zones. Intra-Africa trade is estimated to be less
than 10 per cent as compared to the Americas’ 40 per cent
and 60 per cent in Europe. The potential is huge for this
type of trade in an area with 65 million people and a GDP
of almost a trillion dollars.
There are efforts currently ongoing to address the
challenges of lack of intra-Africa trade. Such an initiative
is the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), which among
other things aims at harmonising trade tariff regimes
among 26 member states in Africa. These include the
marrying of tariff regimes of trade blocks currently
established in Africa (COMESA, East Africa Community
and SADC) and negotiating modalities of implementing a
free trade area.
The TFTA is a positive initiative that will deliver many
benefits to African trade. However, there still exist many
challenges in implementing such an initiative, especially
the fact that most countries in Africa have restrictive trade
regimes (seven African countries are in the bottom ten
most restrictive). Clear negotiations can create a win-win
situation for countries like Zambia and Malawi, which are
heavily reliant on trade taxes, with about 25 per cent of
revenues coming from this source. For such, alternatives
should be explored.
81 climateactionprogramme.org