<ul><li>Food makes up 40% of CPI baskets in low income countries</li></ul>



<ul><li>UN food price index hits record in February, March</li></ul>



<ul><li>More governments opt to introduce support measures</li></ul>



<ul><li>Risk of social unrest is on the rise over food, fuel price rises</li></ul>



By Karin Strohecker, Ezgi Erkoyun and Sarah El Safty



LONDON/ISTANBUL/CAIRO, May 17 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Like for millions of people in developing&nbsp;and emerging market&nbsp;countries around the world, shopping for staple foods has turned from a necessity into a luxury for Selcuk Gemici.



The 49-year-old, who works in an auto repair shop in Turkey&#8217;s largest city Istanbul and lives with his wife and two children in his father&#8217;s house, says fresh produce is often out of reach with his family living on pasta, bulgur and beans.



&#8220;Everything became so expensive, we cannot buy and eat what we want &#8211; we only buy what we can afford now,&#8221; said Gemici. &#8220;My children are not properly nourished.&#8221;



Global food prices have climbed for two years, fuelled by COVID-19 disruptions and weather woes. Supply shocks to grains and oils from Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine saw them hit an all-time record in February, and again in March.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2WY26Q&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Inflation rates have soared, with energy price rises adding to pressure. Turkey or Argentina with annual inflation of 70% and around 60% might be outliers, but readings are into double-digits in countries from Brazil to Hungary. It makes U.S. inflation at 8.3% look modest in comparison.



Rising food prices are a hot topic in emerging market, raising the risk of civil unrest with echoes of the Arab spring and putting policy makers in a bind between stepping in with fiscal support to ease the pain on their population or preserve government finances.



Food is the single largest category in inflation baskets &#8211; the selection of goods used to calculate the cost of living &#8211; in many developing nations, accounting for around half in countries like India or Pakistan and on average for some 40% in low-income countries, International Monetary Fund data shows.



Food producers have become more protective: India on the weekend announcing a ban on wheat exports while Indonesia halted exports of palm oil to control soaring prices at home in late April.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2X80FF&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2X30P4&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



And with the war in Ukraine not only disrupting food but also fertilizer supplies, food inflation could be more longer-lasting, Marcelo Carvalho, head of global emerging markets research at BNP Paribas told Reuters.



&#8220;This is here to stay,&#8221; said Carvalho. &#8220;Food is very salient &#8211; when there is a change in food prices, the perception about inflation is magnified &#8211; that feeds into inflation expectations that are more easily unanchored.&#8221;



HOT SPOT



For Um Ibrahim, a 60-year-old widow and street vendor selling headscarves in front of a mosque in the middle-class district of Madinet Nasr in Egypt&#8217;s capital Cairo, feeding her four children has become much harder.



&#8220;All prices rose &#8211; clothes, vegetables, poultry, eggs &#8211; what am I going do?&#8221; she asked, laying out her ware on a cloth.



Egypt, one of the world&#8217;s biggest wheat importers, has seen inflation soar more than 13% in April, and is expected to hike interest rates again at a meeting this week after it devalued the currency by 14% in mid-March.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N2VR0S1&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Emerging market policy makers, having jacked up interest rates by hundreds of basis points cumulatively since 2020 to curb price pressures and ensure a bond premium to rising U.S. yields for investors, have to perform a balancing act between taming inflation and keeping fragile growth alive at a time of rising global interest rates.



Emerging economies may expand just 4.6% this year, the World Bank forecasts, compared with an earlier 6.3% prediction.



Polina Kurdyavko, head of EM debt at BlueBay Asset Management, says governments have three options: Provide bigger subsidies to consumers or bite the bullet that is to let prices rise and face inflation and social unrest, or do something in between.



&#8220;There are no easy solutions,&#8221; Kurdyavko said.



A raft of countries have introduced measures: Turkey has raised the minimum wage by 50% in December to address a currency crash and inflation spike.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2T14KZ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>&nbsp;Chile will up minimum pay this year as well.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL3N2WO37U&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



South Africa&#8217;s government is debating whether to increase a social relief grant launched in 2020 and make the scheme permanent.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2VC5HD&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Economists fear emerging economies are facing a fresh wave of unrest on the back of the latest increases in food prices. North Africa, where food inflation was a contributor to the Arab Spring revolts a decade ago, looked particularly vulnerable, said Beata Javorcic, chief economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.



&#8220;The irony of this war is that while everybody expected Russia to have a crisis, it is actually North African countries that are closer to having an emergency situation due to high food prices,&#8221; she said.



But pain is expected to stretch further: Three quarters of nations expected to be at high-risk or extreme risk of civil unrest by the fourth quarter of 2022 were middle-income countries, risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft said last week.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N2X276O&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



Appeasing inflation pressures through spending will come at a fiscal cost that could spell trouble further down the line, said BNP&#8217;s Carvalho.



&#8220;In emerging markets, fiscal sins are forgiven but not forgotten,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Over the last couple of years, everybody felt like they have a blank cheque &#8230; in part because rates were so low. Now that interest rates are rising, it gets a bit trickier.&#8221;



(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; Additional reporting by Jorgelina do Rosario; Editing by David Evans)

the-food market-3147758_1920

Food inflation pain puts emerging markets between rock and hard place

Food markets will face many more months of uncertainty due to COVID-19, but the agriculture food sector is likely to show more resilience to the pandemic crisis than other sectors. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the risks of unhealthy diets and the extreme fragility of the global food system.



The Food and Agricultural Organization&#8217;s, Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 93.2 points in June 2020, some 2.2 points (2.4 percent) higher than in May, representing the first month-on-month increase since the beginning of the year. Amid market uncertainties posed by COVID-19, the prices of vegetable oils, sugar and dairy products rebounded to multi-month highs following sharp declines registered in May, while in cereals and meat markets, most prices remained under downward pressure.



The COVID-19 pandemic should spur us to redefine how we feed humanity. The African countries now has a unique opportunity to adopt long-term measures to promote healthier diets, encourage farmers to produce a wider range of food, and strengthen collaboration among the public-health, food, and agriculture sectors. A new approach in agricultural research can play a vital role in transforming food systems and making them more sustainable and resilient.



The need for change is clear. For starters, unhealthy diets are one of the leading risk factors related to COVID-19 fatalities. The Coronavirus disproportionately affects people who are overweight, diabetic, or suffer from cardiovascular disease – all of which are linked to poor diets. The economic reconstruction that will follow the pandemic is an opportunity to provide better nutrition and health for all.



This Covid-19 crisis has also exposed the extreme fragility of the global food system. Social-distancing and lockdown measures to curb the virus’s spread have significantly reduced people’s incomes and thus global food demand.



