Exposure visit to the Netherlands (15 –19 April)
by local staff members of Royal Netherlands Embassies and Agri-ProFocus Agri-Hub coordinators
Wilson Mngwambe
Apollo Muyanja Mbazzira
Eddy Niyonzima
Marie Nizeyimana
Amos Thiong’o
Amarech Haile
Klaas de Vries
Report
The Centre for Development Innovation, part of Wageningen UR (Wageningen University & Research centre) works on processes of innovation and change in the areas of food and nutrition security, adaptive agriculture, sustainable markets, ecosystem governance, and conflict, disaster and reconstruction. It is an interdisciplinary and internationally focused unit of Wageningen UR within the Social Sciences Group.
Through facilitating innovation, brokering knowledge and supporting capacity development, our group of 60 staff help to link Wageningen UR’s expertise to the global challenges of sustainable and equitable development. The Centre for Development Innovation works to inspire new forms of learning and collaboration between citizens, governments, businesses, NGOs and the scientific community.
More information: www.wageningenur.nl/cdi
/ Innovation & Change/ Ecosystem Governance
/ Adaptive Agriculture
/ Sustainable Markets
/ Food & Nutrition Security
Conflict, Disaster & Reconstruction
For more information on Agri-ProFocus, please visit www.agri-profocus.nl.
For more information on Dutch development policies to stimulate food security policies in partner countries of the Dutch government, please visit www.food-security.nl.
Acknowledgements
The exposure visit of Staff members of the Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Agri-ProFocus Agri Hub coordinators was made possible by The Dutch Ministries of Foreign and Economic Affairs and by Agri-ProFocus. CDI coordinated the organisation of the visit as well as the formulation of the program. CDI accepted this assignment under the Embassy Support Facility for Food Security and Private Sector development.
Key persons in the organisation of the exposure visit:
• Ariane van Beuzekom (MinEZ, DG Agro)
• Herman Brouwer (CDI)
• Jan Brouwers (CDI)
• Hedwig Bruggeman (Agri-ProFocus)
• Ben Geerlings (Wageningen International)
• Vera Hendriks (Agri-ProFocus)
• Amar Jafra (CDI)
• Inger Janssen (Agri-ProFocus)
• Bram Peters (CDI)
• Christel Schiphorst (Agri-ProFocus)
• Roel Snelder (Agri-ProFocus)
• Johan Veul (MinBuZa, DDE)
• Klaas de Vries (CDI)
• Wijnand van IJssel (MinBuZa, DDE)
1 Introduction
As a result of one of the ideas flowing from the Dutch regional Agrofood mission in November 2012, the Ministries of Economic Affairs (EZ) and Foreign Affairs (BuZa) in cooperation With Agri-ProFocus and facilitated by the Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation (WUR-CDI) organised an exposure visit for local staff of embassies and coordinators of Agri-Hubs. Main objectives of the exposure visit were to expose the participants to Dutch institutions and organisations that could play a role in the implementation of food security policies and activities in their respective countries and to exchange experiences.
Participants Embassy of the Kingdom of the NetherlandsCountry / Name / Email
Bangladesh / Arman Khan /
Benin / Marcellin Nonfon /
Burundi / Eddy Niyonzima /
Ethiopia / Adey Fissahatsion /
Rwanda / Francois Uwumukiza /
Rwanda / Marie Nizeyimana /
South Africa / Wilson Mngwambe /
Tanzania / Theresia Mcha /
Uganda / Stephen Bayite /
Participants Agri-ProFocus
Country / Name / Email
Benin / Marcel Djihoun /
Burundi / Christophe Bizimungu /
Ethiopia / Amarech Haile Berehe /
Kenya / Amos Thiongo /
Mali / Mamadou Diarrah /
Rwanda / Espérance Mukarugwiza /
Tanzania / Apollo Muyanja Mbazzira /
Uganda / Sylvia Natukunda /
Zambia / Claire van der Kleij /
Other representatives present throughout the week
· Monday: Marcel Beukeboom (DDE), Johan Veul (DDE), Frits van der Wal (DDE), Monique Calon (DDE), Corinne Abbas (DDE), Teddie Muffels (EKN Kigali), Hennie Gerner (EKN Kampala), Roel Snelder (Agri-ProFocus), Christel Schiphorst (Agri-ProFocus), Jan Brouwers (WUR-CDI), Klaas de Vries (WUR-CDI)
· Tuesday: Corinne Abbas (DDE), Ariane van Beuzekom (EZ), Marjolein de Bruin (Agri-ProFocus)
· Wednesday: Wijnand van IJssel (DDE), Lucie Wassink (EZ), Wim Goris (Agri-ProFocus) Jan Willem Eggink (Agri-ProFocus), Bram Peters (WUR-CDI)
· Thursday: All Agri-ProFocus staff in the Netherlands and several representatives from Ministries of BuZa and EZ, knowledge institutes (e.g. WUR), companies (e.g. Rijk Zwaan) and NGOs
· Friday: Johan Veul (DDE), Roel Snelder (Agri-ProFocus), Hedwig Bruggeman (Agri-ProFocus), Sjoerd Croqué (EZ), Ariane van Beuzekom (EZ), Jan Brouwers (WUR-CDI), Klaas de Vries (WUR-CDI)
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2 Monday 15 April, 2013 (Summary by Wilson Mngwambe)
