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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The Millennium Challenge Corporation is an organization dedicated to reducing poverty worldwide. Ambassador John Danilovich, CEO of MCC, says a large part of the MCC mission lies in Africa. He says the MCC is partnered with 17 countries around the globe in an effort to reduce poverty through sustainable economic growth. Ten of those countries are in sub-Sahara Africa, drawing in 70 percent, or 4.2 billion, of the 6 billion dollars in grants MCC has to offer.
The ambassador says he’s proud of the opportunity the MCC has to play a large role in the development of agribusiness in Africa.
“African countries continue to convert their great promise into an engine for sustained socio-economic growth. It’s exciting to see the positive change,” John said.
John added that he believes Africa possesses a strong entrepreneurial spirit that is fostering dramatic reforms and new opportunities for investment and growth throughout various sectors of the African economy.
The ambassador spoke at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. You can listen to John’s entire presentation and a follow up question and answer here:
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The energy sector is, as Nigeria’s Honorable Peter Odebunmi puts it, “the bane of our non development.” Peter is a Representative of the Federal Repbulic of Nigeria. He says Nigeria lacks an adequate energy supply, which increases costs and makes domestic goods uncompetitive in the global market. That’s why, he says, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua plans to declare a state of emergency within Nigeria’s energy sector. The hope, Peter says, is to drive more investment in the country’s energy resources.
Water is one resource of particular importance for Peter. He explains Nigeria is not properly managing its existing dams. Peter says his country needs to develop its water infrastructure because Nigeria’s access to safe water is still considerably low. He adds that a working water infrastructure is key to developing African agriculture and empowering the African people.
The 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum is meant to facilitate such development. Peter says representatives from countries all across Africa are met with public and private investors in Chicago to learn how American agribusiness works and apply what they learn in Africa.
Peter says, right now, Africa faces constraints in technology and financing because members of parliament, or Nigeria’s representatives of the people, do not have access to what he calls “elitist” information. Information, he says, that reveals how to attract foreign investment.
Producing surplus and exporting that surplus is one of the key concepts Peter says he has learned more about during the forum. Peter want to take the concept of value-added agriculture to Nigeria, encouraging local, family farmers to produce a surplus so Nigeria can increase its exports.
I spoke with Peter during the forum. You can listen to my interview with Peter 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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There is money to be made in Nigeria. Dr. Isa Yugada, Executive Governor of the Bauchi State in Nigeria assured every potential investor of that at the 2008 U.S. Africa Agribusiness Forum. Isa highlighted Nigeria’s natural habitat for a diverse selection of crops including tomatoes, sorghum, maize, millet, rice, cassava, beans and more. He added that Nigeria possesses poultry, livestock, fish and timber industries and already produces a surplus in certain cash crops including sugarcane, cotton, ginger and sunflower.
Isa acknowledged that there are challenges and risks involved with investing in Nigeria, but he says he believes those risks and challenges are no different than those investors would find in any other country in any other sector.
“I don’t believe that there is any country that does not have risks or there is business that you go into that does not have risks,” Isa said.
Nigeria is also in the development stages of a new dam. Isa said the dam that his country is currently planning would be the biggest dam in Africa at eight km in length. He said this dam would make over 140,000 hectares of land available for farming through irrigation.
Isa urged investors to take advantage of the opportunities Nigeria has to offer in agribusiness. He assured businesses of both the public and private sectors that Nigeria is an emerging environment for investment and agriculture.
You can listen to Isa’s remarks 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.
The winners of the 21st Great Pork BarbeQLossal have been officially announced - and the Grand Champions are Mike and Beth Wozniak of Brimfield, Illinois. They are the second two-time champions in a row for the event. They previously won in 2004.
I spent some time at the BBQlossal before heading home on Saturday and got to speak with the lady who has been coordinating the event for the entire 21 years of its existence, Anne Rehnstrom. The BBQ competition is a year older than the World Pork Expo itself, since the first year expo was planned there was a foot-and-mouth disease scare.