GDP From Agriculture in South Africa increased in the first quarter of 2020. South Africa needs to invest in agriculture and agroprocessing to reduce basic imports such as Maize, Wheat and Chicken. Zambia has a huge potential for Maize, wheat and livestock market to feed in the food security challenges. GDP From Agriculture in Zambia increased in the fourth quarter of 2019.



The 2007 Botswana Livestock and Meat Industries Act, to provide for the slaughter of domestic livestock, farmed game, wild game and poultry for human consumption and other livestock products has assisted in boosting the economy and more investment are required to expand the agriculture and agroprocessing industry at Botswana. Agriculture in Namibia contributes around 5.1% of the GDP of which 70 % represents the output of the livestock sub &#8211; sector.



The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that at least 14.4 million people in the 101 net food-importing countries could become undernourished as a result of the economic crisis triggered by COVID-19. In an extreme scenario – a reduction of ten percentage points in global real GDP growth in 2020 – that total rises to 80.3 million.



In the short term, therefore, governments must not only provide financial support to individuals and firms affected by the pandemic, but also act to prevent a food crisis. Longer-term measures must include promoting healthier eating. Three crops – rice, maize, and wheat – provide more than 50% of the calories that humans gain from plants. People in general, but mainly the poorest, do not consume



enough nutrient-rich food such as fruits, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. And about 11 million people die each year as a result of unhealthy diets.



But the race to produce and deliver cheap calories has caused collateral damage, mainly in terms of nutrition and local development. Because the “calories race” relies on value chains that focus on a few basic products from a limited number of countries, many other countries have become net food importers. The pandemic has highlighted their excessive and fragile dependence on a few producers located thousands of miles away and underscored the need for shorter and more diverse value chains.



Policymakers must also foster regenerative production systems that promote biodiversity and improve soil and water quality, which would contribute significantly to climate-change adaptation.



The pandemic has underscored the urgent need to transform agriculture. And the economic reconstruction that will follow it represents a perfect opportunity to provide better nutrition and health for all. A government led initiative to finance small business farmers and provide water, seeds and training for farmers can reduce domestic food security challenges and reduce tons of agricultural imports.



Miyelani Mkhabela is an Executive Director at Antswisa Transaction Advisory Services.

Belarus tractors for Zimbabwe

COVID-19: Now is the time for Africa to grow food

<figure>
 <img decoding="async" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301931/original/file-20191115-66973-fzxc4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&#038;q=45&#038;auto=format&#038;w=754&#038;fit=clip" />
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 The development of an industry in edible insects such as these mopane caterpillars has been slow.
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By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-musundire-870416">Robert Musundire</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/chinhoyi-university-of-technology-4166">Chinhoyi University of Technology</a>

There is a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/40128873_Insects_as_food_in_Sub-Saharan_Africa">wealth of indigenous knowledge</a> about capturing and eating insects in sub-Saharan Africa. But the development of edible insects as a food industry has been very slow, despite its many potential benefits. 

Sustainability is one. Insects have a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0051145#s4">small carbon and water footprint</a>. <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i3253e/i3253e.pdf?utm_content=bufferf4265&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer.SEIresearch">Studies</a> show that insect farming emits less carbon and methane gas than large livestock like cattle and pigs. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/7/11/6190">Much less water</a> is needed to produce the same amount of protein. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032111003625?via%3Dihub">Insects use feed</a> more efficiently than other sources of animal protein. Farming them could be a new source of jobs and income. 

There should be more awareness and promotion of insects as food for humans and as feed for animals, especially at the policy, legislative and business level. In most African nations, edible insects are still viewed as an insignificant source of food and even, in some instances, as food for the poor. There are very few success stories of large-scale insect farming and industrial use in Africa. 

We have been involved <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqc57qRcpTo&amp;feature=youtu.be">in a project</a> to promote the integrated use of insects as food in urban areas in Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Our project works on the edible insect value chain and discovered that the seasonal supply of insects and poor hygiene standards made the market unstable and unattractive to consumers. Traders sold insects in an informal setting and had little interaction with farmers. 

We carried out training among farmers, traders, municipalities and others with an interest in this emerging industry. The training included how to handle and process insects after they were harvested, food safety along the value chain and farming crickets (Acheta domesticus and Gryllus bumaculatus).

The trainees have learnt how to rear and sell insects better and have become more aware of what a sustainable value chain should look like. For example, market facilities have to be clean and there must be a steady supply of insects. The training also created awareness of the need to farm insects rather than catching them in the wild. Catching insects can reduce insect populations dramatically when consumption increases. And there are no food safety standards for wild insects. 

Together with the urban council in the town of Chinhoyi in Zimbabwe we built a model market structure where traders are selling their insects. Traders are selling some of the most popular edible insects; wild harvested mopane worms (Gonimbrasia belina), termites (Macrotermes natalensis) and wild harvested crickets. Farmers are still building stocks of farmed crickets, but the plan is to sell farmed crickets in the near future. It is still too early to see the impact but one notable improvement is hygiene. The market has also helped women traders, who are the main group selling insects there. They have become more organised about their business. 

We hope this will lead to an increase in consumer willingness to buy edible insects, and demonstrate best practice to other regions of Zimbabwe and beyond. Through our project, we have also helped insect traders and farmers to form industry associations. 

<h2>Why insects are valuable</h2>

Insects are <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i3253e/i3253e.pdf?utm_content=bufferf4265&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer.SEIresearch">highly nutritious and contain protein</a>, fat and energy in proportions similar to grains, vegetables and seeds. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S122686151830671X">They are rich</a> in macro minerals like calcium, sodium and magnesium and micro minerals like zinc, manganese, iron and copper, all of which should be part of a healthy diet. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, these minerals come from fruits and vegetables, most of which are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919216303840?via%3Dihub">farmed seasonally</a>. Edible insects could supply these minerals during seasons where there is less fruit and vegetable production.

They contain essential amino acids such as threonine, cysteine, valine, methionine and isoleucine. The recommended daily minimum intake of amino acids can be consumed by eating just 100 grams of the <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0145914">edible stink bug</a> (Encosternum delegorguei), for example. 

Earlier this year, parts of eastern and southern Africa were ravaged by <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/mozambique/crisis-update-cyclones-idai-and-kenneth">Cyclone Idai</a>. The cyclone destroyed crops and livestock, causing severe food shortages. We believe that in disaster-struck areas, edible insects can build resilience by being a food resource in recovery programmes and an alternative to traditional smallholder farming. There is an <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2018/03/farms-for-orphans-insect-farming-democratic-republic-congo/">excellent example </a>of that in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where orphanages have started insect farms to grow their own protein. The farms have helped decrease hunger and improve health among the orphans.

<hr>

 
 
 Read more:
 <a href="http://theconversation.com/economic-chaos-is-causing-a-food-security-and-humanitarian-crisis-in-zimbabwe-124791">Economic chaos is causing a food security and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe</a>
 
 

<hr>


<h2>What needs to happen?</h2>

We were involved in setting up an <a href="https://www.slu.se/EdibleInsectsAfrica">international conference</a> in Zimbabwe to discuss ways to foster the edible insects industry. 

