Foundation for Demoraccy

FOUNDATION FOR DEMORACCY

africando 2004

wYNDHAMGRANDBAY, MIAMI FL

oPENING SESSION

09/16TH/2004

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RECAP OF THE 1ST DAY EVENTS AND SESSION

Ribbon cutting and opening ceremony

The 2004 AFRICANDO was opened by United States Secretary for Agriculture Hon. Ann M. Veneman on 09/16th 2004 at 8.45am. This brought the start of the AfriCANDO 7thAnnual Trade and Investment Symposium whose theme this year was on Agriculture titled : “Effective and Efficient Use of Agriculture Science, Technology and Research as a tool for Development in Africa.

The Master of Ceremony for the opening was Hon. Commissioner Dennis Moss, Chairman, Transportation Committee, Miami Dade Commission. After thanking the guest and Honorable members, Hon Moss opening statement was a reminder that whatever happens in Africa has an impact on Miami Dade. This included references to the three hurricanes which have hit the state of Florida in just a month. In his remarks the sprits from Africa have a away of showing their fury to this land due to past transgression brought on by slave trade. Hon. Moss then introduced Fred Oladeinde the President of Foundation Democracyfor Africa. Mr Oladeinde whose organization is the host of the AfriCANDOthen thanked the attendees and introduced all the speakers on this morning panels: These were Hon Sanchez representing the Mayor of Miami Hon Manuel Diaz;Mr. Jorge Arrizurietta, President Free Trade Area of the Americas Inc; Hon. Rosebud Kurwijila, African Union Commission for Rural Development; Her Excellency Elise Loum N. Neloumsei, Vice President of the Pan African Parliament of the African Union; Mrs. Becky Norton Dunlap, Vice President External Affairs at the Heritage Foundation; Hon. Ann M. Veneman, US Secretary of Agriculture and then Dr Robert Ingraham Co-Chair The school Board of Miami Dade County, FL.

Hon Sanchez thanked the guest and welcomed them to Miami on behalf of the Mayor and the residents of Miami. Keys to the City of Miamiwere then presented to Hon. Kurwijila and Hon. Ann Veneman.

Hon. Kurwijila speech was on African Unions’ commitment to build a prosperous Africa through the integration of agricultural policy and rural development. This was followed by brief remarks by Mr Arrizurietta of FTAA and then a brief speech by Her Excellency Elise Loum Neloumsei. In her remarks Her Excellency aligned her position to Hon Kurwijila’s speech and offered her support in getting the Parliamentarians to put new policyin support of this agriculture and rural developmentinitiative and the means of how to implement it.

Mrs. Becky Norton Dunlap was then called upon to introduce the Keynote Speaker Hon Ann M Veneman US Secretary for Agriculture.

Hon. Ann M. Veneman speech was centered on the need to eradicate hunger noting that about 850 million of the world population faces chronic hunger. In stating the previous goals to eradicate hunger are being fulfilled but at a slower pace with revised projection date of eradication being 2065, The Secretary emphasized the urgency to achieve this goal increasing agricultural productivity. The best means of raising productivity will be through Biotechnology which has captured the lead due to its great potential on food security and health. Hon. Veneman stated we will still need to have the following in place. The Rule of law; Sanitary systems; Open trade and foreign exchange; Regional efforts to support scientific research and solutions and Investment in education to build the human resource capacity. In stating her government support to Africa, Hon. Veneman presented the USDA Science Technology Initiative which worked on the Burkina Faso Ministerial meeting. It is from the Burkina Faso meeting thatthe creation of the WesternAfricanCenter of Biotechnology began and also access to the 100 fellows per year in support of agricultural educational programs to Africa, South America and Asia. In closing Hon Veneman stated follow-up items between US and Africa : US Cotton experts to West African, Conference in Mali for the West Africa, Regional Center of Excellence for West Africa and the accessibility to USDA via the Burkina Faso MoU. In concluding Hon Veneman stated that Africa has the most to gain from Biotechnology and the most to lose if this is not taken advantage of.

Dr Ingram was then called upon to do a vote of thanks. Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King, I have a dream speech, Dr. Ingram extolled that AfriCando was set up to lift our neighbors up. One way to do this was to start doing things differently and also to also ask AfriCANDO about how we can join in the wealth of the country.

SESSION ONE (i): au vISION AND MISSION PANEL AGRICULTURE AND SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AS TOOLS FOR DEVELOPMENT

Panel Chair: Dr. Gershwin Blyden; Executive Director; Institute for Democracy in Africa

Presenters: Hon. Rosebud Kurwijila; AU Commissioner for Rural Development and Agriculture. Ms. Patricia R. Sheikh; Deputy Administrator for international Trade Policy USDA

Hon Kurwijila: AU Policy on Agriculture and Rural Development (PPT) AU policy is focused on rural development whose Vision is an Africa Free from Hunger and Poverty. The Mission of her commission will be to work with member states, REC, Africa institution and civil society in realizing this vision. The challenges for AU will be in the areas of initiation, promotion and facilitation. Reference was made to SIRTE on Agriculture and Water

Ms. Patricia R. Sheikh;Improving Opportunities for increased Agricultural Trade between US and African Ms. Sheikh stated the need to think out of the box considering that the US and Sub Sahara African trade is not developed yet. There is hope and potential due to the shared Agricultural history and the low-level of trade between the 2 groups.Trade is improving with the signing of AGOA and both Africa and the US need to harness our resources to improve trade.

