Investment in Africa is spurring economic innovation and growth throughout the continent. There’s no question about that for the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer.
“Make no mistake about it,” Schafer said. “Investment in agriculture, investment in the structure of agriculture to move food to the market, is an investment in Africa’s future.”
Schafer urged private sector investors to build stronger partners and markets in Africa at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum Friday. The ag secretary said in order to truly develop a successful farm to market infrastructure in Africa, the private sector must get involved. Schafer pointed out that much of Africa lacks the basic fundamentals needed for thriving agriculture markets. He said things as simple as storage, refrigeration, a consistent supply of electricity, expertise in where to sell and how to sell simply don’t exist in many African regions. (more…)
The poorest of Africa spend 70 percent of their income on food. That’s the reality the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development Africa Bureau put before the 300 attendees of the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum this week. That’s the reality that Franklin Moore wants the public and private sectors in the U.S. and Africa to face. Franklin says Africa’s food problems are a part of a worldwide problem.
“The world’s in the midst of a global food crisis unlike any other food crisis,” Franklin said. He says the poorest one billion are living on just one dollar a day, while nations around the globe are experiencing high food prices. That means, he says, the poor are having to choose between food, health care and school. Franklin says a significant part of the global population is spending more than half their income on food. And again, in Africa, he says, the poorest are spending 70 percent of their income on food.
All this, Franklin says, is the result of “fundamental imbalances in supply and demand, particularly of major food staples.”
Franklin says the good news is, correcting these imbalances opens up a wide spectrum of opportunity to transform and help modernize African agricultural systems through private investment. Not just private though. Franklin urges companies and governments to work together and engage in public private partnerships in an effort to reduce global hunger.
During his speech at the forum in Chicago, Franklin talked about what the U.S. in particular is doing to help this effort. He also outlined food crops that are crucial to the African food supply and where and how he sees public private partnership can make a real difference not just in African agribusiness but in the African quality of life. Franklin says the African demand for food staples is $50 billion a year and that demand is expected to double by 2015. Plus, he adds, Africa is the most rapidly urbanizing continent on the planet.
There are solutions to this global food issue though and Franklin urges companies to rise to the challenge. Franklin outlined many specific solutions in his speech. You can listen to it here:
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Changing the African vision from one of short-term pay-offs to that of long-term success was one of the key issues for panelists at the “Education and Knowledge Building in Animal Agriculture” breakout session. The session was one of fifteen being offered at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. The workshop, sponsored by Novus International, featured a panel of experts that addressed the needs and means for improving education and first-hand know-how for creating “robust agribusiness value-chains” throughout Africa.
And, robust agribusiness in Africa is a very real possibility offering real opportunities if you ask Dr. Jerry Nelson. Jerry is a professor of plant sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia and served as the panel moderator.
“Africa probably has the most agricultural potential than anywhere we’re looking at right now,” Jerry said.
Thad Simons, the president and CEO of Novus International highlighted the ultimate goal: “providing safe and secure food all over the world.” He added that performance and sustainability were critical for realizing that goal.
The panelists looked at how to drive that performance and sustainability in Africa. Sergio Beliver, sales manager for Europe, Africa and Middle East at Novus International, stressed the importance of education. He said Africans need to be educated not only in the processes, management and technology needed for modernizing Africa’s agricultural industry but also in long-term vision. He says farmers need to be taught to recognize the value in a more secure future instead of looking for quick pay-offs in the present. That’s something Dave Harlan, director of Global Animal Health & Food Safety at Cargill Inc. also stressed.
“It’s not about capturing a high price, but locking in a price that people can live on,” Dave said.
Dr. Shaukat Ali Abdulrazak, secretary National Council for Science and Technology in Kenya, also echoed Sergio’s call for more education. Shaukat said his country needs personnel that is both educated and trained in modern farming techniques, management and the development of necessary infrastructure. He conceded that one major challenge is “short-sighted politicians” who only consider programs that fall within the parameters of the term they serve in parliament. He says politicians in Kenya tend to have an agenda that expire when their term expires.
But, Shaukat says Kenya does have government initiatives and national development plans that should attract investors. He stressed that leaders in the public and private sectors of both the U.S. and Africa need to work together to build off of the positives that already exist. Shaukat says leaders and experts need to “make lemonade out of the lemons we have.”
Tasir Olawale Raji, the permanent secretary with Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, agreed. He said its crucial for African countries to move with other developing countries throughout the world, so Africa won’t be left behind. And, to do that, Tasir said leaders and experts need to focus on those that are already on the job in Africa, building upon “already acquired experience.”