Research is required so that policy makers and those involved in the sector – farmers, processes, marketers and consumers – can make evidence-based decisions. This must happen across disciplines. Researchers should work with farmers and people in business to foster skills, innovation and enterprise. For example, they could develop business cases and scenarios.

Policy makers must understand that the sector is unique. Edible insects have not been categorised under any agricultural sub-sector such as crop or animal farming. On the African continent, they have not previously been farmed and treated as a commodity. That is why it would be helpful to establish and coordinate platforms such as meetings, workshops, exhibitions, magazines and websites.

Policy should also allow innovation and investment to happen at national, regional and international levels. Industry participants will need access to markets and credit.

Farmers, food and feed processors, traders and marketers must seize opportunities to invest and enter niche markets. They can also contribute to policy development and share knowledge about traditional ways of producing and eating insects. 

There is <a href="http://www.mopaneworm.com/">momentum</a> generated by <a href="https://ace2.iucea.org/index.php/2018-01-22-22-04-02/aces-at-a-glance/sacids-2">several research</a> and business initiatives that <a href="https://gourmetgrubb.com/">have been ignited</a> in sub-Saharan Africa. And there is growing enthusiasm for using edible insects as alternative sources of protein and to build resilience against climatic shocks. It’s an essential step towards improving food security in the region.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125828/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/robert-musundire-870416">Robert Musundire</a>, Associate Professor of Entomology in the Department of Crop Science and Post-Harvest Technology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/chinhoyi-university-of-technology-4166">Chinhoyi University of Technology</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-were-involved-in-a-project-in-africa-to-promote-edible-insects-125828">original article</a>.

Shutterstock_Insects

This project in Africa promotes edible insects, here’s why

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For the first time, the 10th edition of the Omani Products Exhibition will take place in Rwanda between January 15th to 18th, with the aim of improving trade relations between the two countries. Over 80 exhibitors from Oman are expected to showcase from food and beverage, plastics, textiles, metals and minerals, construction and logistics. Ayman Al Hsani, Chairman of Opex Commitee joins CNBC Africa for more.

Rwanda looks to deepen trade ties with Oman

Rwanda looks to deepen trade ties with Oman, hosts 10th Omani Products Trade show

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Whilst agricultural development is fundamental to achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), African Union’s Agenda 2063, and commitments under the Malabo Declaration, agricultural productivity on the continent remains low. Chairperson of the Board of Governors for Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), Professor Sidi Osho joins CNBC Africa for more.

How agriculture is enhancing food security in a time of climate resilience

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 Zimbabwe’s food insecurity is more complex than the headline figures suggest.
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By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-scoones-117123">Ian Scoones</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sussex-1218">University of Sussex</a>

Since Zimbabwe’s land reform of 2000 – when around 8 million hectares of formerly large-scale commercial farmland was distributed to about 175,000 households – debates about the <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2013/09/23/zimbabwes-agricultural-sector-goes-from-bread-basket-to-basket-case-or-is-it-again-a-bit-more-complicated/">consequences for food security</a> have raged.

A standard narrative has been that Zimbabwe has turned from “food basket” to “basket case”. This year, following the devastating <a href="https://www.climate.gov/enso">El Niño</a> drought combined with <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/03/cyclone-idai-destroys-zimbabwe-farms-deepening-food-crisis-190329142611666.html">Cyclone Idai</a>, some <a href="http://fnc.org.zw/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ZimVAC-2019-Rural-Livelihoods-Assessment-report.pdf">5.5 million people</a> are estimated to be at risk of hunger, with international agencies issuing <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ROSEA_Zimbabwe_HumanitarianAppealRevision_06082019.pdf">crisis and emergency alerts</a>.

It is unquestionable that this season was disastrous – only 776,635 tonnes of maize was produced, more than a third below the five-year average. Nevertheless, the story of food insecurity is more complex than the headline figures suggest.

It’s true that Zimbabwe’s food economy has been transformed over the past 19 years. Aggregate <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=zw&amp;commodity=corn&amp;graph=production">production</a> of maize has certainly declined, and <a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=zw&amp;commodity=corn&amp;graph=imports">imports</a> have become more frequent. 

But Zimbabwe suffered food shortages, often precipiated by El Niño events, before land reform. These too led to the need for more imports. And surpluses have also been produced since land reform. For example, in 2017, there was a <a href="https://theconversation.com/land-reform-is-a-zimbabwe-success-story-it-will-be-the-basis-for-economic-recovery-under-mnangagwa-88205">bumper crop</a>. Some of it was stored and has been used to keep people going. 

Getting behind the headline figures and understanding an increasingly complex food economy is essential. <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/">Our on-going research</a> shows just how complicated the picture is.

<h2>Farming and food</h2>

Since land reform, we have been <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/">tracking livelihood change</a> in resettlement areas in a number of sites across the country. Our research is exploring how people have fared since getting land, asking who is doing well and not so well, and why. Some of our key findings include:

<ul>
<li>Crop production is higher in the land reform areas compared to the communal lands. Larger land areas allows new settlers to produce, invest and accumulate.</li>
<li>There are substantial hidden flows of food between land reform areas and poor rural and urban areas, as successful resettlement farmers provide food for relatives, or sell food informally.</li>
<li>There is a significant growth of small-scale, <a href="https://theconversation.com/irrigating-africa-can-small-scale-farmers-lead-the-way-113692">farmer-led irrigation</a> in resettlement areas. This is often not recognised, as production occurs on disparate small plots, frequently farmed by younger people without independent homes.</li>
<li>Trade in food across regions and borders, facilitated by networks of traders, often women, is significant, but unrecorded.</li>
<li>Market networks following land reform are complex and informal, linking producers to traders and <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2016/05/01/small-towns-in-zimbabwe-are-booming-thanks-to-land-reform/">small urban centres</a> in new ways. Outside formal channels, the volume and flows of food through the system is difficult to trace.</li>
</ul>

Simple aggregate analyses of food deficits, estimating the numbers of people at risk of food insecurity, do not capture these new dynamics. National surveys are important, but <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2013/09/16/food-crisis-in-zimbabwe-2-2-million-a-risk-but-where-do-the-figures-come-from-and-what-do-they-mean/">may be misleading</a>, and local studies, such as ours, often do not match the national, aggregate picture. 

So, what is going on?

<h2>Access to food: complex relationships</h2>

Food insecurity is not just about production, it is also about access. This is affected by the value of assets when sold, the ease with which things can be bought and sold in markets, the value of cash as influenced by currency fluctuations and inflation, local and cross-border trade opportunities, and all the social, institutional and cultural dimensions that go into exchange. 