Q& A:

1. NEPAD and AU what is the difference? Answer: NEPAD is a program of the AU. The confusion comes because the AU Commission came 2 years later after the inception of NEPAD. But NEPAD is a socio-economic development program of AU.
2. CapacityBuilding. Does this include Training, Research and Development? Answer: YES it does. As stated there will be 3 levels of training based on strategic objective. All will include interrelated bodies at all levels (vocation training centers and farmers level)
3. APHIS Advisor are they country specific or can they be shared by the region? Answer: They are regional and can be shared based on regional trade bodies i.e. The Ugandan based APHIS ( Animal Plant Health Inspection Services), can be utilized by any COMESA member country since Uganda is part of the COMESA.
4. Involving the AU in regional discussion whenever US Agencies are dealing with regional bodies? Answer: The Regional bodies should be the ones to invite the AU. At present US thinks that AU does receive the meeting outline whenever a meeting is held.
5. Involving the Diaspora at AU and the integration of the Diaspora into the member state government institution? Answer: The Diaspora has been recognized by the AU and by Hon. Kurwijila attendance to this meeting it clearly certifies that position. In looking at integration let us take small steps and do first things first.

SESSION 2 (II) Agricultural product standards, food security and using international standards tools to increase african agricultural export

Chair: Ms. JacquelineE Schafer: Deputy Assistant Admin. Economy Growth and Trade Bureau. USAID

Presenters:

Dr. John P. Kabayo: Coordinator Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign Ms. Mary L. Madell: Director for Trade Policy, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services USDA Mr. Ronald J. Thomason: Vice President Operations, SeaSecure LLC

The session examined the importance of working with the international standards setting bodies to address the WTO Phyto-sanitary agreements. The panel discussed agricultural product standards, its relationship to food safety and security. This also dealt with how to utilize the international standard to include maritime, in helping to improve African agricultural production and services standards in order to facilitate agricultural efficiency and stimulate export activities.

Dr John Kabayo: AU Tsetse eradication campaign.Eradication of the Tsetse fly will be done by region one at a time, based on zone of infestation and by type. Hence the fragmentation of the tsetse fly species is the basis of this plan. Dr Kabayo noted that Zanzibar eradicated Tsetse in 1997 and will be a reference point to show that this can be done one region at a time through out the African continent.

Ms. Mary L. Madell: US Phyto-Sanitary Standards and USDA Programs. Ms. Madell looked at the issues and solution as building relationship with African counterparts to improve information dissemination. Currently lack of information seems to be a major issue. USDA will maximize the training component. In doing trade with US, Export of Finished/ ready product is key to taking advantage of the existing trade agreements.

Mr. Ronald J Thomasson: Maritime Standards based on ISPS. African is on the edge of a crisis on security as it pertains to the ISPS code. Compliance is of paramount importance. Impact of non compliance is direct loss to farmer, buyer, country and seller. Take a look at and the PPT. Non compliance will delay or deny access to USPort. The same fate will be imposed if the ship, at any one time, stop in a non compliant African port even if some of the goods are from safe (compliant) ports.

Q&A:

1. Independent body to verify and validate the compliance of these ports? Answer: None. Country are left to self comply. New item; the EU countries are taking the verification component in their own hands. No independent body has been set for now.
2. Pre Qualifying Program for US Coast Guards and Port as in the case of South Africa. Can this be extended to the rest of the continent? Answer: Pre qualifying program was done with South Africa due to the amount of volume between the 2 countries. Others will have to be looked at and there is a substantial fee to the host government if the port wants to get this service while the volume of trade is low.

SESSION THREE(iII): APPLYING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE AGRICULTURE PRODUCTIVITY AND YIELD IN AFRICA WILL NEED TO BE SUPPORT BY APPROPRIATE KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER THAT WILL PRACTICAL AND SAFE FOR USE IN AFRICA.

Panel Chair: Mr. Donald W. Pybas: County Extension Director Miami –Dade University of FL Food and Agriculture

Presenters: All from University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Dr. Yunchong Li: Assistant Professor, Soil and Water Sciences, Tropical Research and EducationCenter. Dr. Mary Lamberts: Vegetable Agent and CountyTrainer

This session looked at the 21 century advancesand that some of the best practices for Agriculture should include the use of applied sciences and technology in the improvement of agricultural yield and productivity in Africa. The session also addressed the inability of African countries to gain access to appropriate technological innovations and new scientific discoveries that would be useful in the effort to increase agricultural production, enhance food security, food safety and ultimately stimulate economic activities through out African. The relevant technologies will include, but not limited by, applications of GIS and modeling, fertilizer practices for nutrients balance, crop nutrients uptake and partitioning techniques.

