Le Courrier Interational | 17.02.2011
Disposant de terres arables non exploitées, la Zambie les loue à des entreprises occidentales qui y cultivent des céréales. De quoi assurer l’approvisionnement du marché national.
Scott Baldauf | The Christian Science Monitor
Les collines de cette région de Zambie ont longtemps été connues pour le cuivre que se disputaient les compagnies minières américaines, britanniques et chinoises. Mais cette industrie soumise à des cycles imprévisibles d’expansion et de repli semble maintenant vouée à mettre prochainement la clé sous la porte. La crise alimentaire de 2007, engendrée par la demande croissante de biocarburants qui a fait s’envoler les prix des denrées, a attiré un type d’investisseurs d’un genre totalement nouveau. Pendant que les patrons des compagnies minières consultaient les cartes et évaluaient les richesses qu’ils pouvaient encore extraire des profondeurs du sol, les nouveaux investisseurs étrangers ont estimé les revenus qu’ils pouvaient tirer des champs de maïs et de blé. C’est ainsi qu’ils ont projeté de créer des dizaines de milliers d’emplois stables qui vont relancer l’économie rurale du pays.
“L’Afrique est un importateur de denrées alimentaires, alors qu’elle dispose de vastes étendues de terres fertiles”, remarque Neil Crowder, cofondateur de Chayton Capital, une société d’investissement londonienne, soutenue par la Banque mondiale, qui a investi 10 millions de dollars dans la firme locale Chobe Agrivision pour louer 10 000 hectares dans la région de Mkushi et qui projette de doubler prochainement cette superficie. “Malheureusement, certains des pays les plus pauvres du monde ont les prix alimentaires les plus élevés. Comme on peut réduire les frais de transport en ayant des exploitations en Zambie, on a décidé d’y mettre en place un modèle d’approvisionnement du pays et de ses voisins en denrées de subsistance – principalement en maïs, soja et blé.”
Repère
Chobe Agrivision a commencé à mettre son projet en oeuvre après avoir obtenu un bail de quatorze ans du gouvernement. La société a planté du maïs et du soja à la fin de l’an dernier et elle prévoit d’engager 3 000 habitants de la région pour assurer les récoltes en 2011. En vertu de l’accord signé avec le gouvernement zambien, 80 % de la production sera exportée dans des pays voisins et les 20 % restants seront vendus en Zambie. La Zambie (capitale Lusaka), ex-Rhodésie du Nord, est un pays d’Afrique australe sans accès à la mer, traversé par le fleuve Zambèze. Le pays fut colonisé par les Britanniques à la fin du XIXe siècle et devint un protectorat de l’Empire colonial britannique jusqu’en 1964.
Accueil favorable
Le gouvernement du président Rupiah Banda a accueilli favorablement ce projet qui bénéficie du soutien des agriculteurs. Ceux-ci ne voient pas les investissements étrangers comme une menace. “Selon le recensement en cours, notre population est comprise entre 12 et 15 millions d’habitants, ce qui n’est pas énorme, et nous avons entre 30 et 45 millions d’hectares de terres arables, dont la grande majorité ne sont pas exploitées”, souligne Bradford Machile, le ministre du Développement de l’élevage et de la pêche. A la différence de pays comme Madagascar et le Mozambique, poursuit le ministre, la Zambie n’a pas de grand mouvement de défense des agriculteurs?et?des?consommateurs contre les “vols” de terrains, car les terres ne manquent pas. “Les terres sont ici. Vous ne pouvez pas les prendre et partir avec”, dit-il.
Chobe Agrivision a commencé à mettre son projet en œuvre : après avoir obtenu un bail de quatorze ans du gouvernement, la société a planté du maïs et du soja à la fin de l’an dernier et elle prévoit d’engager 3 000 habitants de la région pour assurer les récoltes en 2011. En vertu de l’accord signé avec le gouvernement zambien, 80 % de la production seront exportés dans des pays voisins et les 20 % restants seront vendus en Zambie.
La société projette également d’entrer en contact avec les petits agriculteurs locaux (dont beaucoup travailleront sur ses terres) et de leur enseigner des techniques de pointe pour qu’ils puissent accroître leur propre production. Quand elle construira ses moulins à grains, elle les dotera d’une capacité accrue pour qu’ils puissent les utiliser aussi pour leur propre compte et améliorer leurs revenus.
Grenier à céréales
“Dans quatre ou cinq ans, la Zambie sera un grenier à céréales non seulement pour l’Afrique australe, mais pour tout le continent”, prédit Stuart Kearns, un ancien fermier zimbabwéen qui dirige les opérations de Chobe dans la ville de Mkushi. Selon lui, les petits agriculteurs ne peuvent pas se payer les grands systèmes d’irrigation à pivot central, dans lesquels des buses gigantesques tournent autour d’un pivot pour distribuer juste la quantité d’eau requise, mais ils peuvent apprendre la technique du zéro labour, qui réduit l’érosion et accroît la production en retenant les substances nutritives dans le sol.