When these dimensions change, so does food security. And this is particularly true for certain groups.

Take the case of Zvishavane district, in Midlands province of Zimbabwe. In the communal area of Mazvihwa, there was effectively no production this season. Some got a little if they had access to wetlands, and a few had stores. But compared to 30 years ago, production is focused on maize, which stores poorly, rather than small grains that can be kept for years. 

How are people surviving? Some seek piecework in the nearby resettlement areas; others have taken up seasonal gold panning; others migrate to town, or further afield; others get help from relatives through remittances; while others are in receipt of cash transfers or food hand-outs from NGOs. 

With small amounts of cash, people must buy food. It’s available in shops, but expensive. So a vibrant trade has emerged, with exchanges of maize grain for sugar or other products. And it’s especially people from the land reform areas who are selling their surpluses. Many have relatives who got land, and some travel there to get food, but there is also a network of women traders who come and sell in the communal areas.

Aggregate surveys almost always <a href="https://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/food-security-in-zimbabwe-why-a-more-sophisticated-response-is-needed/">miss this complexity</a>. There are sampling biases, as the importance of the resettlements as sites of production and exchange are missed. 

There are data problems too, as it is difficult to pick up informal exchanges, and income-earning activities on the margins. The result is that each year there are big food insecurity figures proclaimed, fund-raising campaigns launched, but meanwhile people get on with surviving. 

This is not to say that there is not a problem this year. Far from it. But it may be a different one to that diagnosed.

<h2>Economic collapse is causing a humanitarian crisis</h2>

As the <a href="https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/world/africa/2019-09-26-zimbabwes-economy-in-steep-contraction-as-inflation-hits-300/">Zimbabwean economy</a> continues to deteriorate, with rapidly-rising inflation, parallel currency rates, and declining service provision, whether electricity, fuel or water, the challenges of market exchange and trade become more acute. Barter trade is more common, as prices fluctuate wildly and the value of physical and electronic money diverge. With poor mobile phone networks due to electricity outages, electronic exchange becomes more difficult too.

Collapsing infrastructure has an effect on production also. Fuel price hikes make transport prohibitive and irrigation pumps expensive to run. Desperate measures by government often make matters worse. The <a href="https://www.herald.co.zw/private-grain-imports-now-legal-govt/">now-rescinded</a> edict that all grain must be supplied to the state grain marketing board undermined vital informal trade. Meanwhile, the notoriously corrupt <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2019/07/26/missing-us3bn-an-indictment-on-mnangagwas-government/">“command agriculture”</a> subsidy scheme directs support to some, while excluding others from the provision of favourable loans for government-supplied seed, fertiliser, fuel or equipment. 

Economic and infrastructural collapse is threatening food security in Zimbabwe. Even if there is good rainfall this season, the crisis will persist. Farmers will plant, produce and market less this year. While food imports are needed for targeted areas and population groups for sure, this may not be the biggest challenge. 

Stabilising Zimbabwe’s economy is the top priority, as economic chaos is causing a humanitarian crisis.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124791/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-scoones-117123">Ian Scoones</a>, Professorial Fellow, Institute of Development Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sussex-1218">University of Sussex</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/economic-chaos-is-causing-a-food-security-and-humanitarian-crisis-in-zimbabwe-124791">original article</a>.

What is causing Zimbabwe’s food security and humanitarian crisis ?

By Sebsebe Demissew, Professor of Plant Systematics and Biodiversity at Addis Ababa University and Executive Director of the GulleleBotanic Garden in Addis Ababa.



The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, asked
countries to announce new national commitments for cutting greenhouse gas
emissions at the Climate Summit that took place last week in New York. The
results were mixed. In the end,&nbsp;69&nbsp;countries came forward saying they
were willing to enhance their targets under the Paris Agreement, although the
world’s biggest emitters remained silent.&nbsp;



Ethiopia was one of the countries to pledge to increase its climate ambition, after hosting an important meeting in August to rally support amongst African nations for declaring a climate emergency. At the Summit itself, Prime Minister Ahmed committed to planting 4 billion trees a year as part of our climate effort. This follows the record-breaking initiative the Prime Minister led that saw 350 million trees planted in one day. 



In short, the current government&nbsp;is putting the country at the
forefront of the global response to climate change. But there is a lot of hard
work ahead, particularly in terms of&nbsp;finding&nbsp;the best
possible&nbsp;ways to use&nbsp;land to ensure&nbsp;it&nbsp;serves&nbsp;as a
climate solution, a source of sustainable development and food production, all
at the same time.



Ethiopia isn’t alone in this challenge.&nbsp;It’s no secret global
food and land use&nbsp;systems are in&nbsp;crisis and no longer fit for
purpose.&nbsp;The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have told us,
for example,&nbsp;that&nbsp;food and land use&nbsp;is&nbsp;responsible&nbsp;for
up to 30 percent of global&nbsp;greenhouse gas
emissions&nbsp;and&nbsp;is&nbsp;the leading cause of damage to biodiversity,
forests, grasslands, wetlands and other natural habitats.



At the
same time, more than 500 million people&nbsp;around the world&nbsp;find
themselves&nbsp;without adequate investment in&nbsp;or access to land and
resources to institute changes, let alone the collective voice and power to
change them.



The
devastating sum of these inefficiencies are more than obvious in Sub-Saharan
Africa.&nbsp;New modelling released earlier this month by the Food and Land Use
(FOLU) Coalition found environmental degradation, poor diet, inequality and
rural poverty are estimated to cost sub-Saharan Africa US$680 billion per
year.&nbsp;Inaction is&nbsp;clearlynot an option.&nbsp;We either choose a
different path, or nature will choose for us. We will not meet global goals
designed to support people and the planet if we do nothing.&nbsp;



The good
news is that there&nbsp;are huge&nbsp;win-win&nbsp;incentives for
governments&nbsp;to lead a transformation. The same modelling from the FOLU
Coalition revealed that&nbsp;cultivating sustainable food and land use systems
could unlock an estimated US$320 billion a year for Sub-Saharan Africa&nbsp;in
new business opportunities by 2030, at the same time&nbsp;as&nbsp;restoring
health and resilience to the land, population and economy.



To unlock
this&nbsp;potential in Ethiopia, we need&nbsp;the&nbsp;government,
business&nbsp;sector&nbsp;and civil society alike&nbsp;to commit&nbsp;to
transforming the existing ways of doing things, which includes
investing&nbsp;inregenerative agricultural practices and promising emerging
technologies.&nbsp;



We&nbsp;have&nbsp;taken
the first step in this journey.&nbsp;Ethiopia&nbsp;is&nbsp;one of a handful of
countries to take on this challenge&nbsp;and is partnering with FOLU to develop
a&nbsp;strategy&nbsp;to identify appropriate long-term targets and the policies
we&nbsp;need to achieve them.&nbsp;



This will
arm the government with the necessary data to make smarter decisions;
identifying key sectors and the most effective projects and
initiatives.&nbsp;If done right, these transformations are predicted to save
the Ethiopian&nbsp;from harmful hits to the&nbsp;economy, including&nbsp;<a href="https://rd.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-19168-3">US$4.3 billion</a>&nbsp;lost to land
degradation.&nbsp;Ethiopia would also stand to avoid&nbsp;a 16.5% loss to GDP
per year due to chronic malnutrition,&nbsp;and a further 10% to climate change
impacts.



