Africa

Our Wish: To Witness a Prosperous Africa Catalyzed by Agriculture Advancement

Sun, 24 Dec 2023 13:00:00 GMT

By Onyaole Patience Koku, Nigeria and Ruramiso Mashumba, Zimbabwe

When we saw Pope Francis on a visit to the Vatican in October, we were surprised and humbled by the large number of people in wheelchairs who were also in his presence. It was moving to see the pope pray for their wellbeing, reminding us of the church’s mandate.

The experience brought to mind the passage in the Gospel of John when Jesus goes up to Jerusalem and meets the “ill, blind, lame, and crippled.” He tells one of them: “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.” And that’s what the man does, in a story that shows the healing power of faith.

Neither one of us is Catholic, but we’re both Christian—and it was humbling to attend a Mass at St. Peter’s in the Vatican. The people are devout, the buildings are beautiful, and it was a treat to see the pope ride in the “ Popemobile .”

We came to Rome as African farmers—one of us from Nigeria, and one from Zimbabwe.

Our purpose was to participate in a roundtable sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life and hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences , which is the scientific arm of the Roman Catholic Church. “Its mission is to honor pure science wherever it may be found, ensure its freedom, and encourage research for the progress of science,” according to its website .

The academy shares an observation of Pope Francis: “Today’s scientists are more open to religious values and can glimpse the richness of the spiritual world and the light of divine transcendence.”

That’s good news, and our message at the roundtable in Rome was similar: Today’s African farmers are more open to scientific values and can glimpse the promise of technology and the prospect of food security.

We’re ready to rise up and walk, figuratively speaking.

Our hope is that the Vatican will use its massive influence in Africa and throughout the world to realize this vision. By promoting science, the Roman Catholic Church can help African farmers gain the tools we need to feed our continent.

In what is now the Christmas season, we believe that this will advance the Christian causes of peace on earth and goodwill toward men.

The African farmer roundtable sought to call attention to the many challenges that African farmers face—and to highlight solutions. These include the adoption of no-till farming to enhance and protect the soil as well as the peer-to-peer knowledge transfer that can help Africans improve our agriculture.

The most important step, however, involves access to technology. African farmers, especially smallholders, don’t have enough of it. Farmers in much of the developed world take advantage of the latest benefits of crop science. They’re fighting pests, disease, and drought. They’re growing more food than ever before and they’re doing it on less land, through a marriage of sound science and modern technology.

Yet many African governments have resisted these innovations. For too long, they’ve taken their cues from the European Union and international non-profit groups that have lobbied against agricultural policies based on scientific reasoning. The bad result is that few African farmers can plant biotech crops, which are now a conventional part of agriculture in so many other countries.

We believe this is starting to change. Public officials and ordinary people in Africa are becoming more open to new technologies, especially as Africa’s farmers continue to trail the rest of the world in food production. We’ve recently seen the adoption of better policies in Kenya , for example.

Yet we still have far to go—and that’s why the Vatican is such an important ally.

More than 1 billion people live in sub-Saharan Africa. Nearly two-thirds of them are Christian , including more than 171 million Catholics .

Years ago, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences gave its blessing to GMOs. The more Africans know about the pro-science views of the Roman Catholic Church, the more they’ll embrace the crop technologies that farmers need. We have a duty to spread the word, and we hope the Vatican will help. More roundtables like the one we just enjoyed would be a positive step.

Our wish is for an African agriculture that is resilient, has the capacity to feed itself and become food secure. To witness a prosperous Africa catalyzed by agricultural advancement.

For more people to know the truth about faith and science—and have faith in science.

Onyaole Patience Koku co-founded and manages Replenish Farms where they grow mostly maize under irrigation in Nigeria. They are also technical partners to the Nigerian Army Farms and Ranches where they have added three new crops: Bt cotton, Bt cowpea and bananas. Patience is an outspoken advocate for making sure that all farmers have access to innovative technology and is a member of the Global Farmer Network. www.globalfarmernetwork.org

Ruramiso Mashumba grows snap peas, maize, whole brown rice, sorghum, millet and gum trees in eastern Zimbabwe. She is the National Youth Chairperson for the Zimbabwe Farmers Union and is founder of Mnandi Africa, an organization that helps rural women fight poverty and malnutrition. Ruramiso is a member of the Global Farmer Network and was recognized as the 2020 GFN Kleckner Award recipient. www.globalfarmernetwork.org

Destination Morocco: With Expanding U.S. Soybean Processing Industry it's a Growth Market for Meal

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 16:24:17 GMT

The soybean processing industry is expanding in the United States due to the push for green fuels like renewable diesel and Sustainable Aviation Fuel made from soybean oil. The result of the increased crush will be an excess of soybean meal. South Dakota soybean farmers are taking the lead in developing new markets for that meal and leadership of the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and South Dakota Soybean Association conducted a recent trade mission to Morocco, Africa.