“Dans certains pays, l’agriculture est regardée de haut. Tout le monde aspire à un emploi de col blanc, mais nous voulons faire en sorte que l’agriculture soit enseignée à l’école avant que le mépris ne s’installe, poursuit M. Kearns. C’est un programme dans lequel vous enseignez à vos employés, puis à vos voisins, et chacun propage à son tour ses connaissances.”
Son partenaire, Fred Wallis, qui avait lui aussi une ferme au Zimbabwe, roule jusqu’à la clôture à travers des hectares de plantations bien entretenues et pointe du doigt les champs d’une petite ferme située au-delà. Des femmes courbées en deux désherbent à la main. Des chèvres mordillent des plants avant d’être chassées par une pluie de gravillons lancés par de jeunes garçons. La plupart de ces villageois seront sans doute embauchés et formés par Chobe. “Quand les Chinois sont venus dans la région pour extraire le manganèse, ils sont venus avec leurs propres employés, ils ont pris le manganèse et ils ont fermé la mine. Les gens disent que ce n’est pas bien, explique Fred Wallis. Mais, quand des investisseurs comme Chobe arrivent, ils vivent comme les gens du coin, embauchent ceux-ci et leur enseignent comment mieux cultiver la terre, et, quand ces villageois rentrent chez eux, ils utilisent ces techniques sur leurs propres terres. Voilà le genre d’investissement dont le pays a besoin.”
NEWS - Commodites, Agriculture, Green Investment - NEWS
2/23/2011
Africa farmland has potential of Brazil: Quifel
Pedro Marques dos Santos of Quifel (photo courtesy of Oje)
Reuters | Tue Feb 22, 2011
LONDON (Reuters) - African farmland investment has the potential to match the exponential growth of Brazil's agricultural industry, the head of business development at privately owned agricultural operator Quifel said.
"The best benchmark is really Brazil. What took the Brazilians around 30 years, one should try to do it in 10-15 years," Pedro Marques dos Santos, head of business development at Quifel said, referring to how Africa could emulate Brazil's dominance in global agricultural investments.
Quifel operates in Africa, Latin America and Southern Europe and began operations with a palm project in Brazil.
"In 2007, Quifel also embraced the Sub-Saharan Africa land development opportunity," Marques dos Santos said, noting higher land prices in Brazil as one driver.
Investors poured $26 billion in foreign direct investment into Brazil in 2010 and around one-third of all funds and companies investing in farmland globally have committed funds to Brazil, the OECD said in a report.
But anyone interested in buying up Brazilian land may find it tough as last year the attorney general issued a ruling that limited the area of land foreigners were able to purchase.
The effect has been to cap at 12,350 acres the amount of land that can be bought by a foreign investor or a company that's more than 50 percent foreign-owned, prompting some investors to look to alternative regions.
This, combined with rising food prices, has spurred global interest in African farmland.
Global food prices are at record levels and are likely to remain so in the months to come, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Africa has lower production costs than Latin America due to cheaper land and labour yet could offer similar yields, Marques dos Santos said.
There's a bigger need to invest in infrastructure and logistics in Africa but, "The end result is to expect high returns if farm talent is able to overcome everyday operational difficulties."
Brazil, Latin America's largest country, is one of the world's leading exporters of agricultural commodities including coffee, sugar and soybeans.
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Quifel, which runs African farms in Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Angola, chose these countries based on their coastal locations and expectations of high economic growth, Marques dos Santos said.
Coastal West African countries were attractive for fruits and vegetables, while Mozambique appealed "for oilseeds, thus avoiding transhipment within the continent and by being closer to Asian markets for potential exports," he said.
Many African countries are net food importers, raising questions about food security and whether production should go to feeding the local community.
"Quifel's projects are Greenfield and for the foreseeable future our production will be bought by local players - mainly processors or crushers - as the countries need that production for domestic consumption," Marques dos Santos said.
Beyond the food security issue, investing in Africa has other challenges, which helps explain why its agricultural potential has not yet been fulfilled.
"Companies which can't cope with the long-term horizon are slowly leaving the region," he said.
Quifel has a long-term expansion plan within Sub Saharan Africa, he said, adding that its immediate focus will be on the development of the areas it already has under management.
Reuters | Tue Feb 22, 2011
LONDON (Reuters) - African farmland investment has the potential to match the exponential growth of Brazil's agricultural industry, the head of business development at privately owned agricultural operator Quifel said.
"The best benchmark is really Brazil. What took the Brazilians around 30 years, one should try to do it in 10-15 years," Pedro Marques dos Santos, head of business development at Quifel said, referring to how Africa could emulate Brazil's dominance in global agricultural investments.