These transformations can, and must,&nbsp;work hand in hand
with other national&nbsp;development&nbsp;strategies. The government, for
example, plans&nbsp;to create 3 million new jobs.&nbsp;The FOLU Coalition
modelling found, for example, that there are 120 million new jobs on the table
if we get these transitions right. This could be a renaissance moment for rural
farming communities desperate for investment in human capital and
infrastructure.



The next
decade is critical. Global and regional trends are putting new pressures on
food and land use systems. But the potential for transformation has never been
greater. A new generation of agricultural leaders is coming of age, and the
initial steps taken by the Ethiopian government are promising.&nbsp;But now is
the time to match words with action.&nbsp;

Op-Ed: Ethiopian food and land use systems ripe for transformation

<div style="max-width: 700px;"><video-js data-account="1571595826001" data-player="default" data-embed="default" controls="" data-video-id="6077922898001" data-playlist-id="" data-application-id="" class="vjs-fluid"></video-js></div>
<script src="https://players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.min.js"></script>
Africa has set an ambitious target of halving poverty and ending hunger by 2025. To share insights into how the continent can capitalise on science to achieve this, food Scientist and co-winner of the 2016 World Food Prize, Maria Isabel Andrade, joins CNBC Africa for more.

How innovation & technology can help end hunger in Africa

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia has introduced a cap on the price of maize to keep the staple food affordable, sparking protest from commercial farmers who accused the government of bringing back price controls.



Agriculture Minister Michael Katambo said on Sunday that millers, stockfeed manufacturers, chain stores and grain traders agreed in a meeting with the government to peg the price of maize at a maximum of 2,600 kwacha ($198.93) per tonne.



The price of maize meal, Zambia’s staple food, has in some cases doubled to 150 kwacha per 25 kg bag from 75 kwacha early this year.



Zambia’s 2019 maize production is expected to fall 16% to about 2 million tonnes from 2.39 million tonnes last year largely due to prolonged dry weather, Katambo said in May.



Katambo said on Sunday that the private sector panicked and rushed into the market thinking that there was not enough maize and this pushed up prices.



“Maize prices were rising every week because of this panic and the implication was that the mealie meal price was getting higher,” Katambo said, referring to maize meal.



Katambo said Zambia still had sufficient maize stocks and indications were that less than 1 million tonnes of maize had been bought from the 2 million tonnes the country produced.



“This price is not coming from the government but the private sector players who attended the meeting,” Katambo said.



In a statement on Sunday, the Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU), which represents commercial farmers condemned the cap, saying prices should be left to market forces.



ZNFU said its members were not invited to the gathering where the price was agreed and had called for an urgent meeting this week to discuss the decision.



($1 = 13.0700 Zambian kwachas)



Reporting by Chris Mfula; editing by Jason Neely

Here’s why Zambia has introduced a cap on the price of maize

By Ifeoluwa Adenike Alade, PhD candidate,&nbsp;University of Ibadan, Nigeria



Food
and nutrition insecurity
is a chronic problem for Africa. Despite decades of humanitarian and
development efforts, <a href="https://globalnutritionreport.org/nutrition-profiles/africa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">one
in five</a>
Africans remain undernourished and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jun/05/nearly-half-of-all-child-deaths-in-africa-stem-from-hunger-study-shows" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a
third</a> of
Africa’s children are stunted. 



One little-known
crop that is essential to food security on the continent is amaranth. This
leafy green vegetable is one of the most consumed in Africa and <a href="https://www.nap.edu/read/11763/chapter/3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">accounts for</a> up to 25 per cent of daily protein
intake in some countries, making it essential to their health and wellbeing.



What’s more,
it is a plant that is quick to grow, thanks to
its highly <a href="https://www.appropedia.org/Original:Amaranth_Modern_Prospects_for_an_Ancient_Crop_5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">efficient
photosynthesis process</a>,
and which &nbsp;thrives on degraded land even in hot
and dry weather, making it an increasingly important crop to mitigate the
impact of climate change on food production. 



But one threat
that holds back amaranth from making an even greater contribution to Africa’s
food security is the amaranthus leaf webber, a species of moth that is commonly
found in the tropics. The webber larvae are voracious pests, and a single leaf webber
infestation can destroy an entire field of amaranth.



To prevent
an infestation and protect their amaranth harvest, farmers rely on pesticides.
However, long-term pesticide use comes with challenges, including the
development of resistance among leaf webbers. 



So, what if
farmers had another tool to stop this pest? 



This
question motivated me to search for new crop protection techniques that could
be affordable, effective, and sustainable, and it turns out that nature may
have already come up with a solution. 



Many plants
have evolved ways to deter pests through releasing biochemicals that repel
harmful insects. By identifying the biochemical that targets leaf webber and
reproducing this as a crop protection product, we can effectively safeguard
crop harvests using the plant’s own biochemistry.



For amaranth
farmers, plant-produced repellents could be valuable new tool in the toolbox,
supported by other strategies such as pest monitoring and surveillance, using
complementary crops to repel pests and using existing pesticides when
necessary.



Taken
together, such <a href="https://croplife.org/crop-protection/stewardship/integrated-pest-management/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">integrated
pest management</a>
(IPM) can dramatically improve yields while also reducing labour and costs, by
ensuring that farmers use the most effective and sustainable combination of
crop protection techniques. 



To progress
this research, I am studying leaf samples of a group of amaranth species to
compare the levels of biochemicals with the abundance of leaf webbers. If leaf
webbers are less abundant on plants with certain biochemicals present, then I
will have detected a possible repellent.



The next
stage involves examining the genetic make-up of the amaranths that produce
these repellents to discover the blueprint for the most pest-resistant variety.




Crop
scientists can then develop a species that is no longer vulnerable to this
pest. This would be a huge boon for Africa’s food security, especially in the
rural areas that rely on amaranth, protecting both nutritious food supplies and
agricultural livelihoods.



Such a
solution is an example of how crop protection can be proactive rather than
reactive when it comes to defending vital crops against pests. 



And as one
of the next generation of crop scientists, my work is just a small part of an
increasingly innovative sector. 



Preventing
crop pests from striking is essential for Africa’s food security. And with new
research, techniques and technologies, we are better equipped than ever before
to do so sustainably.