“There will be a surplus of soybean meal because we’re crushing for oil, you have to find a way to get rid of it.” says Mike McCranie, who farms near Claremont, SD. A new plant is planned for Mitchell and McCranie says it will be great for the state, but leaves them with two options for the meal, either grow livestock production or export it. Colton, SD farmer Jeff Thompson says they believe it’s time to be proactive, “So coming here having a presence gives us the opportunities to hopefully make some sales in the future.”

Morocco is already one of the largest soybean meal customers for the U.S. Brent Babb, Regional Director of Europe and Middle East/North Africa at the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) says, “It’s always in the top 10 of our soybean importers from the U.S. It’s usually around 400,000 tons annually.” Khalid Benabdeljelil, with USSECin Morocco says, “We have been using U.S. soybean meal. A product that is known for its quality, for reliability, for stable quality and constant quality over time. And market share is about 60% and has been 60% over the last five or six years.”

Moroccan feed customers like U.S. soybean meal because it is more consistent than South American product. According to Yasser Amri, Technical Director, with Societe Nouvelle Eddik. “The soybean meal that comes from Argentina sometimes they have a problem with cooking and digestibility. So, we prefer to work with U.S. soybean meal.”

Morocco’s largest feed mill, Alf Sahel, produces 1.2 million metric tons of feed annually, with 70% used in poultry rations. They buy based on price and quality and prefer U.S. meal because of its nutritional value. General Manager Yousef Mikou says, “Right here we buy amino acids. Amino acids is better than crude protein. Even if the price of soybean meal of USA is high it’s better to use it because of the amino acids that they have.”

This represents a shift taking place in the global feed industry. Jerry Schmitz, SD Soybean executive director, says it’s a big selling point for northern states like South Dakota that grow soybeans that are higher in essential amino acids. “In the past protein has been the bar that everybody has set but really proteins are made of essential amino acids and there are specific amino acids that are important to livestock and to human development and South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska have those essential amino acids in great quantity.”

Research shows EAAs are more digestible and help livestock and poultry gain more efficiently. Tim Ostrem, Centerville, SD farmer states, “Extra protein just ends up being wasted so the amino acid profile is truly what they’re seeking, and we offer some of the very best amino acids profiles that there are.”

Mikuo says they also watch the currency exchange and are relieved the U.S. dollar backed off 20-year highs to make imports more affordable. However, Babb says as the U.S. ramps up meal production prices may be more attractive for countries like Morocco. He says, “We expect with larger production of meal, we’ll have a little bit lower price. You add in quality and sustainability, and we’ve got to have a lot of good markets for that U.S. meal.”

Destination Morocco: Growing Protein Sector Opens Door to Sales of U.S. Soybeans and Meal

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 16:20:45 GMT

Morocco has a vibrant and growing protein sector. The country’s farmers annually produces3.5 million dairy and beef cattle, 21 million sheep and goats and 413 million chickens and turkeys. Poultry is the top protein source with the median income of only $3,300 per year. Khalib Benabdeljelil, U.S. Soybean Export Council, Morocco says poultry accounts for 55% of consumption in Morocco. “There is no pork production in Morocco and red meat is expensive so most Moroccans consumer poultry on a regular basis.”

With a rising middle class and urbanization rate, expanding protein production is the top government priority, with projected growth of 20% by 2025. Brent Babb with USSEC says, “Most of that, almost all of that is for the poultry industry in Morocco. They also have a growing dairy industry.”

Production is predominantly farmers with just a few head and less than a hectare of land. Freeman, SD farmer Ardon Wek saw that firsthand on a recent trade mission to Morocco through the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and South Dakota Soybean Association. He says, “There are a lot of backyard farms, small very very small farms. Poultry, sheep, dairy.” Of those, 85% are slaughtered and offered at local butcher shops. Benabdeljelil says, “Morocco is still a wet market for broilers and Moroccans like to consume fresh product, not many frozen products.”