Jerry highlighted the critical agricultural “lemons” so-to-speak that countries throughout Africa need to work on including land, water, electricity, energy and marketing. Jerry said African countries must develop the needed infrastructures and the continent’s agricultural industries must exists within those infrastructures. The continent should work as a larger unit to develop a strategy planning mission with each country, Jerry said, offering its own unique approach and contribution.
The entire panel discussion is available here on AgWired.com. You can listen to the discussion in two parts here:
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Stock exchanges provide a platform. A platform that Chris Sturgess, assistant general manager of the Agricultural Products Division of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, says helps with price discovery and price risk management. He says Africa needs such platforms. At the same time though, he stresses that stock exchanges do not set prices.
People from all walks of life, as World Trade Center Illinois Agribusiness Director Chuck Hartke puts it, are gathering in a first-of-its-kind forum in Chicago this week in an effort to grow agricultural exchange and commerce between the U.S. and Africa. Chuck says the 300 participants of the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum have come together to explore how America can play a key role in developing rural agriculture in Africa.
African countries are asking for help and Chuck says the American Midwest, particularly Illinois, possesses the resources to help. Chuck says the top of the line production facilities, quality food products, machinery and equipment available in the Midwest are an example of what’s needed and what’s achievable throughout Africa.
Chuck explains that a continent that’s four and a half times the size of the U.S., with ample fertile land, has the untapped potential to not only solve its own hunger issues, but become a global player in food commerce.
Right now, though, Chuck says the reality is a continent of 900 million African people who, as a majority, aren’t even able to feed themselves. But, he says this forum is meant to spark dialogue and courtship that spans the Atlantic Ocean.
Chuck says Africa represents a huge portion of land that’ s not contributing to the global food source and its time for the U.S. and Africa to work together to capitalize on the economic opportunities for agribusiness between the two nations.
I spoke with Chuck during a break from this morning’s sessions and workshops. You can listen to my interview with Chuck here:
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The Corporate Council on Africa wants U.S. investors to realize their potential in African agribusiness opportunities. That’s why the CCA is showcasing the African food value-chain at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. The CCA wants public and private sectors alike to cross borders and bring “farm to fork.” I’ll be covering the forum here at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago throughout the day Thursday and Friday.
Highlights of the Forum will include industry-specific sessions, panels to address cross-cutting issues, such as finance product innovation, pharmaceutical and biofuel industry growth, carbon trading, production technology, and certification; as well as networking opportunities. Industry experts will share best practices and the latest trends in the field.
These are a few examples of how the 2008 U.S.-Africa Agribusiness Forum will help companies gain the competitive edge on investing in Africa by becoming more knowledgeable about the African agribusiness marketplace.
Like the first speaker on our program today here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference, our second speaker, David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley, says we need to increase agricultural productivity.
His talk was on the distributional effects of biofeuls and he had two conclusions. The first one is that biofuels make some people better off and some people worse off. Drivers are better off since they’re getting their fuel for about 15 cents less than if it didn’t have biofuels in it but consumers of food are worse off since the price of food is higher. He says that’s worse in developing countries where they’re seeing food prices 20 to 40 percent higher. This situation he says is causing political instability which will become an obstacle to the development of biofuels.
His second conclusion is that we have to increase productivity. He says that if we don’t we’re in real trouble. In order to increase agricultural productivity he says we must use biotechnology in all crops.
You can listen to my interview with David here:
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The first speaker here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference is Michael Wetzstein, University of Georgia. His talk deals with two issues. One is on price volatility and the other is on food and fuel. He’s one of 22 speakers on the program and all the talks are dealing with the biofuels issue. I’ll do my best to interview them all. So here we go.
Michael says that gas price volatility can be avoided with fuel diversification by blending renewable fuels with fossil fuels. That’s what his research shows. He also suggests that we could relax gas taxes and reduce the tariff on the importation of Brazilian ethanol.
Another part of his research is on food and fuel and to answer the question of “Is there a direct link between the volatility of ethanol production and the volatility of corn prices. His research has found that there is a link but not a persistent or long lasting one. In fact, in the long run he says there is no direct link.
The bottom line he says is to produce more food. After talking to Iowa corn growers last weekend, I can say that American farmers are certainly doing their best.
You can listen to my interview with Michael here:
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Since Cindy alerted me to this I’ve got to post it. I would have anyway since this is too good to pass on.