Op-Ed: Progress in pest prevention offers hope for Africa’s food security

Jane Ambuko, University of Nairobi
The the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that one third of the food produced globally for human consumption is lost or wasted along the supply chain. Losses are even higher in Africa, and have a negative effect on food security, nutrition and economic stability. Jane Ambuko, a Senior Lecturer and Postharvest Specialist from the University of Nairobi examines the challenges for Africa and possible solutions available to the continent.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-125105 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Farming-Kenya_Wikimedia-e1495626008731.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="680" />
What constitutes post-harvest losses?
The loss of harvested maize and other food commodities can be qualitative or quantitative. Quantitative losses are easy to determine and report since they constitute a physical reduction in the marketable volume and can be easily measured. Globally, quantitative grain losses are estimated to be 10–20% of the total volumes.
Qualitative losses refer to deterioration of nutritional quality, safety or grade. Qualitative loss data is hardly ever reported. But it’s a loss that must concern everyone. For example the levels of qualitative losses due to aflatoxin contamination, although not reported, have dire long-term effects on health. Chronic dietary exposure to low doses of aflatoxins is a known risk factor for liver cancer and other health-related issues.
How serious is the problem of post-harvest losses in Africa?
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, 30% of food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted along the supply chain every year. This is a whopping 1.3 billion metric tons of food that doesn’t ever reach the consumer. Some reports have estimated that this lost or wasted food could be used to feed 1.6 billion people every year.
In Africa, the losses are even higher: between 30% and 50%. They occur mainly downstream, between the production and retail stages of the supply chain. Fruit and vegetable losses are estimated to be 50% or more. This estimate is cumulative because losses occur at every stage of the supply chain – from production to the consumption. Losses at the farm level can be attributed to poor harvest practices and poor handling.
Generally, any loss of produce translates to lost production resources, mainly land, water, energy and inputs. It is also lost income for the various actors in the supply chain. A 2011 World Bank study estimated the value of African grain losses alone at USD$4 billion for grains alone in Africa. This could feed 1.6 billion people each year.
This study further showed that 470 million smallholder farmers suffer a decline of 15% income, while 25% of fresh water and 20% of farmland is wasted on unconsumed food. These figures are alarming. But they’re important in highlighting the seriousness and impact of post-harvest losses.
The world’s population is projected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, with Africa contributing more than half of that increase. To feed these people, production must increase by up to 70%. However production resources – land, water, energy and so on – are limited and inelastic. Instead of producing more, we could increase the amount of food available by ensuring that most of the food produced for human consumption reaches the end user.
Quantitative and qualitative losses negatively impact on all aspects of food security – access, availability, utilisation and stability. There can be no sustainable food systems when 30% of food produced using limited production resources is lost or wasted along the supply chains.
What are the main drivers of Africa’s post-harvest losses?
Losses occur at all stages between production at the farm level through to consumption. There are unique challenges at each stage depending on specific commodities and value chains as well as context. The causes are complex and interrelated; actions or lack of action at one stage of the supply chain could be the driver of post-harvest loss at a different stage.
Qualitative and quantitative losses are driven by poor or wrong harvest practices and poor handling. This includes poor storage or packaging, mode of transport, processing practices, lack or poor access to markets and poor coordination among the actors in the supply chains. There are other broader factors such as poor infrastructure and lack of policies that have a direct impact on post-harvest issues.
** What are the latest interventions to reduce post-harvest losses and what are the limitations or prospects of success?**
Many technologies and innovations have been developed to address the various causes of food losses. However, some of these have either not reached the targeted user or have not had the desired result. This is partly because people aren’t aware of them or can’t afford them. Some technologies are also unsuitable for the African context.
Creating awareness about the applicable technologies and demonstrating their benefits is one way to yield results. This strategy has been used in promoting hermetic storage bags for grains. Hermetic storage is a proven solution for the threat of storage pests like weevils which attack stored grain. Its adoption has risen because of stakeholders’ concerted efforts.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87312/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />The same aggressive campaign should be adopted for other technologies that are useful for smallholder farmers. Forums such as the one held in Nairobi, Kenya earlier this year provide an opportunity to showcase new technologies and innovations from all over the world. Such forums should be encouraged as a way of creating awareness about food losses and available solutions.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Why reducing post-harvest losses is a priority for Africa

LAGOS
At least half of Nigerian government food aid sent northeast for hungry people driven from their homes by Boko Haram has been &#8220;diverted&#8221; and never reached them, a government official said.
Some 1.5 million people are on the brink of famine in the northeast, where the jihadist group has killed more than 20,000 people and forced 2.7 million to flee during its eight-year uprising to create an Islamic caliphate.
A programme was launched on June 8 by Yemi Osinbajo, acting president while President Muhammadu Buhari is in Britain on medical leave, to distribute grain to 1.8 million people still displaced by the insurgency, many of whom live in camps.
&#8220;Over 1,000 trucks of assorted grains are now on course, delivering the grains intact to beneficiaries since the commencement of the present programme as against the reported diversion of over 50 trucks in every 100 trucks sent to the northeast,&#8221; said Osinbajo&#8217;s spokesman Laolu Akande in an emailed statement late on Saturday.
&#8220;The issue of diversion of relief materials, including food and related matters, which has dogged food delivery to the IDPs [internally displaced people] would be significantly curbed under the new distribution matrix.&#8221;
Akande said 1,376 military personnel and 656 armed police would guard the food as it was moved from warehouses and distributed to displaced people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe &#8211; the three states worst hit by the insurgency.
Boko Haram controlled an area of the northeast around the size of Belgium in early 2015 but has since been pushed out of most of the territory by Nigeria&#8217;s army and troops from neighbouring countries.
But the Islamists continue to carry out attacks in the northeast and neighbouring Cameroon and Niger.
Boko Haram killed 14 people in bombings and shootings in the northeastern city of Maiduguri on June 7, in a large-scale attack quelled by the army after several hours.
A U.N. official said this month the World Food Programme had scaled back its emergency plans in the northeast because of lack of funds, now aiming to supply food to 1.4 million people instead of the 1.8 million previously intended.
The U.N. says it needs $1.05 billion this year to deal with the crisis in northeast Nigeria &#8211; which, along with Somalia and South Sudan, is one of three humanitarian emergencies unfolding in Africa &#8211; but has only received about a quarter of that sum.
(Reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by Andrew Roche)