However, they are modernizing their production and processing. Wolsey, SD farmer David Struck says, “The younger people have a tendency to want to buy from supermarkets processed chicken.”

Dawn Scheier, farms near Salem, SD, says witnessed that modernization at two of the largest feed mills in the country. “With the feed mills they do a lot of poultry feed and poultry is up and coming and they want to get it more commercialized and once they get a cold chain it’s probably going to be a really good market.”

Companies like Alf Sahel, the largest feed producer in Morocco, are vertically integrated with their own farms and hatcheries. General Manager Yousef Mikou says their feed mill produces 1.2 million tons of feed annually and produce 1.2 million chicks per week. That integration also includes chicken and turkey processing. “And today we have the biggest slaughterhouse in Morocco and also in Africa with 6,000 birds per hour for chicken,” he says.

Which makes Morocco a great customer for U.S. soybean farmers according to Geddes, SD farmer Derrick Scott. “It’s kind of an emerging market more or less because the people of Morocco are looking for more chicken in their diet and chickens eat a lot of soybean meal.”

But there is also room for growth as Morocco commercializes aquaculture production. Centerville, SD farmer Tim Ostrem, “The one area which the government is incentivizing them or really promoting them to do is to promote aquaculture.” Babb adds, “in the last few years they’re starting to develop an aquaculture industry with seabass and seabream.”

As a result, Alf Sahel is expanding to manufacture soy-based fish feed, providing another outlet for U.S. soy in the future and is currently constructing an additional facility to extrude soybeans to manufacture soy-based fish feed. Ostrem says that will be an exciting new outlet for future sales of U.S. and South Dakota soybeans and meal.

Destination Morocco: Huge Growth Market for U.S. Agricultural Exports

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 16:08:19 GMT

Morocco is a country of 37 million people, but its population is rapidly growing and will hit 46 million by 2025, which represents huge market potential for U.S. farmers. Leadership from the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and South Dakota Soybean Association recently traveled to the African nation on a trade mission to explore market opportunities.

Despite popular belief, the Moroccan government subsidizes food for its people so there is very little hunger.

“Like other places there’s a disparity between high income and low income, but even the low income seems to be eating well,” says Ardon Wek, a Freeman, S.D., farmer.

Those consumers are adding more protein into their diet.

“They get a taste of good quality meat, and they want more of it,” adds Centerville, S.D., farmer Tim Ostrem.

However, as a Muslim country there is no pork production, so poultry is the leading source of protein.

“Poultry production is the most dynamic element of animal production in Morocco. Over 55% of the meat is coming from poultry,” says Khalid Benabdeljelil, U.S. Soybean Export Council, Morocco.

He says most Moroccans consume poultry fresh, but there is a shift happening in the protein sector.

“We have a young population, there are changing habits, there’s more urbanization, there is more searching for easy solutions for preparing food,” Benabdeljelil says.

Plus, tourism is big business in Morocco, which will increase protein demand. Benabdeljelil says the goal is to hit 26 million tourists by 2030.

Because water is scarce in this arid climate, farmers raise fruits and vegetables, olives and small grains, such as wheat, but no row crops. As a result, feed ingredients are mostly imported.

“The longer growing grains like soybeans are just not something they can embrace given their climate and their soil,” says Heather Beaner, who farms near Mellette, S.D.

There soybean meal, their soybeans and their DDGS are 100% imported. They rely heavily on imports. There’s no domestic production at all of any row crops here,” adds Wolsey, S.D., farmer David Struck.

Morocco is already a large importer of U.S. ag products, in part due to a long trading relationship and the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries. Hunter Roberts, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, says there is tremendous potential to increase sales into this market in the near future.

“As their population grows, as they become more successful, more profitable and want to eat more protein in their diet, I think it’s a great opportunity for our U.S. producers to export in particular soybean meal,” he says.

I Am an Activist FOR Food

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 20:34:00 GMT

By Motlatsi Musi: Pimville, South Africa

When I see my fellow South Africans queueing up for food , the sad sight reminds me that we still need to decolonize our minds.

People in the developed world may have trouble understanding that even though we’re no longer ruled by colonial masters from Europe, we continue to be influenced by European ideas that harm our interests.

This is especially true in agriculture.

As a farmer who grows corn, beans, pecans, and other crops, I’m always thinking about how new technologies can create a more resilient food system—but because of colonial mindsets, I continue to encounter resistance to this idea.