Deceiver.com has a great post with this photo of Jessica Simpson and her “Real Girls Eat Meat” t-shirt. I can’t say I’ve been a fan of hers but I think she’s just made a bunch of new ones. (Picture from Bauer-Griffin)
Of course the folks at PETA (that should stand for People Eating Tasty Animals) are not happy. You really need to read the comments on the Deceiver.com post.
So, here’s a couple places I found where you can buy shirts, here and here.
The online travel agency CheapTickets.com is bringing consumers the best in barbecue and travel this summer. The agency has teamed up with Rick Browne, host of PBS’ Barbecue America, to launch bbq.cheaptickets.com.
The new site, which features a blog written by Browne exclusively for CheapTickets, reveals undiscovered BBQ destinations around the U.S. In his blog, Browne highlights lesser known, but equally delicious, hidden BBQ gems in Portland, ME, Las Vegas and San Francisco, just to name a few.
And just in time for Fourth of July travel, the site offers budget-friendly vacation packages and sales that will ease the pinch of the pocketbook. Through the BBQ site, customers have access to CheapTickets’ Summer Sale which offers $50-off qualifying flight + hotel packages of three or more nights using the promotional code SUNSALE50(1).
Now, if we could just get the airlines to serve BBQ during the flight…
Okay. So who knew just how crazy Americans are for hot dogs? I didn’t. Apparently, Hatfield Quality Meats does. The family-owned meat company says on July 4th alone, Americans will chow down on 150 million hot dogs. That’s enough hot dogs, the company says, to stretch from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles… five times over. That’s just one day. Hatfield says that by the end of the summer, Americans will have eaten an estimated 7 billion hot dogs.
Hatfield Quality Meats will turn out more than 50 million hot dogs, or ‘franks,’ this summer alone. In addition to its traditional meat and beef franks, the company recently introduced new Authentic Deli-style Beef Franks, along with pre-marinated entrees such as Lemon Garlic Pork Loin Filets, Sweet Brown Sugar Ham Steaks and Southwestern-style Smoked Sausage — all for the grill.
What few people realize is that hot dogs — of all varieties — are considered sausages.
The National Turkey Federation is becoming more savvy in online social networking. June is ‘Turkey Lovers’ Month’ and to celebrate, the federation is debuting its new identity on Facebook.com
The federation chose to focus the concept on Facebook, to reach a younger audience that is talking with their peers through this social networking community. Campaign participants will add a “turkey voki” — a small, talking cartoon turkey — to their profile areas and share it with their friends across Facebook.
The talking turkey voki has the right elements to spread the National Turkey Federation’s message virally. The talking turkey delivers a humorous, customizable message and it wears a t-shirt that says “Shake Your Tail Feather”. The voki also says, “Do I make you hungry? Happy Turkey Month!” Users can customize the talking turkey’s clothes and choose to load up their own voice to the turkey voki with their phone or computer. The voki platform allows users to send the talking turkey to friends, or post it on a social network profile area or blog.
The tested message, “Shake Your Tail Feather,” was an almost-unanimous choice among the younger audience. Participants said they chose the phrase because it made them want to get up and dance.
Facebook users can find the talking turkey in the Voki Voice Avatars application.
Cindy pointed me to a story on the Financial Post Blog about the big tomato scare. It’s too good not to bring to your attention. Here’s how Financial Post editor, Terence Corcoran, describes how the whole mess got started.
It begins with a food poisoning, gets picked up by brain-dead media, story flies out of control for 48 hours, regulators swing into extreme self-preservation mode, risk-ignorant consumers 2,000 kilometres away get confused and panicky, and the food in question — a billion dollar industry — gets blown away.
Exactly. Our main, traditional media outlets of today are so out of control it’s no wonder people are looking elsewhere for information. Here’s an interesting point made in the post on the FP:
Enhancing the media-led distortion is the fact that the original story is wrong: The man allegedly killed by tomato salmonella after eating at a Houston, Texas, restaurant — 67-year-old Raul Rivera — actually did not die from the tomato he ate. Kathy Barton, a Houston health official, said Mr. Rivera’s official cause of death is cancer. The Texas health department reports it has no deaths from salmonella poisoning.
I wonder if that story got corrected. We certainly live in a society where people and especially many in the media are looking for a scapegoat for every little thing that happens. No one wants to claim their own responsibility and as the FP says, consumers of today have, “almost willfull ignorance of risk.” This is why it’s more important than ever for anyone involved in agribusiness to be looking at new ways to communicate and dare I say that we can all do it ourselves now? I looked for some tomato grower organizations with blogs and couldn’t find any. Seems like it would be a good place to be writing about the truth on this story!