Dr. Youchong Li: Uses of fertilizer to improve crop production: Soil and water chemical content need to be known in order to have effective agricultural production since each produce has specific nutrients need which can then be addressed via fertilization. Highest yield will often be realized with the use of fertilizers.

Dr. Mary Lambert:Discussion was on Food safety and Security at Farm level. The need for detailed records on the produce was mainly due to a push from the supermarkets to their suppliers who in turn made it a requirement for the growers. This proved to be important in tracing the outbreaks of food poisoning to the specific produce, supplier, grower and what chemicals or components were used so as to enable proper measures to be taken in support of trade. The best use of this was in the case of Guatemala which can not export strawberries to the US during certain times of the year a better position than a complete ban. Resources center to get additional information is at or also at

Q&A

1)Is the use of manure encouraged? Answer: Yes so long as it is 4 months before harvest since the FDA want a 4 months period while the US Agriculture Depart states is beneficial for organically grown food.

2)Impact of heavy metals in the water or soil on humansvia consumption of plants grown in these environments? Answer: Plants can take harmful metals but these are toxic to plants prior to them harming humans. The only heavy metal which is not toxic to plants but toxic to humans is Cadmium.

SESSION three(i11): continued after short break and change of both chairperson and presenters

Panel Chair: Dr. Gershwin Blyden; Executive Director; Institute for Democracy in Africa (for Dr Kabayo)

Presenters: Dr. Randy Plotez; Tropic Research and Education Ctr. University of FL (UFL) institute of Food and Agriculture Dr. Eric Simonne; Extension Specialist- integrated irrigation/nutrition for vegetables, horticulture Sciences UFL Dr. Steve Liponte; Research Entomologist, USDA-ARS-US Horticultural Research laboratory

This 2nd half of Session Three (III) continued to discuss the relevant technologies in the improvement of agricultural yield and productivity in Africa. The discussion included, but was not limited to,genetic modified produce, irrigation and water resources management, biological control of pests and diseases of plants and animals. The need for ICT to facilitate information banking and knowledge transfer.

Dr. Randy Plotez: Genetically Modified (GMO’s) and related issues: Multiple studies conducted by various organizations both governmental and independent have shown no connection between GMO and human health related issues. GMO have been confirmed to be fine for human consumption.

Dr. Eric Simonne: Drip Irrigation as a tool for Development Efficient and target method of irrigation. This system however efficient is every unforgiving when accommodating changes to the system in terms of addition, maintenance or upgrade.

Dr. Steve Liponte: USDA/ARS Research for limited Biotechnology Horticulture ProductionBiotechnology is the process of finding the natural enemy of the pest and utilizing it to eradicate the pest.

Q&A:

1)What is the WTO’s position on GMO and their importation into a common market like EU. Answer;

2)Trade in Mangoes: Answer: most of the Africa countries should be help to understand the USDA position on produce. For example the case of Mali where USDA will need to have a USDA personnel to help produce good products Also the mangoes have a seaborne pathogen which can not be treated by heat and needs rinsing

3)Vitamin A deficiency: Answer: Improvement on GMO can help target the nutrients that are needed for the particular plant or planting of a GMO produce to meet this natural Vitamin A deficiency.

4)Clarification: Zimbabwe returning of the food aid was due to unanswered question the Zimbabwe government had asked the USAID prior to accepting the release of the GMO produce.

5)Is there a place where Drip irrigation is in use: Answer: Yes in FL where there about 15,000 acres are under irrigation

6)Soil pH: Will this be affected by ph in the irrigation water. Answer: There is no longer time effect on the soil pH. Any effect will be short-lived since the distribution of water is targeted and the nutrients are temporary

SESSION THREE (i11): continued Q&A

7)Are there any negative impacts of Biology Control (BC)? Answer: Most natural enemies have been screened with stringent steps being taken prior to field deployment.

8)What are biological controlled weeds more successful? Answer: Weeds in its description is unwanted plant (of no economical value). So we can not state that they have been successful.

9)Does Tsetse have natural enemies in order to utilize BC? Answer: Tsetse have very few natural enemies, in addition to having a unique lifecycle where the larva burrows into the ground before hatching into a full fly. The combination of these two makes it hard to use a natural enemy hence the best means is via the release of sterile tsetse males in the field. Female tsetse mates once but males mate multiple times.

-----End of day one-----

AFTER HOURS:(i): africando youth ledership trophy award ceremony

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Sara Moten: Education Division Chief, Bureau of Africa USAID

Presenters: Dr. Gershwin Blyden; Executive Director; Institute for Democracy in Africa Mr. Anthony Okonmah, Executive Director; The Foundation for Democracy in Africa

RECIPIENTS: CORAL SPRINGS HIGH SCHOOL

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