So I’ve become an activist for food.

I used to be an activist for racial justice in South Africa. I battled against the cruelty of apartheid. I’m pleased to say that despite ongoing difficulties, we prevailed in this important effort.

Today, I want to remain an active citizen in my community, so I’m fighting for GMOs and other agricultural innovations. After all, it was agriculture that pulled me out of poverty and allowed me to meet my goals. If I don’t, the next generation of Africans will blame me and my contemporaries for having failed them.

We need these tools to feed ourselves and lift Africa out of poverty .

I’ve seen the desperation caused by hunger. It’s in the eyes of pensioners when they wait for food.

It’s also in the actions of people who seek to steal my crops. This problem became much worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the government ordered people to stay home, businesses and factories failed. Today, unemployment in South Africa is at an all-time high , with about one-third of our people lacking work. Young people are having the hardest time finding work.

Many have turned to thievery. They trespass on my farm and try to filch what they can. I’ve caught some and taken them to the local police station. I’ve also had to fight to protect my property.

It gives a new meaning to the term “food security.”

At the same time, I’m doing everything I can to promote the usual definition of food security: the goal that people should have access to the safe and nutritious food in a fair system of exchange that meets the economic needs of consumers and farmers.

To achieve this, farmers like me must have access to GMOs, crop-protection tools, and modern equipment. I know what it’s like to grow food without these tools—and believe me, it’s much better for everybody when we can use them.

Yet many of my fellow farmers in South Africa remain trapped in the past, mentally stuck in the old ways of farm production. Some continuing to use animals to drag their equipment across their farms.

This is no way to achieve food security in my country or on my continent.

The more food African farmers grow, the less people will have to pay for it. Farmers like me also will enjoy a new level of prosperity. The ability to plant, protect and harvest GMO crops helped me to put one of my children through college. I couldn’t have afforded it without this technology.

Although many South Africans now accept GMOs and use crop protection tools, plenty of my countrymen do not. They continue to hear the lie, mostly from European anti-technology activists, that these crops are poisonous.

Foolish! If GMOs were poisonous, I wouldn’t grow them. I wouldn’t allow them on my land.

Just as I struggle to keep bandits out of my fields, I am working to keep harmful European ideas about agriculture out of South Africa.

I am a whistle blower, and my best ally is the truth—the truth the GMOs are safe and nutritious. I spend a lot of my time explaining this simple fact to fellow South Africans who have doubts.

I also invite non-farmers to visit my farm on GMO Awareness Days. They can walk with me and see my crops, either in person or virtually on WhatsApp and Facebook. They can ask questions and hear my answers.

This allows me to describe why I choose 21st-century technologies and show the curious why they’re better than the primitive methods of farming that have condemned Africa to suffer from the world’s lowest level of food production.

The anti-technology people are always welcome to come and tell us their side of the story, but they never show up.

The solution is obvious. We’ve decolonized our countries. Now we must decolonize our minds.

Motlatsi Musi grows maize, beans, potatoes, pecan nuts and breeds pigs and cows in South Africa. He is the 2017 Kleckner Award recipient and a member of the Global Farmer Network. www.globalfarmernetwork.org

Egypt Eases Wheat Inspections Once Blocking Imports on Fungus

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 03:40:33 GMT

Egypt made an official trade agency responsible for inspecting imported wheat, a step that could end disruptions in the purchases of world’s biggest wheat buyer by replacing quarantine officials who rejected several shipments this year for containing the ergot fungus.

The General Organization for Export and Import Control, or GOEIC, will be the sole state body authorized to inspect wheat at shipping and arrival ports, according to a prime minister’s decree published Sunday in the government’s official gazette. Until now, inspections have typically been carried out by six Egyptian officials, including two from the quarantine department, which rejected a shipment of French wheat from Bunge Ltd. and several other cargoes this year.

The decree is the government’s first announcement of a new inspection system that traders have said will probably be easier for them to navigate and may lead to lower prices.

Biggest Buyer

Egypt was in a standoff with traders this year after twice enforcing a ban on cargoes containing ergot and then backtracking to adopt the international standard, which allows for shipments to contain up to 0.05 percent of the fungus. The months-long dispute over quality standards damaged confidence among traders and resulted in canceled tenders, higher prices and fewer offers.