Oscar Mayer says hot dog enthusiasts have more reason to love the summer grilling season. That’s because Broadway Actor Mario Lopez is introducing the new Oscar Mayer Premium Beef Franks. Lopez will be firing up the grill on June 10 in Times Square to give New Yorkers a sample of the new beefier, juicier hot dogs. Both the WIENERMOBILE and the New mini WIENERMOBILE will be around for the fun.
The new Oscar Mayer Premium Beef Franks are made with high quality cuts of beef and a flavorful blend of unique spices for a taste the whole family will love. They also have no artificial flavors, colors, fillers or by-products and are packaged in the same easy-to-use re-sealable package to lock-in freshness.
In honor of the brand’s 125th anniversary year, Oscar Mayer is beefing up the New York barbecue by spreading the love of lunch to America’s Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank Network with a $100,000 donation. But the philanthropy does not stop when the New York lunch crowd slows down. The Oscar Mayer WIENERMOBILE vehicle is hitting the road this summer with opportunities to sample the new franks and collect even more donations to benefit local America’s Second Harvest members in the communities it visits coast-to-coast.
Citrus growers will soon have a new employment option: robots. Energid Technologies is developing a robotic citrus harvester for bulk fruit removal.
Energid Technologies Corporation has been funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the Small Business Innovation Research Program to develop a new robotic citrus harvesting system. This system will combine the intelligence of robotics with the efficiency of bulk fruit removal to reduce harvesting costs to the citrus grower.
Most citrus today is harvested by hand, throughout the U.S. and the world. The resulting high costs, especially high in the U.S., are a significant part of the total cost of producing an orange or grapefruit for consumption. The new system being developed will reduce the cost of citrus products to the consumer while maintaining grower profitability.
Most past attempts at automated harvesting have focused either on conventional robotics, multi-link arms, or on bulk removal, such as trunk and canopy shakers. Energid is developing a unique system that combines the best of both approaches. (more…)
Organic milk from pasture-fed cows is believed to be full of nutrients. A study recently published from Newcastle University in the UK suggest that cows that graz on fresh pasture produce milk with higher levels of antioxidants and beneficial fatty acids, such as omega-3’s.
“Grazing dairy cows on grass or grass and clover swards produces milk with a healthier fatty acid profile and higher levels of fat soluble vitamins and antioxidants,” notes Gillian Butler, livestock project manager for the Nafferton Ecological Farming Group at Newcastle University, who led the study.
This study points to the diet of organic cows — fresh grass and clover — as the major reason for these nutritional benefits.
“This study joins a growing body of science indicating strong links between what we feed our farm animals and the nutritional quality of what they feed us. Not only are you what you eat, but you are what what you eat eats too,” says Michael Pollan, author of the best sellers The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food.
The Cornucopia Institute released this study. The farm and food policy research group based in Cornucopia, Wisconsin, says consumers can be confident that “the vast majority of brand name organic milk comes from cows that were given the opportunity to graze on fresh pasture whenever possible.”
Set primarily in one of Manhattan’s most fashionable neighborhoods, the Meatpacking District, the festival will take place this Columbus Day weekend, Thursday October 9 - Sunday, October 12 and will benefit the hunger relief programs of Food Bank For New York City and Share Our Strength.
The Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival is the only festival in New York to bring together both legendary culinary icons and renowned winemakers from around the globe as well as America’s most beloved television chefs. “The festival’s main goal is to pay homage to New York City and everything that makes it one of the best restaurant cities in the world,” says Festival Director, Schrager.
The stunning line-up of talent includes: Rachael Ray (30 Minute Meals), Paula Deen (Paula’s Home Cooking), Giada de Laurentiis (Every Day Italian), Tyler Florence (Tyler’s Ultimate), Alton Brown (Good Eats), Masaharu Morimoto (Iron Chef America), Guy Fieri (Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives), Bobby Flay (Throwdown with Bobby Flay), and Duff Goldman (Ace of Cakes), Alain Ducasse (Adour Alain Ducasse), Ferran Adria (El Bulli), Anthony Bourdain (Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations), Gordon Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen), Nigella Lawson (Nigella Feasts), Lidia Bastianich (Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen) and more.