Quifel operates in Africa, Latin America and Southern Europe and began operations with a palm project in Brazil.
"In 2007, Quifel also embraced the Sub-Saharan Africa land development opportunity," Marques dos Santos said, noting higher land prices in Brazil as one driver.
Investors poured $26 billion in foreign direct investment into Brazil in 2010 and around one-third of all funds and companies investing in farmland globally have committed funds to Brazil, the OECD said in a report.
But anyone interested in buying up Brazilian land may find it tough as last year the attorney general issued a ruling that limited the area of land foreigners were able to purchase.
The effect has been to cap at 12,350 acres the amount of land that can be bought by a foreign investor or a company that's more than 50 percent foreign-owned, prompting some investors to look to alternative regions.
This, combined with rising food prices, has spurred global interest in African farmland.
Global food prices are at record levels and are likely to remain so in the months to come, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.
Africa has lower production costs than Latin America due to cheaper land and labour yet could offer similar yields, Marques dos Santos said.
There's a bigger need to invest in infrastructure and logistics in Africa but, "The end result is to expect high returns if farm talent is able to overcome everyday operational difficulties."
Brazil, Latin America's largest country, is one of the world's leading exporters of agricultural commodities including coffee, sugar and soybeans.
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Quifel, which runs African farms in Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Angola, chose these countries based on their coastal locations and expectations of high economic growth, Marques dos Santos said.
Coastal West African countries were attractive for fruits and vegetables, while Mozambique appealed "for oilseeds, thus avoiding transhipment within the continent and by being closer to Asian markets for potential exports," he said.
Many African countries are net food importers, raising questions about food security and whether production should go to feeding the local community.
"Quifel's projects are Greenfield and for the foreseeable future our production will be bought by local players - mainly processors or crushers - as the countries need that production for domestic consumption," Marques dos Santos said.
Beyond the food security issue, investing in Africa has other challenges, which helps explain why its agricultural potential has not yet been fulfilled.
"Companies which can't cope with the long-term horizon are slowly leaving the region," he said.
Quifel has a long-term expansion plan within Sub Saharan Africa, he said, adding that its immediate focus will be on the development of the areas it already has under management.
Food: The big fright
Qatar Today | 23 February 2011
"The era of low-food price is over, worldwide" says Dr Mahendra Shah, Director of Programme International Affairs, QNFSP.
When the whole country is baking in the Ephoria of the 2022 Bid win and the Fine show of Qatari footballers at the Asian Football Cup 2011, Food security seems like an implausible topic to ponder over.
But not if you look at recent reports from around the world on escalating food prices and the mounting tension and disrupting occurrences in some parts of the world. Though we have not seen the wave of riots that rocked countries such as Haiti and Bangladesh three years ago, when prices of agricultural commodities jumped, it is still a possibility, caution experts UN.
The increase in food costs will also hit developed economies, with companies from McDonald's to Kraft raising retail prices. Finan cial Times in a recent report emphasised that higher food prices boosts overall inflation, which is above the preferred targets of central banks in Europe.
UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has given the global food market 'critical' status and says that immediate measures have to be put in place to stave off a repeat of the 2007/2008 crisis, when food prices doubled in just a week.
Earlier, addressing the UN Summit on Food Security at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters in Rome in 2009, HH the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani pledged Qatar's commitment to contribute in eradicating hun ger and malnutrition. The urgency of the situation was reflected in HH the Emir's words and subsequent actions.
The Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP) was established in 2008.
"Qatar believes that national food security is part of the regional and international food security," said HH the Emir.
But what does Qatar have to do with riots and hunger in other parts of the world? A country which has never had a food crisis so far?
"Here is a country, one of the wealthiest in the world that could buy food at any price, no matter what the price, from the world market. There has been concern in Qatar as there has been concern in the rest of the world. From 2007, we entered a new era in world food. Until then price of food commodities was go ing down. The era of low-food price is over, worldwide" says Dr Mahendra Shah, Director of Programme International Affairs, QNFSP.
And this is so, "because of increasing world demand," says Dr Shah. "Only 5% of the world's food is traded. And international food trade will increase rapidly due to a number of factors including population growth, urbanisation and rise in incomes. At the same time biofuel requirement mandated in a number of coun tries will also affect land availability for food cultivation resulting in high food prices. The food demand cannot be met in some countries and hence there is higher dependence on exports."
But the export market is very sensitive. Countries can stop the export of food based on local reasoning. India banned the export of rice and Russia banned the export of wheat in recent times. "On the one hand, the world needs free trade and on the other countries can refuse to export food commodities due to many reasons - a drought in the country being just one. All this puts pressure on commodities, a fact that countries are painfully aware as food is a essential need."