Nigeria says half of govt food aid never reached victims of Boko Haram

<div id="article-byline"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/megan-rowling">Megan Rowling</a> and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/andrew-mambondiyani">Andrew Mambondiyani</a> | BARCELONA/HARARE</div>
<div></div>
<div>When a big earthquake, flash flood or other sudden disaster hits, aid agencies spring into action with emergency responses and public appeals for donations. With droughts, it&#8217;s different.</div>
If the rains don&#8217;t come, it can take months for the effects to be felt by poor rural families. Hunger kicks in only after crops fail, food stocks are exhausted and livestock start dying &#8211; but by then, help often comes too late to head off the worst.
The humanitarian world is still struggling to find a timely way to tackle &#8220;slow-onset&#8221; crises like droughts.
But a UK-based coalition of 42 relief groups from five continents, aiming to make aid delivery more effective, thinks it might have an answer.
The Start Network, funded by the British, Dutch and Irish governments, is putting together a new financing facility to enable a faster and more coordinated response to droughts, and plans to test its model in Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
In May, the network convened local and international agencies in Harare to discuss how it might work in the southern African nation still smarting from a devastating 2015-2016 drought, driven by the El Nino climate pattern, which left some 4 million people in need of food aid.
A 2016 U.N.-led appeal for more than $350 million to respond to the drought was less than 50 percent covered by donors.
&#8220;We realized humanitarian responses were not kicking in fast,&#8221; said Emily Montier, manager of the drought project for the Start Network. &#8220;There was a long period of procrastination with some decisions having to be made far away, resulting in delays.&#8221;
The &#8220;drought financing facility&#8221; aims to combine contingency funds, insurance and new modeling technology to shift humanitarian response from reaction to anticipation, she added.
&#8220;This will save more lives, livelihoods and assets, and significantly reduce costs,&#8221; she said.
Montier said many aid groups responding to drought had tried to access the Start Network&#8217;s existing fund for swift relief in small-scale crises, but it backs 45-day projects which is too short for drawn-out situations like droughts.
&#8220;Droughts were coming to that mechanism purely because there was nothing else out there,&#8221; Montier told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
LOCAL NEEDS
Other efforts to provide cash in time to stop droughts turning into hunger crises are gathering steam, including the African Risk Capacity, which provides payouts to African governments that take out cover, and index-based insurance for farmers, now growing in popularity from Kenya to India.
The Start Network facility aims to be more flexible while still operating on a national level, releasing its own funds for aid organizations to respond to smaller crises and tapping insurance payouts for large emergencies.
How it functions will differ according to the country. In Zimbabwe, a lot is already happening to help communities weather drought but that needs to be stepped up when conditions worsen, whereas in Pakistan, chronic dryness in some areas has created humanitarian needs that are simply going unmet, said Montier.
Shahida Arif, Asia regional learning adviser for the Start Network, said water shortages in Pakistani provinces like Sindh cause long-term nutritional problems and food insecurity.
With little help at hand, poor families are forced to sell off their cattle and other meager assets to survive.
&#8220;The government agencies do not have any plan so far to respond to drought,&#8221; said Arif.
That could change after Pakistan&#8217;s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) announced in February it would join the Start partnership to test the new facility in places like Sindh where tens of thousands of people were suffering the effects of drought.
With work near completion on web-based scientific models to calculate drought risks and potential funding options, the Start Network is talking to donor governments about funding the next stage of implementing the facility in Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
Josh Ling of Mercy Corps in Pakistan said the project had &#8220;huge potential&#8221; to improve the lives of drought-hit communities, as it is designed to allow agencies to act rapidly and on a far bigger scale than individual insurance policies.
In Zimbabwe, some of the agencies involved &#8211; which include CARE International, Christian Aid and ActionAid &#8211; suggested the facility could be expanded to cover drought impacts on livestock as well as crops, and should also be used for floods.
If successful, the model may be applied to other natural hazards, Montier said. &#8220;There is a real need to gather more evidence around these approaches and how they work in practice,&#8221; she added.
(Reporting by Andrew Mambondiyani in Harare and Megan Rowling in Barcelona; editing by Ros Russell. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women&#8217;s rights, trafficking and property rights. Visit <a href="http://news.trust.org/climate">news.trust.org/climate</a>)

Aid groups seek to turn on funding tap to douse drought crises

By Ulf Laessing
Nigerian Abdulhakim Mohammed has just graduated in architecture but, like many people ranging from unemployed locals to foreign investors and Africa&#8217;s richest man, he has decided the future lies in rice farming.
The reason is that domestic rice prices have more than doubled in the last two years due to an import ban and a dive in the Nigerian currency. At the same time, the government is subsidising tractors, mills and fertilisers as well as arranging cheaper loans to boost production &#8211; with considerable success.
And yet the drive to cut an annual food import bill of $20 billion has run into the kind of problems that have long bedevilled Nigeria&#8217;s efforts to build up an economy outside its dominant the oil industry.
Despite rice growing being a government priority, many farmers still work with their bare hands in fields lacking irrigation channels. Mills are often ramshackle while poor roads make getting the crop from the main growing areas in northern Nigeria to consumers in the south difficult and costly.
As a result, the industry has so far failed to fill a supply shortfall amounting to about 3 million tonnes of milled rice created by the import ban. In the commercial capital of Lagos, supermarkets mainly sell rice from India or Thailand.
Mohammed took up growing rice three years ago to help fund his university studies in the northern state of Bauchi. When he finished last year, he opted for a career in the fields around the town of Gadau, rather than in architecture.
&#8220;My advice to the youth is to join rice farming,&#8221; said Mohammed, who is expanding his own area from 1.5 to 2 hectares (3.7 to 5 acres) as well as working as a supervisor on a new farm that workers are preparing nearby.
&#8220;One bag of rice sells for 10,000 to 11,000 (naira). Two years ago I was selling for 4,500,&#8221; he told Reuters.
That makes a bag worth almost $25 at the exchange rate on the black market, where many Nigerians go due to restrictions and dollar shortages in the official banking system. In Bauchi state, hundreds of farmers are busy expanding, preparing new fields and drilling water holes for irrigation.
Farms have been opening across much of the country, lifting output of unmilled rice to 7.85 million tonnes in 2016 &#8211; a 17.4 percent jump from 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics told Reuters. That compares with just 4.54 million in 2010, before the campaign began.
TALKING VS IMPLEMENTING
Until 2015, Nigeria imported up to 4 million tonnes of rice annually, much of which was smuggled from the western neighbour Benin Republic. But this has fallen to about 700,000 tonnes as authorities now monitor the border, industry players say.
That lifted prices for the staple, along with currency curbs imposed to prop up the naira which has been hit by a fall in revenues from Nigeria&#8217;s oil exports.
Part of the rise is because farmers are passing on higher costs, saying the government subsidies are not enough. Importers have to pay a premium of 30 percent over the official rate to get dollars on the black market for buying the foreign-made machinery and fertilisers that growers need.
On top of this, farmers complain that endemic corruption means the government help doesn&#8217;t always reach the right people.
&#8220;Some people who got fertilisers were not even farmers. They sell it then,&#8221; said Mohammed Tafida, the local head of a rice farmers&#8217; association, who is also expanding his own fields.
&#8220;Fertilisers are very expensive,&#8221; he told Reuters, standing by a new paddy field being prepared. &#8220;Our production costs are very high. You now pay workers 500 to 700 naira a day; before it was 200 naira.&#8221;
President Muhammadu Buhari has made fighting graft a priority since coming to power two years ago. But he has to work with Nigeria&#8217;s 36 states where officials executing the federal programmes often help out supporters or relatives.
Farmers and food producers can get subsidised loans well below the benchmark interest rate of 14 percent. But one processor of garri &#8211; another local staple, made from cassava &#8211; said he had waited six months to get his loan approved as banks are new to the farming business.
&#8220;In Nigeria talking is one thing and implementing plans another,&#8221; said Idris Salihu, another rice farmer in Bauchi. &#8220;We need more support.&#8221;
POT-HOLED ROADS
The rice boom has also drawn large scale investment from Africa&#8217;s richest man, Nigerian Aliko Dangote, and foreign firms to supply the huge market of 190 million people.
Dangote Group said last month it planned to launch a rice mill with a farm scheme which will produce 225,000 tonnes of parboiled, milled rice by the year-end.
Wacot Rice, part of Lagos-based food and farming conglomerate TGI, will open a rice mill next month with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes annually. It works with rice farmers on 15,000 hectares and plans to expand to 165,000 hectares within 10 years.
Abroad, Singapore-based Olam plans to increase its Nigerian rice farming to 6,000 hectares from 4,300 hectares &#8220;in a couple of years or so&#8221;, a spokesman said.
Nigeria hopes such large-scale investors will improve rice yields, measuring output per hectare. These are among the lowest in Africa as the market is dominated by relatively inefficient farmers running fields of two to five hectares.
The lack of good roads also means that rice from the north hardly reaches Lagos, Nigeria&#8217;s biggest city. The government plans to increase capital spending by nearly a quarter in 2017 to fix pot-holed routes and help trade. However, a collapse in oil revenues due to low world prices has slowed many projects.
Nigerian growers also struggle to meet quality standards set by foreign agri-businesses, with consumers complaining about having to extract grit from the rice.
&#8220;I like better the taste of the local rice. The only problem is the stones in it,&#8221; said Samuel Ativ, 38, as he shopped in the busy Bauchi market. &#8220;If I am in hurry I prefer the foreign rice because there are no stones.&#8221;
Nigeria has imported 110 mills which remove grit in the process but most farmers still go to villagers to handle their rice with home-made machines.
Larger investors hope Nigeria will not repeat the mistakes of the past by losing interest in domestic food production if and when global oil prices pick up again, helping the naira to recover and making imports cheaper.
&#8220;Important is that they started the journey to become food self-sufficient,&#8221; said Rahul Savara, TGI Group Managing Director. &#8220;They are going on the right track, and the government has to continue the same policies it is doing now.&#8221;
($1 = 304.0000 naira)
(additional reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha in Lagos; Editing by David Stamp)
&nbsp;