Ann says the event is a really good way to promote pork to barbeque enthusiasts everywhere. She talks about the event, how it is judged and other interesting facts in this interview:
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I also got the chance to visit with last year’s grand champions, Mike and Patty Kidwell of Missouri - the first two time winners - who were not actually competing themselves this year but helping daughter Jeanie and her husband Justin Duett.
Jeanie was hoping to follow in the footsteps of her folks and be this year’s grand champion, since she says she did “learn from the best.” But, they did place 4th in the rib category and 5th in whole hog this year. There’s always next year!
Listen to an interview with Patty and Jeanie here:
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A well-run media center can make all the difference in the world when it comes to covering an event - and the World Pork Expo media center was exceptional.
The main reason for that is Leah Schomburg of TriLix Marketing Group, who has been handling this event for seven years now. She was attentive to the needs of the media, calm - if not always cool, especially today when it was pretty humid - and always had a smile on her face. She and the rest of the staff were more than helpful and pleasant. The last time I saw her today she was offering to give me a ride in the golf cart if I needed it.
Leah tells me that 75-100 media register for WPX each year, with another 50-60 often coming in “depending on the dignitary who shows up for the event.” This year that was Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner and one interview Leah set up with him was for MSNBC.
The best part about the media room was good wireless internet access and a quiet, comfortable atmosphere. At the high point on Thursday afternoon, I would say there were as many as 35 reporters working at the same time in different booths in the center and yet there seemed to be a very low noise level. I think the curtains provided good soundproofing.
Listen to my interview with Leah here:
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About 100 Harley Davidson motorcycles cruised down the main drag at World Pork Expo Saturday morning - the annual “Cruisin’ with the Hogs” event. Gotta appreciate the tie-in there. Harley Davidson has actually been quite prominent around the expo this week I noticed.
I wondered why the NAMA Bombers and Leah Guffey weren’t here - it was certainly an event they could appreciate! Maybe next year guys…put it on your calendar.
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.
The slogan for Novus International is “Performance Through Innovation” and that is why they employ more than 50 Ph.D. Animal Nutritionists and Doctors of Veterinary Medicine who work continuously to create new products and programs for animal health and nutrition.
One of those is Dr. Brad Lawrence, a swine nutritionist who is manager of technical services for the Novus pork business unit. He is pictured here with Jeremy Lutgen, Novus marketing and PR. Guess which one has the PhD? Hint: it’s not the bald guy in the shades.
Brad says one of the main questions producers at World Pork Expo have been posing is how do they optimize energy for their animals, given all the feed ingredients there are available today?
“Just as we see at the pump every day when we fuel up, energy is the single most expensive ingredient that a producer is going to put into his animals’ diet, and they are trying to look for ways to minimize the cost of that energy or optimize their return,” Brad says.
He talks about the research Novus has done on their high energy diets and some of the products and programs they offer for producers.
Listen to Brad’s interview here:
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For the second night in a row last night we had a major storm pass through the Des Moines area, and for the second day in a row the weather has been gorgeous.
Today was even better than yesterday, which did get a bit muggy at times, even though we had some high winds. It was sunny and very pleasant.
People have been having a wonderful time here and the Street Band got rocking about 3 pm. Saturday activities will include Cruisin’ with the Hogs Harley Ride in the morning and the Great BarbeQlossal. Hopefully it will be another glorious day.
Two Cindys are twice as fun as one and never blah!
My buddy Cindy Cunningham with the National Pork Board/Pork Checkoff stopped by the Novus International tent to do a “Cindy Show” with me.
Among the many things we talked about were how the pork checkoff is helping producers find new ways to save money on their operations during these days of high input costs and the great success story of pork exports and how the pork checkoff has helped the US move from being a net pork importer to being the second largest exporter in the world.
