DOHA: Qatar is one of the leading investors in the agricultural sector in Sudan, says a former minister of irrigation of Egypt.

Mahmoud Abu Zaid is currently chairman of Arab Water Council. The Arab world is rich in water resources and agriculture. It’s lands are fertile. This is especially true of Sudan which is indeed the food basket of the Arab world.

Such resources are in need of capital-intensive investment as well as management. So the government and the private sector have already begun setting up food growing and processing projects in Sudan.

The investors in Sudan, which are commercial entities and not individuals, are all from Arab countries. Qatar has the largest investment in Sudan’s agricultural sector besides having investment in other areas of economy.

Other GCC states which have sizeable presence in Sudan through their investments in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Abu Zaid said in Cairo that there is the need to support the private sector by providing the necessary political backing to protect and encourage investments.

He pointed out that the Arab world is the largest importer of food in the world and is so affected by international food price fluctuations.

Speaking about water, he said that 80 percent of water requirements of the Arab world is sourced from other countries. A good example is the Nile which is the longest river in the world but its source is from the Victorian lake and Ethiopian highlands.

Also, the water available to Syria and Iraq are sourced from Turkey. So Abu Zaid said that there is the need to have a strategy in place to preserve and exploit the water resources of the Arab world.

In remarks to Al Sharq correspondent in Cairo, the former Egyptian minister talked of various projects being launched with NASA and World Bank to use satellite images to estimate the water resources of the Arab world for preservation and exploitation.

A number of programmes have been launched to train people in the Arab world in the realm of water management in collaboration with international organizations. Irrigation systems in the Arab is generally outdated so there is a need to modernise them, said Abu Zaid. Source: (The Peninsula)

The organization has procured 26,000 tons of seeds and fertilizers for distribution to 176,000 vulnerable farmers — representing between 10 to 15 percent of communal farmers in the country.

Each farmer will receive sufficient maize or sorghum seed and compound and fertilizer to plant a 0.5 hectare plot. These agricultural input packages will be distributed in time for the upcoming agricultural season, starting at the end of September.

“With good seasonal rains, timely implementation and effective coordination, farmer’s production in Zimbabwe could feasibly more than double this season, compared to the previous year’s national average production level,” said Jean-Claude Urvoy, FAO’s Emergency Coordinator in Zimbabwe.

Under the EU Food Facility, the EU has committed €1 billion over three years to respond rapidly and on a large scale to rising hunger around the world that due to high food prices and compounded by the global economic crisis.

The EU Food Facility aims to bridge the gap between emergency aid and medium to long-term development aid. The funds are being channeled through UN agencies and other organizations.

FAO has received a total of around €200 million for work in 25 countries, of which €15.4 million goes to Zimbabwe.

According to Ambassador Xavier Marchal, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to Zimbabwe, “the Zimbabwe allocation will contribute to the Short Term Recovery Strategy to be implemented by the European Commission following the visit of Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his Governmental delegation to Brussels. It responds to the priorities tabled by the Zimbabwean Government and included in the Short Term Emergency Recovery Plan (STERP).”

In the coming weeks, inputs will be loaded onto trucks and shipped out to 21 districts of the country. FAO has contracted 13 non-governmental organizations to carry out the input distributions.

The NGOs, along with the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanization and Irrigation Development will provide extension services and training to the farmers. Extension services will promote good farming practices, especially timely planting, appropriate application of fertilizer and the importance of weeding.

According to Jean-Claude Urvoy, “many farmers in Zimbabwe can’t afford to buy enough inputs. The EU-funded inputs are aimed at giving vulnerable farmers timely assistance so that they can move from subsistence to having some surplus to sell for basic household needs, such as paying school fees.”

The EU Food Facility is part of a larger programme in Zimbabwe that brings together the humanitarian community to reach a total of 620,000 farmers with agricultural inputs this year. Donor pledges so far for this collaborative effort total over €41 million (US$ 60 million).

“This year’s push for inputs will allow FAO and other organizations to make a real difference in the lives of many rural Zimbabwean families,” Urvoy said.