Understanding this need, Qatar has set up a comprehensive national programme that takes into account the challenges that are the country's alone.
And thus under the direction of HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the QNFSP was established with the objective of creating a sustainable Food Security road map, by introducing structural reforms to address the problems that affect the sustainability of energy, water, agriculture and food supplies.
Heading the QNFSP taskforce is Fahad Al-Attiya, Chairman of QNSFP, who says that this nationwide initiative will make Qatar food secure in 10 years.
"The global risk is high and food is a critical component for the existence of any civilisation, which then makes QNFSP one of the highest of national priorities," says Al-Attiya.
The Arab challenges
While food security is a worldwide issue, the challenges that the Gulf countries face are much higher.
"GCC with a total population of approximately 40 million, of whom 40% are foreign workers, are endowed with oil and gas reserves estimated at some QR130 trillion ($35 trillion). This puts the region's nationals among the world's richest peoples in terms of per capita wealth. However, although the region's eco nomic and energy security are assured, the GCC countries are the world's most water insecure and food deficient, importing 60-95% of their food requirements," says Dr Shah.
The limited land and water resources in the GCC pose a sub stantial technological challenge to increasing domestic food pro duction.
"Of the region's total land area of approximately 259 million hectares, only 1.7% is currently under cultivation, mainly with groundwater irrigation. Although about one-fifth of the total land area is potentially cultivable, the region's arid climate and constraints caused by heat, salinity, limit the levels of food suffi ciency that can be achieved."
Some of the GCC states have established fossil fuel-driven water-desalinisation plants, contributing approximately 15% of the total available water resources in the region.
"However, current concerns about climate change, and the fact that the GCC has one of the highest carbon footprints in per capita terms, limit this option. Investment in research into the use of renewable energy, particularly solar power, in future desalination plants offers a means to increase domestic food pro duction," he reveals.
And this is one of the options that is being explored by QNFSP and once that comes into process will provide the much needed impetus for the whole region to follow this prototype of success.
"From my point of view, every country in the world should produce the maximum amount of food it can, in a manner that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable."
GCC should give the highest priority to establishing a regional centre of excellence for solar-energy research for water desalination, greenhouse solar cooling and greenhouse hydroponic-technology development, says Dr Shah.
Furthermore, a dedicated GCC agricultural research centre for dry-land crops, livestock and aquaculture development, and adaptation to future climate change should also be established.
Regionally relevant research into protected agriculture, solar energy for desalinisation and greenhouse hydroponics has the potential to enhance domestic food self-sufficiency in the GCC countries.
All these are steps taken into due consideration by the QNFSP.
"However, some crops, such as wheat, require as much as 1,400 kg of water to produce 1 kg of yield. This calls for strategic decisions about which crops to produce locally and which to secure through international GCC investments," says Dr Shah.
A proposed partnership model
Over the past few years, GCC states have begun to consider investing in farmland overseas. However, there is growing worldwide concern that such international agricultural investments must be environmentally, economically and socially responsible and sustainable. "They must also be well-structured and legally executed. Otherwise, there is a risk that the burden of food insecurity in the investing GCC countries might end up being transferred to the host coun tries," says Dr Shah.
Dr Shah has identified a solution that would give the oil-rich Arab countries an edge while improving the living conditions and economies of those countries that they lease contract land to use for food produce.
"A shared-benefits model that would best meet the needs of the investor and the local community in currently cultivated land areas where the yield gaps are large could provide the basis for responsible and sustainable agricultural development partnerships," he says.
Dr Shah illustrates his point.
"Consider a situation in which 100 units of land area farmed with poor management and low agricultural tech nology produces 100 tonnes of a food commodity. With foreign investment bringing in sophisticated technologies and management, the production on this piece of land is boosted to 500 tonnes. The local community receives 200 tonnes, while the investor receives a similar share. The remaining 100 tonnes is then sold by the investor into the local market. The market sale would be important in terms of host-country food security, and the sales income would be reinvested for the benefit of the local community through infrastructure and social-services development. The investor's share would need to be acceptable in terms of return on investment.
"Such an innovative partnership arrangement could be further structured as an official development aid (ODA)," says Dr Shah.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with its fertile land, ample water resources and the world's lowest agricultural productivity, is the biggest hot spot for agricultural land acquisition by public and private investors from the GCC, China, India and Europe. The agricultural sector in SSA countries is in urgent need of invest ment capital.
However, decades of poor government commitments to agriculture and low investments have resulted in stagnating productivity and food-production levels.
In his research papers, Dr Shah has shown how the GCC countries have a real opportunity to invest in Sudan as a development aid partner, not only to assure their own food security but also to contribute to sustainable agricultural development.
"The potential through a shared partnership model, as described above, is substantial. For example, current maize yields of approx 1.2 tonnes/hectare can be increased to more than 7 tonnes/hectare with high agricultural technology and management."