Cindy also talked about “Pork on the Move” - a mobile tour with 23 stops planned for this year. “We open up a big trailer, grill pork for people, let them sample it and have producers on hand to talk to the public about pork,” Cindy said. The smaller of the two trailers was on the grounds of the expo this week, while the bigger one is in Chicago at the big Blues Festival this weekend.
Listen to the Cindy show here:
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Longevity for a family-owned and operated business is not all that common in today’s world of acquisitions, especially in the agribusiness and media worlds, but Watt Media is the exception to the rule.
Greg Watt is the fourth generation president and CEO of Watt Publishing, a business started by his great grandfather J.W. Watt in 1917 through an acquisition of a poultry publication called Poultry Tribune. As they celebrate 91 years in the business, Greg says they now cover the agribusiness industry with publications on a global scale, including Pig International and Feed International.
In my interview with him, Greg talks about how the publication business has changed over the past nine decades, moving into more new media like webcasting and podcasting, their gold level sponsorship and involvement at World Pork Expo, and how they are forming partnerships with some of their clients like Novus International to better serve the livestock industry.
Listen to Greg’s interview here:
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Dr. Glenn Grimes with the University of Missouri has been the definitive voice for the livestock industry as far as economics goes for five decades. He is here at World Pork Expo giving his views on the current state of the industry and what producers can expect and do to survive the next 18 months or so.
“The objective should be to minimize losses rather than maximize profits in the next 12-18 months,” he says. To do that, he recommends the futures markets. “For the first time in my experience, the futures market has offered a much better opportunity to minimize losses than ever before.”
He also says that it will be important for producers to maximize feed efficiency and he addressed the weather concerns that are the big topic of discussion here as fields are covered in standing water from a series of storms. “This weather is too similar to 1993 to make me feel comfortable as to what it may do to the corn crop this year. That’s the last real small corn crop that we had,” said Grimes. Ten billion bushels or less he says could stop or slow down the production of ethanol, however he emphasizes, “We will not run out of corn.”
Listen to the Grimes interview here:
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Some of our farm media friends have requested that we supply downloadable audio from World Pork Expo - so here are some files for your use. I just forget to do that now because it is so great to have the player that plays the audio immediately off the server.
OK, let’s start with the interview from NPPC president Bryan Black: Bryan Black Interview (10 min MP3)
Rather than the entire Chuck Conner speech - here is audio from the press gaggle with Conner: Conner press gaggle (13 min MP3)
Here is audio with former NPPC president Joy Philippi (pronounced PHIL-i-pee) of Nebraska, co-chair of the Farm Bill Policy Task Force, on what is in the farm bill for pork producers - and what isn’t: Joy Philippi (10 min MP3)
Here is an interview with Dan Meagher of Novus International - you can thank them for the audio!
(He pronounces his name and gives his title at the start of the interview) Dan Meagher (7 min MP3)
All photos in the Flickr set are available in hi-res versions. Just click on the photo and choose the size options. Just another service of Agwired, courtesy of Novus International. Please email me - cindy@zimmcomm.biz - if you need anything else.
This is the banner hanging on the side of the Novus International hospitality tent and inside we have a nice little set up to do interviews and posting and just meet and greet. It’s really pretty cool - I feel very special!
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend much time hanging around there today because there were lots of media events and press conferences going on - and we didn’t have internet access in the tent. Hopefully, that will be different tomorrow. But, I will say that the folks handling the media here at WPX have been awesome. We have great internet access in the media center (well, there were a few outages) and Leah Schomburg with Trilix Marketing Group has been doing an excellent job coordinating and meeting all of our needs.
I did get to do another interview with one of the Novus Pork Team, Dr. Felipe Navarro, who is swine market manager. He talked about the importance of their research in providing information for producers about their product performance.
You can take a virtual tour of the Novus International research center on their website.
Listen to my interview with Felipe here:
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This good-looking bunch represents the Novus International Pork Team on duty at the World Pork Expo in Des Moines.