Other countries receiving EU-funded Food Facility support through FAO are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Togo and Zambia. Source: (NNN-FAO)

Water is precious in Eritrea, where farmers have to cope with droughts and crop failures. With support from the government and an IFAD-funded project, farmers and herders are expanding spate irrigation, an ancient form of water management. By harnessing floodwaters and collecting run-off, farmers can provide enough water for the crop season. Now some farmers can obtain yields that are six times what they used to be.

Water scarcity is one of the many challenges that farmers face in Eritrea. The country has two perennial river systems, the Setit River, which forms the country’s border with Ethiopia and drains into the Nile basin, and the Gash Barka system, which collects the run-off water from the highlands.

All other rivers in the country are seasonal and carry water only after rainfall, which means that they are dry most of the year. The country has limited sources of fresh surface water, and although groundwater can be tapped, it may be s quantity and quality may be poor. The average annual rainfall is approximately 380 mm. Rainfall is usually torrential — of high intensity and short duration — and varies greatly from year to year.

The Gash Barka region in the south-west of Eritrea has a harsh climate, with rainfall that is limited and unreliable. The region shares its western border with Sudan and its southern border with Ethiopia. It has a surface area of 37,000 km2, which constitutes one-third of Eritrea’s land area, and a population of 567,000. Gash Barka was severely affected by the 1998–2000 border conflict with Ethiopia. Eight years after the conflict, carcasses of tanks and other military hardware can still be found there.

Every three to five years, droughts cause partial or complete crop failure in the region. When crops fail, farmers and herders sell their livestock and other assets as a survival strategy.

The IFAD-funded Gash Barka Livestock and Agricultural Development Project introduced improvements in grazing and farming. The project also supports infrastructure works, such as spate irrigation systems. Efforts to develop and improve the systems include harnessing run-off and diverting rivers and small streams, improving hafirs (ponds) to collect water for livestock, and water harvesting.

Spate irrigation – an ancient form of water management – is one of the most viable ways of supporting the livelihoods of economically marginalized farmers. It is different from conventional perennial irrigation and it is used in areas prone to unpredictable and destructive floods, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas.

How does spate irrigation work?

Spate irrigation is a floodwater harvesting system. It is a resource system, harnessing floodwater or ephemeral streams and diverting the water to agricultural fields through earthen or concrete canals. It is a pre-planting system, in which the crop season follows the flood season.

In the Gash Barka and Debub regions, major floods occur between June and September, and the main crop season is between September and February.

Spate irrigation systems are usually established in the plains around mountainous or hilly areas in order to collect run-off, allowing low-lying fields to store moisture for crops during the crop season.

“Farmers can start planting their crops only after irrigation has taken place,” explains Efrem Tekle, crop specialist in the Ministry of Agriculture. “Since the timing, volume and number of floods are highly unpredictable, this type of agriculture is prone to risk. Farmers need to cooperate closely with one another to manage the distribution of flood flows and also to manage and maintain the spate irrigation system.”

The Government of Eritrea, the Ministry of Agriculture and the IFAD-funded Gash Barka Livestock and Agricultural Development project have joined to finance the construction of spate irrigation systems in the Gash Barka region.

The Hashenkit River Diversion project is strategically situated to serve 14 villages and a total of 1,300 families, of which 20 per cent are households headed by women.

The region’s farmers traditionally plant sorghum. Sorghum is the fifth most important cereal crop in Eritrea, after wheat, rice, maize and barley, but it is the leading crop in Gash Barka. It is used for food, feed, fodder and fuel.

“We know that improved sorghum has better quality and high production value. But, given our reality of water scarcity, we prefer to plant traditional sorghum because it needs less water,” says Adam Humed, a farmer.

“Before the spate irrigation system we engaged in rainfed farming, and our yield never exceeded 5 quintals [500 kg] per hectare,” Humed explains. “Spate irrigation has increased our yield up to six times, which means 20-30 quintals [2,000–3,000 kg] per hectare. As a result we are able to feed our children and buy new livestock.”

Like all infrastructure, spate irrigation works need to be maintained. It is necessary for farmers’ organizations to establish a good relationship with the local government so they can jointly administer and maintain the infrastructure. To administer the spate system the farmers also need to collaborate and agree on equitable water distribution.