As if we didn’t have enough confusion about the whole food and fuel issue, now we’ve got a new “coalition” with an agenda and a website. There’s a built in blog with no posts too. I really recommend posting on your blog if you want anyone to visit it and if you want any credibility. This one is called Food Before Fuel.
Today, the Food Before Fuel Campaign - a partnership of more than 20 environmental, retail, hunger, Hispanic and food industry groups - launched a cooperative effort urging Congress to revisit the nation’s food-to-fuel policies, a key factor in the growing global food crisis.
I’ve got to say that as soon as I saw the Grocery Manufacturing Association on there it lost my interest. They’re the group that was caught spending a ton of money hiring a PR firm to smear ethanol. I’m also surprised to see NCBA on the list. The poultry people and AMI have been pretty outspoken on this issue but you don’t see the pork industry represented. You just have to chuckle about the tortilla group involvement.
Cindy participated in a so-called press conference with GMA recently and any farm journalist, regardless of bias, could clearly hear the lies they told. Ask her about it sometime or read a post she did about it on Corn Commentary.
We’re very open about our relationship with organizations involved in ethanol and biodiesel production so I’m sure I have a bias. However, I’ve had a lot of chance to see the facts from many different studies. The bottom line is that our biofuels policy in this country isn’t taking food out of anyone’s mouths. The higher price of corn has contributed in a very small way to food cost increases, but no where near what has been claimed. Although I don’t advocate changing the RFS for example, eliminating it wouldn’t solve anything. The main culprit is the price of oil which we’re allowing other countries to hammer us with. That is taking food out of people’s mouths. And unless we want to be owned by countries who hate us, we need to develop alternative fuel sources here at home of all kinds.
San Francisco is hosting the largest celebration of American food in U.S. history. Slow Food Nation is expected to attract tens of thousands in an experience that highlights the connections between plate and planet. The celebration is scheduled for Labor Day weekend, August 29 through September 1, 2008.
The majority of Slow Food Nation’s events will be free and open to the public; certain events are ticketed. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, June 4 at http://www.slowfoodnation.org/.
“Slow Food Nation will catalyze a huge shift in how Americans perceive and prioritize food. Through the four-day event, we hope to build momentum and demand for an American food system that is safer, healthier and more socially just,” said Anya Fernald, Executive Director of Slow Food Nation.
Participants will savor food from across the U.S. at Taste, a 50,000 square foot pavilion; meet farmers and producers at a marketplace surrounding a 10,000 square foot newly-planted urban garden in the heart of the City; and learn from visionary speakers. Slow Food Nation will also feature a music festival, workshops, films, dinners, hikes and journeys.
Slow Food Nations is a part of the international Slow Food movement. The movement says it is dedicated to creating a framework for deeper environmental connection to our food. It aims to inspire and empower Americans to build a food system that is sustainable, healthy and delicious.
What would World Pork Expo be without Pork? I guess just World Expo - right??
There is an abundance of pork at WPX, actually. Every hospitality tent offers pork for breakfast, lunch, dinner and/or appetizers. Kinda goes with the territory, doncha know?
Here we see our National Pork Producer president Bryan Black cutting up some pork outside the NPPC tent, and a luau-style roasted pig being carved up by the folks with Automated Production Systems (AP).
There will be lots more pork at the expo on Saturday with the Great BarbeQlossal when over 80 teams will be competing for the title of Grand Champion.
Investment in Africa is spurring economic innovation and growth throughout the continent. There’s no question about that for the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer.
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Like the first speaker on our program today here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference, our second speaker, David Zilberman, University of California, Berkeley, says we need to increase agricultural productivity.
The first speaker here at the Transition To A Bio Economy conference is Michael Wetzstein, University of Georgia. His talk deals with two issues. One is on price volatility and the other is on food and fuel. He’s one of 22 speakers on the program and all the talks are dealing with the biofuels issue. I’ll do my best to interview them all. So here we go.
Since Cindy alerted me to this I’ve got to post it. I would have anyway since this is too good to pass on.
Cindy pointed me to a story on the 
As if we didn’t have enough confusion about the whole food and fuel issue, now we’ve got a new “coalition” with an agenda and a website. There’s a built in blog with no posts too. I really recommend posting on your blog if you want anyone to visit it and if you want any credibility. This one is called 
What would World Pork Expo be without Pork? I guess just World Expo - right??
Here we see our National Pork Producer president Bryan Black cutting up some pork outside the NPPC tent, and a luau-style roasted pig being carved up by the folks with 
Peanut producers are meeing in Panama City, FL and Cindy has them covered.