Responsible agricultural investments can contribute to sustainable agriculture development towards achieving food security and an end to the hunger that today affects one-third of the population in SSA.
The GCC's challenge is to adopt a scientific, knowledge-based and policy-relevant integrated agro-ecological and socio-eco nomic approach to enhancing its domestic food production. This can be done only by forming sustainable and responsible development partnerships that can put the SSA countries on a path of progressive and sustainable development.
The Water Challenge
Dr Patrick Linke, Chief Engineer at QNFSP and the Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University Qa tar is of the opinion that water issues in the region are critical.
Ground water resources cannot be touched as it cannot be re plenished given the climatic conditions of the region and hence alternative resources have to be worked out for the food security programme.
"Basically the idea is to desalinate the sea water. The other alternative is to recycle waste water and reuse. But there are health and hygiene issues to deal with while using recycled water for irrigation, not to mention the large quantity needed for this."
QNFSP is considering using non-fossil energy for producing renewable resources, and as a concept, wind and solar energy is to be put to use. Reusing energy is another option and all this is being explored too. "All the issues will be explored, the energy infrastructure, the location of the station, how to transmit the energy from it, to final feasibility of the desalination project, the economies of subsidies, all this will have to be looked into and by 2013, and the picture will be in place."
"For this whole value chain to be economical, at some point of the chain subsidies will have to be put in place. It could be energy, water, or both or just the crop," says Dr Linke.
"The era of low-food price is over, worldwide" says Dr Mahendra Shah, Director of Programme International Affairs, QNFSP.
When the whole country is baking in the Ephoria of the 2022 Bid win and the Fine show of Qatari footballers at the Asian Football Cup 2011, Food security seems like an implausible topic to ponder over.
But not if you look at recent reports from around the world on escalating food prices and the mounting tension and disrupting occurrences in some parts of the world. Though we have not seen the wave of riots that rocked countries such as Haiti and Bangladesh three years ago, when prices of agricultural commodities jumped, it is still a possibility, caution experts UN.
The increase in food costs will also hit developed economies, with companies from McDonald's to Kraft raising retail prices. Finan cial Times in a recent report emphasised that higher food prices boosts overall inflation, which is above the preferred targets of central banks in Europe.
UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has given the global food market 'critical' status and says that immediate measures have to be put in place to stave off a repeat of the 2007/2008 crisis, when food prices doubled in just a week.
Earlier, addressing the UN Summit on Food Security at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) headquarters in Rome in 2009, HH the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani pledged Qatar's commitment to contribute in eradicating hun ger and malnutrition. The urgency of the situation was reflected in HH the Emir's words and subsequent actions.
The Qatar National Food Security Programme (QNFSP) was established in 2008.
"Qatar believes that national food security is part of the regional and international food security," said HH the Emir.
But what does Qatar have to do with riots and hunger in other parts of the world? A country which has never had a food crisis so far?
"Here is a country, one of the wealthiest in the world that could buy food at any price, no matter what the price, from the world market. There has been concern in Qatar as there has been concern in the rest of the world. From 2007, we entered a new era in world food. Until then price of food commodities was go ing down. The era of low-food price is over, worldwide" says Dr Mahendra Shah, Director of Programme International Affairs, QNFSP.
And this is so, "because of increasing world demand," says Dr Shah. "Only 5% of the world's food is traded. And international food trade will increase rapidly due to a number of factors including population growth, urbanisation and rise in incomes. At the same time biofuel requirement mandated in a number of coun tries will also affect land availability for food cultivation resulting in high food prices. The food demand cannot be met in some countries and hence there is higher dependence on exports."
But the export market is very sensitive. Countries can stop the export of food based on local reasoning. India banned the export of rice and Russia banned the export of wheat in recent times. "On the one hand, the world needs free trade and on the other countries can refuse to export food commodities due to many reasons - a drought in the country being just one. All this puts pressure on commodities, a fact that countries are painfully aware as food is a essential need."
Understanding this need, Qatar has set up a comprehensive national programme that takes into account the challenges that are the country's alone.
And thus under the direction of HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the QNFSP was established with the objective of creating a sustainable Food Security road map, by introducing structural reforms to address the problems that affect the sustainability of energy, water, agriculture and food supplies.
Heading the QNFSP taskforce is Fahad Al-Attiya, Chairman of QNSFP, who says that this nationwide initiative will make Qatar food secure in 10 years.
"The global risk is high and food is a critical component for the existence of any civilisation, which then makes QNFSP one of the highest of national priorities," says Al-Attiya.
The Arab challenges
While food security is a worldwide issue, the challenges that the Gulf countries face are much higher.