Day 1, at the Babylon Hotel in the Hague, was characterised by a lot of information being fed to EKN and Agri-ProFocus coordinators. The day was facilitated by DDE and WUR-CDI, with Marcel Beukeboom taking the position of chair. Speakers were Jeroen Roodenburg (DDE), Ton Dietz (ASC), Marcel Beukeboom (DDE), Nathalie Olijslager (DDE), Bob Steetskamp (Topsector Agri-Food), Arman Khan (EKN Dhaka), Mirco Goudriaan (DDE) and Marc Mazairac (DDE) There were also discussions in between where local EKN and Agri-ProFocus staff shared their experiences. The objectives of the first day were:
• Welcome and Introduction to the programme.
• Introduction to “new” Foreign policy of the Ministries of EZ and BuZa
• Discussions on issues towards improved cooperation of different actors
• Matchmaking
The influence of The Netherlands on the world stage is decreasing as new players emerge. Increasingly a lot of developing countries want to have an equal economic relationship with The Netherlands because now those countries have something to offer too. Business to business relations seems to be the way to go, with countries like Ethiopia insisting that Dutch missions to that country bring businesses along.
Average incomes in developing countries are increasing; however, that alone does not give a complete picture of the reality in these countries – as these countries develop, the richer become richer, the poor become poorer. South Africa (with the highest Gini coefficient of 0.65) is an example of a country that has seen economic growth in the past years, yet that growth has not been translated to a better life for its citizens – only a select few are reaping the rewards, the vast majority of poor people only sees things getting worse.
The world today produces enough food for all of its people to be food secure. However, uneven distribution of food leaves a lot of people in the developing world without sufficient food. Therefore innovation is required to attain food and nutrition security, as can be demonstrated by the food fortification project with rice in Bangladesh. Seeing that people generally eat more rice, a starch that merely feels their stomachs compared to other food groups, this project aims to fortify rice and enrich it with micronutrients.
That “food security is one of four core policies of Min BuZa” set the scene for day 1. Furthermore The Netherlands government has grouped countries according to the following three types of relationships:
Developing partner countries – (extremely) poor countries that cannot solve their problems alone (e.g. Burundi and Mali)
Transition partner countries – As the name suggests these countries are in transit and have demonstrated a move towards having equal (economic) partnerships with The Netherlands. These are characterized by aid and trade relationships. Creating an enabling (business) environment is important in such countries (e.g. Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Uganda). A good example of a project that has a development as well as Dutch business interest component is the training of customs officials in Ethiopia. This project supports capacity building of the Ethiopian officials while creating an enabling environment for Dutch exporters to this country.
Trade partners – these are developed countries in which trade / business to business /economic cooperation is the main relationship (e.g. fairly advanced economies like the US, India and Australia).
A new instrument, the Dutch Good Growth Fund, has been set up by the Netherlands government to stimulate the eradication of extreme poverty, to support sustainable and inclusive growth, and promote international success for Dutch companies. Population growth and the rise of the middle class in the developing world have made Africa and South East Asia important markets.
With The Netherlands being a trading nation it is important for the Dutch government to support Dutch entities in their quests to do business in/with other countries. To that end the government has several instruments which can be used by such entities, often in partnership with local organisations. However, as alluded to by participating EKN and Agri-ProFocus local staff, such instruments often fail to meet their sustainable development goals for a number of reasons. For example, it appears that grassroots organisations that can actually complement the efforts of economic cooperation through these instruments cannot be selected for projects simply because they lack proposal writing skills. Also, instruments like PSI should look at using local consultants to assist with proposals. It is also the view of local staff that AgencyNL needs to be on the ground more often or avail resources that will allow close monitoring of projects from inception to completion.