“We will be meeting with the local government to propose that if they help us with levelling, removing the silage and improving the channels, we will take charge of maintaining the spate,” says Humed.

Looming shadow of drought

“We face many challenges. One of them is drought, which has a three- to five-year cycle”, says Humed. “This year we had only 10 mm of rain, which means a decrease in food production and increased vulnerability.”

“The Gash Barka region has approximately 3.5 million head of livestock,” Humed explains. “In this community, approximately half of the households own livestock, and on average each household has from six to seven head of livestock.”

The pastoralists consider their livestock to be a valuable source of income. “Livestock is a source of money, because we can sell the animals when faced with hard times,” says Humed. “We have learned to put aside 10 per cent of our income during good times, in a community saving scheme. As a result, today we have 240,000 nafka in our saving account, which we use in times of crisis.”

The Ministry of Agriculture and the IFAD-funded projects are conducting capacity-building and awareness-building campaigns to demonstrate the benefits of good storage mechanisms as an alternative way of coping with crises such as droughts.

“The awareness campaign is helping pastoralists and farmers understand that the price of livestock will decrease substantially during drought because there is an over-supply,” says Yordanos Tesfamarian, senior economist in the Ministry of Agriculture.

“Extension workers are imparting knowledge to the farmers about how to take advantage of a bumper year by investing in proper storage, so that when drought hits, the farmers have food and also the possibility of selling their surplus at higher prices.”

“By working together with the farmers to identify their needs and aspirations and by involving them in decision-making processes, we are building their capacities and those of their institutions so they can advocate for themselves,” explains Abla Benhammouche, IFAD country programme manager for Eritrea.

“This is how we are ensuring full ownership and sustainability.” Source (IFAD)

RIYADH, Aug 3 (Reuters) - A group of Saudi-based investors, including the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), will launch later this year a seven-year plan worth $1 billion in Africa to reduce dependency on rice imports and supply the Middle East region.

The so-called 7X7 project aims at developing and planting 700,000 hectares of farm land to produce within seven years 7 million tonnes of rice, said Salim Lalani, head of investments at Foras International Investment Company, one of the partners in the project.

“We are looking at three to four countries: Mali, Senegal and may be Sudan and Uganda,” Lalani told Reuters.

Food security has topped the policy agenda in the arid Gulf Arab region following rampant inflation in 2008 that underscored its dependence on imports and forced countries to invest abroad to ensure supplies of staples such as rice and wheat.

The project’s political backers are the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which groups more than 50 countries, and the governments of Mali and Senegal, both of which are OIC members.

“On the financial front, there is the IDB and the Private Sector Islamic Development Corporation,” Foras said in written replies to Reuters’ questions.

ISLAMIC TARGETS

The project’s focus on rice aims at catering to the needs of West African and Middle Eastern countries in the commodity.

“West Africa’s annual deficit in rice reaches about 2 million tonnes,” Foras said.

Saudi Arabia imported a little over 1 million tonnes of rice in 2008, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture. West African giant Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation and an OIC member, produces only a fifth of its 2.5 million tonnes annual rice needs.

“This (project) is among targets set by the OIC and the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry to confront the food shortage crisis, increase agricultural output and improve rice productivity,” it added.

A feasibility study led by a team of Thai experts will be completed this month and the project will start with a pre-execution phase covering 5,000 hectares in Mali, close to the Niger River Basin. “We will then move to the execution phase of the project covering 50,000-100,000 hectares, which will be gradually increased over a seven-year period. Effective work will begin by the end of this year,” Foras added.

Of the 50,000-100,000 hectares, 20,000 hectares will be planted with rice at the cost of $200 million, Foras said. It did not say under what form of ownership the land will be granted to the partners.

Saudi Arabia has urged companies to invest in farm projects abroad after deciding last year to reduce wheat production by 12.5 percent per year, abandoning a 30-year-old programme to grow its own which had achieved self-sufficiency but depleted the desert kingdom’s scarce water supplies.

In January, the government cited Ethiopia, Turkey, Ukraine, Egypt, Sudan, Kazakhstan, the Philippines and Vietnam as some of the countries that Saudi investors and officials might look at.