"GCC with a total population of approximately 40 million, of whom 40% are foreign workers, are endowed with oil and gas reserves estimated at some QR130 trillion ($35 trillion). This puts the region's nationals among the world's richest peoples in terms of per capita wealth. However, although the region's eco nomic and energy security are assured, the GCC countries are the world's most water insecure and food deficient, importing 60-95% of their food requirements," says Dr Shah.
The limited land and water resources in the GCC pose a sub stantial technological challenge to increasing domestic food pro duction.
"Of the region's total land area of approximately 259 million hectares, only 1.7% is currently under cultivation, mainly with groundwater irrigation. Although about one-fifth of the total land area is potentially cultivable, the region's arid climate and constraints caused by heat, salinity, limit the levels of food suffi ciency that can be achieved."
Some of the GCC states have established fossil fuel-driven water-desalinisation plants, contributing approximately 15% of the total available water resources in the region.
"However, current concerns about climate change, and the fact that the GCC has one of the highest carbon footprints in per capita terms, limit this option. Investment in research into the use of renewable energy, particularly solar power, in future desalination plants offers a means to increase domestic food pro duction," he reveals.
And this is one of the options that is being explored by QNFSP and once that comes into process will provide the much needed impetus for the whole region to follow this prototype of success.
"From my point of view, every country in the world should produce the maximum amount of food it can, in a manner that is environmentally, economically and socially sustainable."
GCC should give the highest priority to establishing a regional centre of excellence for solar-energy research for water desalination, greenhouse solar cooling and greenhouse hydroponic-technology development, says Dr Shah.
Furthermore, a dedicated GCC agricultural research centre for dry-land crops, livestock and aquaculture development, and adaptation to future climate change should also be established.
Regionally relevant research into protected agriculture, solar energy for desalinisation and greenhouse hydroponics has the potential to enhance domestic food self-sufficiency in the GCC countries.
All these are steps taken into due consideration by the QNFSP.
"However, some crops, such as wheat, require as much as 1,400 kg of water to produce 1 kg of yield. This calls for strategic decisions about which crops to produce locally and which to secure through international GCC investments," says Dr Shah.
A proposed partnership model
Over the past few years, GCC states have begun to consider investing in farmland overseas. However, there is growing worldwide concern that such international agricultural investments must be environmentally, economically and socially responsible and sustainable. "They must also be well-structured and legally executed. Otherwise, there is a risk that the burden of food insecurity in the investing GCC countries might end up being transferred to the host coun tries," says Dr Shah.
Dr Shah has identified a solution that would give the oil-rich Arab countries an edge while improving the living conditions and economies of those countries that they lease contract land to use for food produce.
"A shared-benefits model that would best meet the needs of the investor and the local community in currently cultivated land areas where the yield gaps are large could provide the basis for responsible and sustainable agricultural development partnerships," he says.
Dr Shah illustrates his point.
"Consider a situation in which 100 units of land area farmed with poor management and low agricultural tech nology produces 100 tonnes of a food commodity. With foreign investment bringing in sophisticated technologies and management, the production on this piece of land is boosted to 500 tonnes. The local community receives 200 tonnes, while the investor receives a similar share. The remaining 100 tonnes is then sold by the investor into the local market. The market sale would be important in terms of host-country food security, and the sales income would be reinvested for the benefit of the local community through infrastructure and social-services development. The investor's share would need to be acceptable in terms of return on investment.
"Such an innovative partnership arrangement could be further structured as an official development aid (ODA)," says Dr Shah.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with its fertile land, ample water resources and the world's lowest agricultural productivity, is the biggest hot spot for agricultural land acquisition by public and private investors from the GCC, China, India and Europe. The agricultural sector in SSA countries is in urgent need of invest ment capital.
However, decades of poor government commitments to agriculture and low investments have resulted in stagnating productivity and food-production levels.
In his research papers, Dr Shah has shown how the GCC countries have a real opportunity to invest in Sudan as a development aid partner, not only to assure their own food security but also to contribute to sustainable agricultural development.
"The potential through a shared partnership model, as described above, is substantial. For example, current maize yields of approx 1.2 tonnes/hectare can be increased to more than 7 tonnes/hectare with high agricultural technology and management."
Responsible agricultural investments can contribute to sustainable agriculture development towards achieving food security and an end to the hunger that today affects one-third of the population in SSA.
The GCC's challenge is to adopt a scientific, knowledge-based and policy-relevant integrated agro-ecological and socio-eco nomic approach to enhancing its domestic food production. This can be done only by forming sustainable and responsible development partnerships that can put the SSA countries on a path of progressive and sustainable development.
The Water Challenge
Dr Patrick Linke, Chief Engineer at QNFSP and the Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University Qa tar is of the opinion that water issues in the region are critical.
Ground water resources cannot be touched as it cannot be re plenished given the climatic conditions of the region and hence alternative resources have to be worked out for the food security programme.