Novus is a relatively new pork industry partner, only about two years, but the company has been well known in the poultry industry for many years in the animal health and nutrition field. They actually have products and programs for beef, dairy, aquaculture, and companion animals as well. They boast over 2000 clients in more than 80 countries, so their international focus is a natural fit with the World Pork Expo.
According to Dan Meagher, Novus was founded in 1991 when Monsanto sold off its methionine business. That amino acid was the basis of their products Alimet and MHA for poultry. Now the company has expanded significantly and they are telling producers all about it here at WPX.
Learn more here in my interview with Dan:
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AgNite is a celebration of America’s Food and Agriculture Industry, an event held in conjunction with the 2008 Republican National Convention. Pictures are included from a Feeding America food aid packing event held early in the day at Second Harvest Heartland.
An IRON Solution
I learned all about IRON Solutions and IRON Search at the Farm Progress Show.
IRON Solutions has new capitalization and is working with the Farm Progress Companies to publish printed inserts of their equipment listings. Listen to my interview with President/CEO Darwin Melnyk.
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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The winners of the 21st 
I also got the chance to visit with last year’s grand champions, Mike and Patty Kidwell of Missouri - the first two time winners - who were not actually competing themselves this year but helping daughter Jeanie and her husband Justin Duett. 
A well-run media center can make all the difference in the world when it comes to covering an event - and the World Pork Expo media center was exceptional. 
Leah tells me that 75-100 media register for WPX each year, with another 50-60 often coming in “depending on the dignitary who shows up for the event.” This year that was Deputy Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner and one interview Leah set up with him was for MSNBC.
About 100 Harley Davidson motorcycles cruised down the main drag at World Pork Expo Saturday morning - the annual “Cruisin’ with the Hogs” event. Gotta appreciate the tie-in there. Harley Davidson has actually been quite prominent around the expo this week I noticed.
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 
The slogan for Novus International is “Performance Through Innovation” and that is why they employ more than 50 Ph.D. Animal Nutritionists and Doctors of Veterinary Medicine who work continuously to create new products and programs for animal health and nutrition.
Who says pigs don’t fly?
They do at World Pork Expo. The flag is a perfect image of the weather we had today in Des Moines - windy and sunny. Just a beautiful day.
For the second night in a row last night we had a major storm pass through the Des Moines area, and for the second day in a row the weather has been gorgeous. 
Two Cindys are twice as fun as one and never blah!
Cindy also talked about “Pork on the Move” - a mobile tour with 23 stops planned for this year. “We open up a big trailer, grill pork for people, let them sample it and have producers on hand to talk to the public about pork,” Cindy said. The smaller of the two trailers was on the grounds of the expo this week, while the bigger one is in Chicago at the big Blues Festival this weekend.
Longevity for a family-owned and operated business is not all that common in today’s world of acquisitions, especially in the agribusiness and media worlds, but Watt Media is the exception to the rule.
Greg Watt is the fourth generation president and CEO of 
“The objective should be to minimize losses rather than maximize profits in the next 12-18 months,” he says. To do that, he recommends the futures markets. “For the first time in my experience, the futures market has offered a much better opportunity to minimize losses than ever before.”
Some of our farm media friends have requested that we supply downloadable audio from World Pork Expo - so here are some files for your use. I just forget to do that now because it is so great to have the player that plays the audio immediately off the server.
This is the banner hanging on the side of the Novus International hospitality tent and inside we have a nice little set up to do interviews and posting and just meet and greet. It’s really pretty cool - I feel very special! 
I did get to do another interview with one of the Novus Pork Team, Dr. Felipe Navarro, who is swine market manager. He talked about the importance of their research in providing information for producers about their product performance. 
This good-looking bunch represents the 
According to Dan Meagher, Novus was founded in 1991 when Monsanto sold off its methionine business. That amino acid was the basis of their products Alimet and MHA for poultry. Now the company has expanded significantly and they are telling producers all about it here at WPX.
I learned all about IRON Solutions and IRON Search at the Farm Progress Show.