Egypt is closely watched by the global grain industry not just because it buys a lot of wheat, but also because its discloses details about the purchases, such as price and origin, providing a reliable benchmark for physical trading.

The process of sending a team of six officials to a port will be scrapped and replaced by a system in which the GOEIC can hire inspection companies on behalf of suppliers to scan wheat at the ports of origin and can assign local inspectors at Egyptian ports.

GOEIC is part of the Trade Ministry and responsible for testing imported and exported products to ensure they meet quality standards. It will also oversee inspection of corn and soybean imports.

Bunge Ltd., one of the world’s largest crop traders, said in February that it had begun legal proceedings over Egypt’s rejection of a wheat cargo.

Egyptian purchases in the wheat market are starting to pick up. On October 25, the country bought 420,000 metric tons of Russian and Romanian grain, the biggest purchase in two years. It’s expected to buy 11.8 million tons in the current marketing year compared with 11.9 million in the prior season, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report in October.

Egypt Says No to U.S. Wheat, Even with $100 Million Credit Line

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 03:37:39 GMT

Not even a $100 million credit line could entice the world’s biggest wheat buyer to purchase U.S. supplies.

Egypt, which got the U.S. loan agreement, canceled a tender to buy American wheat Wednesday because the prices were too expensive and then asked for offers from other international suppliers. The failed sale shows how unattractive U.S. grain is to buyers with the dollar near the highest level in more than a decade and ample global inventories.

Buyers are instead choosing European wheat as the weakening currency and cheap shipping costs make grain from France and Romania more competitive. Wheat from the region to North Africa costs about $50 a metric ton less than U.S. supplies, based on data from the International Grains Council that includes freight charges as of Feb. 10.

“U.S. wheat is really too expensive compared to what Egypt can buy in Europe,” Manon Leygue, analyst at ODA U.K., a unit of French farm adviser Offre et Demande Agricole, said by phone from Bartlow, England. “French wheat will be easier to buy from Egypt, because in France there is still a big amount to export.”

U.S. wheat futures fell 21 percent since Dec. 18. Futures were little changed at $5.23 a bushel at 7:29 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Milling wheat in Paris added 0.5 percent to 188.50 euros ($214.46) a ton on Euronext.

Wheat Shipments

U.S. exporters have sold 20.7 million tons of wheat since the marketing year began June 1, 24 percent less than the same time last season, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Japan and Mexico have been the biggest buyers.

Export commitments to Egypt, which include private sales done outside the state-run General Authority for Supply Commodities, stand at 96,300 tons, down from 223,100 tons at this time last year. The country hasn’t purchased any U.S. wheat though its state-run tender system in the past five months.

The U.S. grain prices offered Wednesday by companies including Cargill Inc. and Bunge Ltd. were “much higher than world prices,” said Mamdouh Abdel Fattah, vice chairman of GASC.

After rejecting the tender, GASC said it would hold another bid seeking at least 60,000 tons of wheat for shipment between March 15 and 25. It received offers of supplies from France, Romania, Ukraine and the U.S., according to two traders involved who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak to media. The U.S. wheat from Louis Dreyfus and InVivo was the most expensive, the trader offers showed.

France, Romania

There’s no time limit for the $100 million credit line from the U.S. to buy American wheat, Supply Minister Khalid Hanafy said earlier this month.

France has been the biggest supplier to GASC tenders in recent months, with sales to Egypt of 840,000 tons since December, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Romania sold 300,000 tons in that time, while Russia and Ukraine provided smaller quantities

With European prices so cheap, shipments are surging. The EU issued export licenses for 1.67 million tons of wheat in the week through Feb. 3, the highest in data going back to July 2004. The total fell to 626,032 tons in the following week.

“We see very high export figures over the last few weeks,” Klaus Lutz, the chief executive officer of Munich-based trader BayWa AG, said by e-mail. “There is a very positive situation in the international grain market for EU exports.”

Russia, the world’s fourth-biggest wheat exporter, has clamped down on overseas wheat sales as the country struggles with a looming recession and food inflation accelerating at the fastest pace in six years. The country started taxing wheat exports this month and shipments plunged 97 percent in the seven days to Feb. 11, compared with the previous week, as the charges began to take effect.

“Buyers are going to be a little bit reluctant to go to the Black Sea region and the U.S. is not really price competitive,” Amy Reynolds, a senior economist at the IGC in London, said by phone Friday. “The EU at the moment is certainly the origin of choice.”