Sound policies alone do not result in development. Each government needs to put its money where its mouth is. The Maputo declaration which should boost Africa’s Green Revolution is not being honored by most African countries. Also, in some countries, farmers do not have economic freedom – the right to choose what they grow, when and in what quantities. There is a lot of state intervention, which is counter-productive in many cases. Tanzania and Mozambique led world cashew production in the 1970’s, but are now behind Vietnam. Vietnam started producing cashew on scale in the 1980’s and is an example of what state intervention can do to sector economics.
Africa’s Green Revolution appears not to be just for its citizens, investors from other continents are buying land in Africa for production of food to be consumed back in these “investors’” countries. This has been viewed as another scramble for Africa, with Asian countries blamed. However, if managed well, this can be good for Africa, and it’s not necessarily true that the middle east and Asia are the main “culprits”, many western investors are buying up land in Africa as well. In fact according to most recent studies the west is the biggest “culprit”.
Day 1 also saw an interesting speed dating session. Participants could chose to meet representatives from Nuffic, BopInc/2Scale, MVO Nederland, DLG and Embassy support facility for food security/WUR-CDI.
The objective of this exercise was not met well, as most local staff participants and participating organisations focused more on what the Dutch organisations could do for the participants as receivers than how these local staff can actually support such organisations. Nonetheless it became clear that EKN, Agri-ProFocus and other organisations can strengthen each other’s efforts. It’s important to know who’s doing what and where, to see how we can best support each other, in these tough economic times. Here, local staff at Dutch organisations abroad become important, not only as the eyes and ears, but also for continuity because in many cases they are the constant factor. Expats have short stints in different countries – usually rotating.
• To sum up, day 1 made it clear that sustainability of the agricultural sector is made possible by the cooperation of Government (create enabling environment), Private Sector (lead), Civil Society and Knowledge Institutes (support).
• It was also noticed that there is a communication gap between DDE/Min BuZa and missions: two way (communication) approach amongst the parties is essential particularly in developing/improving more effective instruments such as PSI, Dutch Good Growth Fund etc.
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3 Tuesday April 16, 2013 (Summary by Apollo Muyanja Mbazzira and Eddy Niyonzima)
On Tuesday April 16, the group of eighteen gathered at The Hague for a field visit to Flora Holland, Syngenta, Tomato World and a Wageningen University research site. All in the Westland region in The Netherlands. With high expectations we proceeded to visit Flora Holland, which is the Netherlands’ largest flower auction interconnecting over 13,000 growers in and outside the country, has 3,000 members and is currently controlling close to 60% of the current world market for flowers. Flora Holland is both an efficient and effective system that brings together buyers, sellers and distribution channels all interwoven within one network.
The main reason to implement Flora Holland in a program that is oriented towards food security is because of their expertise in marketing and logistics within horticulture. It is important to note that Flora Holland is not limited to offering only management services but their touch can be felt throughout the supply chain from production to the development of new products that meet the standards of new consumption patterns. This is an innovative business model that can be replicated in our local environments.
We also visited the Syngenta young plant production center in De Lier. We saw first-hand how Syngenta produces young plants from seeds and later exports all these young plants to different destinations globally. For the farmer, planting a young plant significantly reduces the chances of crop failure and guarantees a uniform period for harvest. Syngenta is a perfect example of the level of specialization that an organisation can achieve in a specific segment of a complex supply chain.
From Syngenta, we moved on to Tomato World. Tomato World is the result of a joint effort of innovative and involved partners active within the Dutch green-house farming sector. The intention of the initiators of Tomato World is to put the power of the sector in the limelight and to create a platform for cooperation, education and knowledge exchange. Tomato World is located in the centre of the Westland and consists of a 1500m2 green house of an area of 500m2 set up as an information and education centre. After seeing close to 50 different tomato varieties, we were able to see how 1 square meter of land under this green house can produce between 25-70 kilograms of tomatoes depending on whether the farmer is producing small or large tomatoes. Our last stop for the day was a Wageningen University test site where we saw a number of greenhouse trials that have been set up to see whether productivity can be significantly increased through the use of different lights of different colors or through the adaptation of different environments.