"Basically the idea is to desalinate the sea water. The other alternative is to recycle waste water and reuse. But there are health and hygiene issues to deal with while using recycled water for irrigation, not to mention the large quantity needed for this."
QNFSP is considering using non-fossil energy for producing renewable resources, and as a concept, wind and solar energy is to be put to use. Reusing energy is another option and all this is being explored too. "All the issues will be explored, the energy infrastructure, the location of the station, how to transmit the energy from it, to final feasibility of the desalination project, the economies of subsidies, all this will have to be looked into and by 2013, and the picture will be in place."
"For this whole value chain to be economical, at some point of the chain subsidies will have to be put in place. It could be energy, water, or both or just the crop," says Dr Linke.
Agriterra to build port facility in Guinea
World Grain Staff | 23 February 2011
One of Agriterra's cattle ranches in Mozambique, operated by its subsidiary, Mozbife
PORT OF CONAKRY, GUINEA — Agriterra recently announced that it is going to build a 30-hectare industrial and commercial terminal in the Port of Conakry in Guinea. The company said it expects the new terminal to open up new opportunities in the agricultural logistics sector.
Agriterra said the facility will benefit its existing African agriculture business interests by opening up opportunities in the agricultural logistics sector.
Andrew Groves, Agriterra executive director, believes that adding the new port business will help the company to build a “vertically integrated” agricultural and associated logistics group in sub-Saharan Africa.
"This is a fantastic complementary opportunity for Agriterra to expand its activities and utilize its African-focused agricultural, logistics and project management experience to capitalize on the soft and hard commodity resource boom in West Africa,” Groves said. “There remain huge global concerns regarding food security which are prompting significant investment in West African agriculture, particularly in palm oil, cocoa, rice, maize and livestock. This, in tandem with the dramatic increase in the development of mineral resources, particularly iron ore and bauxite, means there is a crucial need to expand the export capacity of the Port of Conakry.”
The company has now signed a concession agreement, with a 20-year initial term, for the new port terminal. The new terminal will include a 300-meter dock and a 30-hectare platform. It will contain grain storage silos, a processing unit, a preparation unit, a logistics depot, a fuel depot, freight hangars and food storage silos.
The company said a construction partner and project financing will now be sought.
"We will continue to develop our Mozambican grain processing and cattle ranching businesses which are growing rapidly and gaining market share in the region,” Groves said. At the moment the Agriterra business consists of two separate grain processing businesses — both in Mozambique — and a cattle ranching business. But the company said it is actively trying to expand through acquisition and investment into new complementary areas.
One of Agriterra's cattle ranches in Mozambique, operated by its subsidiary, Mozbife
PORT OF CONAKRY, GUINEA — Agriterra recently announced that it is going to build a 30-hectare industrial and commercial terminal in the Port of Conakry in Guinea. The company said it expects the new terminal to open up new opportunities in the agricultural logistics sector.
Agriterra said the facility will benefit its existing African agriculture business interests by opening up opportunities in the agricultural logistics sector.
Andrew Groves, Agriterra executive director, believes that adding the new port business will help the company to build a “vertically integrated” agricultural and associated logistics group in sub-Saharan Africa.
"This is a fantastic complementary opportunity for Agriterra to expand its activities and utilize its African-focused agricultural, logistics and project management experience to capitalize on the soft and hard commodity resource boom in West Africa,” Groves said. “There remain huge global concerns regarding food security which are prompting significant investment in West African agriculture, particularly in palm oil, cocoa, rice, maize and livestock. This, in tandem with the dramatic increase in the development of mineral resources, particularly iron ore and bauxite, means there is a crucial need to expand the export capacity of the Port of Conakry.”
The company has now signed a concession agreement, with a 20-year initial term, for the new port terminal. The new terminal will include a 300-meter dock and a 30-hectare platform. It will contain grain storage silos, a processing unit, a preparation unit, a logistics depot, a fuel depot, freight hangars and food storage silos.
The company said a construction partner and project financing will now be sought.
"We will continue to develop our Mozambican grain processing and cattle ranching businesses which are growing rapidly and gaining market share in the region,” Groves said. At the moment the Agriterra business consists of two separate grain processing businesses — both in Mozambique — and a cattle ranching business. But the company said it is actively trying to expand through acquisition and investment into new complementary areas.
Qatar plans to make barren land arable to increase food security
Qatar will secure 70% food security in the country by exploiting the latest technology to make its barren land arable.
The Green Prophet | February 21st, 2011
Tafline Laylin
Roughly as large as Connecticut, Qatar relies almost exclusively on imports for food with only 10% of the country’s edibles produced within its own borders. Unlike other Gulf countries that are usurping African land to expand their agricultural capacity, Qatar intends to transform its own barren land into an agricultural powerhouse. According to Gulf in the Media, the National Food Security Program (NFSP) committee has established a five-stage plan to first identify and then overcome challenges to achieving food independence.