Several Saudi firms have already started investing in agricultural projects from Indonesia to Ethiopia. The world’s top oil exporter said in January it had received the first batch of rice produced abroad by local investors.

African Farm

COMESA announced the creation of the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA), which should help farmers to address their problems during rough times.

During the second congress of the East African Farmers’ Federation (EAFF) in Arusha, Tanzania the creation of ACTESA was hailed as the most significant development in regional agriculture in 2009.

The EAFF highlights that farmers in the region have long required a focused initiative that would comprehensively address their market development needs.

“We need markets as producers but sometimes when our crops fail we need support - we see ACTESA as designed to meet these challenges. We welcome ACTESA and we will work with it all the way,” the EAFF president stated.

The 2nd EAFF Congress was officially opened by Tanzanian Deputy Minister for East African Cooperation Honourable Mohamed Aboud, and the Congress brought together over 200 representatives of farmers’ organizations in the East African region to map strategies for the agricultural sector in East Africa over the next 2 years.

Newly appointed ACTESA Chief Executive Officer Cris Muyunda, during his address to the congress highlighted that ACTESA priorities over the next year included capacity building of farmer organizations, promoting of sustainable public - private partnerships in input supply and crop marketing and supporting modern instruments in structured agricultural trade.

Other dignitaries at the Congress included ASARECA Executive Director Seyfu Ketema, and senior officials of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

In its resolutions, the congress urged COMESA, EAC and Member States to put in place a strong early warning mechanism for potential food shortfalls in the region, carefully examine the tax regime affecting agriculture in the region, fully consult farmers before concluding international trade agreements and deal with all security issues affecting farmers in the region, particularly those in the DRC.

Rural Eritrea

Females carrying heavy items on their heads is a common picture in Africa. Eritrean Women in rural areas use to carry wood and fetch water from approximately 2 to 5 kilometres distance from their home.

Carrying a 20 litres jerrycan could be quite exhaustive and a time consuming task for a woman, which has to take care of children and household at the same time.

In 1994 Stefanie Christmann travelled to Eritrea to conduct a scientific research. This was the first time she encountered women carrying heavy items on their heads or shoulders, while having babies on their back, a typical African fashion.

In astonishment Stefanie asked the women: “Don’t you have donkeys?” to emphasis that this work could have been done by donkeys. However, the reply she got back was: ”We are the donkeys!”

When she returned back home from her research in Eritrea, she planned to help the women, by raising money for the National Union of Eritrean Women (NUEW). The NUEW used the money to buy and distribute the donkeys to the females in need.

The first donkeys were delivered to rural areas in the Gash-Barka region in 1996 and later on in 1998 to the Sahel Province in the north of Eritrea. Indeed the project was still expanding to the Southern Red Sea Province as well as highlands, south of Asmara, during the war (May 1998 to June 2000).

In 2007 the project also expanded to other regions such as Nepal in the Himalayas. Especially women who raised their children on their own or came from a family with a very poor background were the ones benefiting from this project.

The value of one donkey was equivalent to $US126 as a start-up capital investment. This was because, the women started to deploy the donkeys for transporting and selling water, wood and grass for livestock for other people.

The return gained was then reinvested into launching small scale vegetable and brewery businesses as well as constructing houses for them selves and others. In this way, the project had become a microfinance system which enabled ordinary females to become successful entrepreneurs.

Moreover, played a important role in transforming the traditional perception of females in rural areas. It demonstrated that women can support themselves being self-reliant and independent in a male dominated society.

Back then in 1994, no one would have imagined that such a simple idea could have created that much impact and added value to the livelihoods of females in poverty. However, according to the donkey project authorities as well as the NUEW work on the project has been brought to a halt until further notice.

The donkey project was evidence that some times small but innovative ideas could be more efficient than projects undertaken by big NGOs with enormous amount of money.

NAIROBI, Mar 17 (IPS) - The Nairobi-based International Livestock Research
Institute estimates 250 million people in Africa - a quarter of
the population - rely on livestock for their livelihoods, yet
African governments invest almost nothing to support the sector.