Africa ‘must support small-scale farmers’

African governments should put their money where their mouths are when it comes to farming, says the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network.

CEO Lindiwe Sibanda said with the 2003 Maputo Declaration, countries on the continent had agreed to devote 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture.

“Eight years later, only 10 African countries have done this. We are not investing where our mouth is.”

Lack of access to finance and technology, among other things, meant maize yields among African small farmers were a fraction of what they should be.

“They could get 10 tons a hectare; they are achieving one to three tons a hectare,” Sibanda said.

Governments were also “not putting in place the right policies to address the challenges”.
Such lack of investment had “killed” the region’s agricultural research sector, leaving it “asset poor” when it came to knowledge.

Sibanda said Africa had the ability to feed itself. This had to be done through investment in small farmers, who were the engines of the continent’s food security.

“Smallholder agriculture is key... the hand hoe is still the tool of choice for most of our farmers.”

If such farmers were adequately supported, 80 percent of the region’s food problems would be solved. Yet many householders had to survive on the equivalent of one US dollar a day.

“How can they manage to buy good seed and fertilizer?”

Calling for a uniquely African green revolution, Sibanda said high food prices could be brought down if the continent could feed itself. - Sapa

Rwandan most renowned businessman is awarded BID’s International Quality Crown Award

Sina Gérard, the founder of Urwibutso Enterprise and Rwandan most respect businessman was awarded the Diamond award at the 23rd International Quality Crown Convention on November 26th and 27th, 2011.  Gerard beat every nominee in the prestigious Diamond category and proved to lead in Excellence in Leadership and Business Management, Quality and Excellence, Business and Brand name Prestige and Technology, Innovation and Expansion.

The 23rd International Quality Crown Convention London 2011 is part of the annual program of B.I.D., Business Initiative Directions Awards, designed to recognize the prestige of the outstanding companies, organizations, and businessmen in the business world.

The Ceremony were attended by companies from 74 countries, together with leaders from different business fields, professionals from the worlds of economics, the arts and corporate image, quality experts, as well as academic personalities and representatives from the diplomatic corps.
 

Sina Gérard Rwanda’s Millionaire who built business empire on chili sauce

A maverick entrepreneur and self-made millionaire, Sina Gerard is probably Rwanda's most famous businessman.

Having established a business empire from the bottom up, he's now training local farmers to help make Rwanda an agricultural exporter.

"My aim is to make sure that the Rwandan people build themselves and get out of poverty," he says.

"My aim is to make sure Rwandan farmers, because they are rated at 90%, feel proud to be farmers. I'm sure I'll achieve it because so far I have achieved a lot."

There's no disputing Gerard's achievements. Twenty-five years ago he had just one employee, who helped him sell the bread he baked at his parents' farm. Now, Gerard says he employs hundreds of workers and buys produce from thousands of farmers.

Although he started out selling his food from a roadside stall, he was soon known not for his snacks, but what he put on them -- his famous "Akabanga" chili sauce.

He now produces his chili sauce in industrial quantities. Akabanga is so strong that workers making it are required to wear a face mask. It has become popular in Rwanda and is shipped across the world for customers wanting the ultimate spicy kick.

Gerard, the former baker, now has his fingers in many pies, running a bewildering variety of ventures.

His factories make fruit drinks and banana wine from locally grown produce, and he sells them directly from his own 24-hour roadside shops.

He is now focusing on driving agricultural change. Always the innovator, he has begun producing strawberries rather than staple foods and growing fruits new to Rwanda, such as grapes for wine production, and apples.

Keen to stimulate the local agricultural economy, Gerard gives farmers free seeds, fertilizer and training and buys their crops when they are ready for harvest.

„That’s me -- that’s how I am,” he says. „I love people, and for me to have financial security it’s because I live well with all my neighbors here.”

„I look for that very poor person and help him or her -- and not necessarily financially, but train them and give them more knowledge,” he adds.

He still lives in the same town he was born in because he wants to help people with similar skills and aspirations to his own.

The town did not have a school until Gerard built one. He hopes some of the school’s graduates will join him in his work and become successful business people themselves.

But, though he is always a visionary, some of Gerard’s methods are more unconventional than others.
He has been experimenting with playing music to his pigs and claims he has seen an improvement in productivity. He has even set up a control group, which is not played music, to prove his pig-nurturing theory.

„What I have realized is that pigs need music,” he says. „With my projects of pigs they need music. They eat well, they don’t waste what they eat, they deliver well. They even mate well.”

But what drives Gerard to keep trying out new ideas and keep expanding into so many different businesses?

„Who else can do it?” he says. „Since I’m here, and I’m able to do it, I just chose to do it all.”