Nigeria’s rice boom raises output but old problems persist

<div id="attachment_88815" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-88815" class="size-medium wp-image-88815" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Lusaka-Wikipedia-300x226.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="226" />Photo: Wikipedia.</div>
At least eight people were killed and 28 others injured in a stampede in Zambia&#8217;s capital Lusaka on Monday as thousands of poor people struggled to claim food handouts, police said.
Police have opened an inquiry into the deadly crush that followed 35,000 people trying to enter a sports complex where the Church of Christ was giving out food parcels.
&#8220;We have since dispersed the gathering and an inquiry into the matter has been instituted,&#8221; a police statement said.
Sixty percent of people in Zambia live below the poverty line and 42 percent are considered to be extremely poor, the World Bank says.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Joe Brock)
&nbsp;

Zambia police say 8 killed in stampede over food aid

South African fast-food chain Nandos, best known for its spicy chicken meals, denied speculation on Tuesday it was considering a stock market flotation.
Citing unidentified sources, Bloomberg reported on Monday that Nandos was weighing an initial public offering (IPO), possibly in London, to raise money for expansion.
&#8220;The speculation about a Nando&#8217;s IPO is incorrect, nor are they currently considering fundraising,&#8221; the company said in a statement.﻿

South Africa&#39;s Nandos denies stock market flotation report

Thomson Reuters Foundation
﻿Africa will be able to grow enough cereals to feed its growing population by 2050, but only if it breaks a culture of complacency and starts now to invest more in agriculture, scientists said on Monday.
Sub-Saharan Africa currently imports about 20 percent of its cereal needs, and this could rise to at least 50 percent by 2050, researchers said in a report published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
One way to meet growing demand is to expand the land area to grow crops, but this would mean cutting down forests or encroaching on protected nature reserves, leading to loss of biodiversity and increased greenhouse gas emissions, they said.
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However, it is possible for the continent to feed a population expected to grow 2.5 times by 2050 by producing more food on the land already being planted, the report said.
This would need investment to boost crop yields, an increase the number of crops grown on the same plot of land, and an expansion of irrigation, they said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s achievable, but we have to break the complacency that we can continue with business as usual &#8230; (and) still feed ourselves,&#8221; said Kindie Tesfaye, co-author of the report and a scientist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Addis Ababa.
&#8220;In many countries agriculture gets the lowest financial support in terms of GDP,&#8221; he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
Complacency among donors is also a problem, he said. After international food prices soared in 2008, both donors and African governments invested more in agriculture, but investments fell once the prices levelled off, he said.
&#8220;African countries need to look at what is coming in the next 50 or 60 years, in terms of feeding their population. That has to be planned ahead of time,&#8221; Tesfaye said.
The researchers looked at ten countries which together represent 54 percent of the total population of sub-Saharan Africa and 58 percent of its arable land.
They found that cereal yields in most countries surveyed are growing slower than population and demand, while the area planted has increased 14 percent in the last 10 years.
They also found that closing the gap between current yields per crop and potential yields &#8211; which in Africa is very wide &#8211; is not enough alone to feed Africa&#8217;s growing population.
&#8220;We were surprised, because the assumption is that &#8230; if Africa could close that gap, then it could feed itself and even be a bread basket for the rest of the world,&#8221; he said.
More than half of global population growth between now and 2050 is projected to occur in Africa, according to U.N. data.
&#8220;If intensification is not successful and massive cropland expansion is to be avoided, sub-Saharan Africa will become ever more dependent on imports of cereals than it is today,&#8221; Tesfaye said.﻿

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food

Food inflation pain puts emerging markets between rock and hard place

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Nigeria says half of govt food aid never reached victims of Boko Haram

Aid groups seek to turn on funding tap to douse drought crises

Nigeria’s rice boom raises output but old problems persist

Zambia police say 8 killed in stampede over food aid

South Africa's Nandos denies stock market flotation report

Scientists say Africa must act now to feed itself in 2050

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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