Print This PageGrowing Hope in Africa
Viewpoint: Public-Private Partnerships Close The Yield Gap In Africa's Agriculture
Mpoko Bokanga, Ph.D., Executive Director, African Agricultural Technology Foundation
Developments
in agricultural science and technology hold the promise of major improvements
in food security and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Governments
and regional organizations in Africa understand this and are committed to using
science and technology to increase agricultural productivity.
Both the public and private sectors hold keys to accessing these technologies. But neither of them alone can utilize this potential on the African continent. Private-sector companies have significant technological resources but no current commercial incentives to invest in specific technologies, varieties, and traits adapted to the agricultural conditions of the SSA market. Conversely, public-sector organizations have vast experience with regionally important crops but need improved access to proprietary technologies and assistance in adapting complex technologies to develop appropriate products for resource-poor farmers in SSA.
However, issues pertaining to the availability, technical challenges, high transaction costs, licensing, testing, safety, and liability of proprietary agricultural technologies may constitute barriers to the accession of these technologies by SSA researchers, development specialists, local private-sector businesses, and resource-poor farmers.
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) was created four years ago with the encouragement of the Rockefeller Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, Monsanto, and other public- and private-sector stakeholders to address the challenges associated with accessing, developing, and deploying agricultural technologies to smallholder farmers in SSA. It strives to deliver proprietary technologies used outside Africa to African smallholder farmers, after adaptation by public research institutes, on-farm testing by nongovernmental organizations, research institutes and extension services, and dissemination by private entrepreneurs, stockists and agro-dealers. The technologies that AATF accesses are those identified by stakeholders in African agriculture as having the potential to solve some of the constraints affecting resource-poor smallholder farmers in SSA. They could be biological, chemical, mechanical or information technologies.
The facilitation role played by AATF is giving rise to the concept of the “agricultural innovation platform.” This entails fostering effective public and private sector partnerships along the agricultural technology value chain — from basic and applied research to field testing and commercialization, including facilitating market access for farmers who produce surplus. It also calls for working with partners in providing stewardship throughout the development, delivery, and use of productivity enhancing products to farmers. This model constitutes the necessary means for bringing products from gene technologies to African farmers, because it makes it possible to comprehensively address issues such as intellectual property management, regulatory compliance, public awareness, and stewardship.
AATF has negotiated for the right to use technologies that could ease the constraints faced by smallholder farmers. The Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) gene obtained under license from Monsanto has the potential to control the infestation of cowpea by the insect pest Maruca vitrata. The sweet pepper ferredoxin-like protein (pfl p) gene, licensed to AATF by Academia Sinica of Taiwan, is used to control banana bacterial wilt in the cooking bananas of the East African highlands. AATF has also established and is managing other partnerships designed to deliver products from these technologies to African smallholder farmers.
The licensing agreements negotiated for these technologies have been obtained under farmer-friendly conditions that allow royalty-free access and sharing on the African continent. The AATF facilitation is intended to guarantee access to all technologies that it promotes, to ensure cost-effective deployment of new products grown with such technologies, and to provide stewardship to ensure the long-lasting effect of these technologies on smallholder farmers’ productivity.