Food prices rise in tandem with oil prices, since the cost of shipping food necessarily increases. As a result, Qatar’s imported food doesn’t come cheap. To counter this problem, the country established their NFSP in 2008.
The 17-member committee will identify challenges, conduct surveys, and analyze data related to exploiting the most modern agricultural methods to render land between Doha and Al Khor arable.
Although the team expects to receive some resistance from middlemen in the current food supply chain, NFSP and its Chairman, Mohamed bin Fahad Al Attiyah, welcome input and investments from the private sector.
Widespread agricultural production in a country with few freshwater resources and an unforgiving desert climate is no easy task. Nonetheless, Qatar will invest huge sums of money on research and developing a progressive information technology hub in order to secure lower food prices.
Their four major foci will be:
Agricultural production
Managing and desalinating sea water
Sustainable energy resources
Food processing industries
“We are well on our way to making reliance on food imports a thing of the past,” Al Attiyah told the paper.
The Green Prophet | February 21st, 2011
Tafline Laylin
Roughly as large as Connecticut, Qatar relies almost exclusively on imports for food with only 10% of the country’s edibles produced within its own borders. Unlike other Gulf countries that are usurping African land to expand their agricultural capacity, Qatar intends to transform its own barren land into an agricultural powerhouse. According to Gulf in the Media, the National Food Security Program (NFSP) committee has established a five-stage plan to first identify and then overcome challenges to achieving food independence.
Food prices rise in tandem with oil prices, since the cost of shipping food necessarily increases. As a result, Qatar’s imported food doesn’t come cheap. To counter this problem, the country established their NFSP in 2008.
The 17-member committee will identify challenges, conduct surveys, and analyze data related to exploiting the most modern agricultural methods to render land between Doha and Al Khor arable.
Although the team expects to receive some resistance from middlemen in the current food supply chain, NFSP and its Chairman, Mohamed bin Fahad Al Attiyah, welcome input and investments from the private sector.
Widespread agricultural production in a country with few freshwater resources and an unforgiving desert climate is no easy task. Nonetheless, Qatar will invest huge sums of money on research and developing a progressive information technology hub in order to secure lower food prices.
Their four major foci will be:
Agricultural production
Managing and desalinating sea water
Sustainable energy resources
Food processing industries
“We are well on our way to making reliance on food imports a thing of the past,” Al Attiyah told the paper.
Hedge Funds Boost Bullish Silver Bets as Mideast Tensions Mount
By Pham-Duy Nguyen - Feb 22, 2011 Hedge funds boosted bullish bets on silver to the highest in almost four months as tensions in the Middle East sent the metal to a 30-year high.
Managed-money funds held net-long positions, or wagers on rising prices, totaling 35,159 contracts on the Comex as of Feb. 15, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed last week. That’s the most since October. Holdings have gained for three straight weeks, the longest streak since September.
Silver futures rallied 7.7 percent last week, the most since early December, as Egypt’s pro-democracy demonstrations spread to Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Iran. Prices have doubled in the past year and touched $32.87 an ounce in New York on Feb. 18, the highest since March 1980.
“With the Middle East deteriorating, and the threat of inflation, you’ve got the big money flowing back into silver and precious metals,” said Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. “Silver provides better upside exposure than gold. Gold hasn’t moved as much, and people are chasing yields.”
Gold in New York gained 2.1 percent last week and is up 24 percent in the past 12 months, trailing silver’s rally. Bullish gold holdings by managed-money funds totaled 159,814 contracts, up 10 percent from the previous week and the highest total since December, CFTC data show.
‘Silver Over Gold’
“If I had to, I’d pick silver over gold,” said James Dailey, who manages about $200 million at TEAM Financial Asset Management LLC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “Gold and silver are picking up market share in the currency world as a store of value. Silver’s also got the tailwind of the global industrial expansion.”
Silver futures for March delivery gained 2.3 percent to settle at $32.296 on Feb. 18 on the Comex. Gold futures for April delivery gained 0.3 percent to $1,388.60 an ounce. The metal touched a record $1,432.50 on Dec. 7.
Managed-money positions include hedge funds, commodity- trading advisers and commodity pools. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculator positions because such transactions may reflect an expectation of a shift in prices.
Managed-money funds held net-long positions, or wagers on rising prices, totaling 35,159 contracts on the Comex as of Feb. 15, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data showed last week. That’s the most since October. Holdings have gained for three straight weeks, the longest streak since September.
Silver futures rallied 7.7 percent last week, the most since early December, as Egypt’s pro-democracy demonstrations spread to Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Iran. Prices have doubled in the past year and touched $32.87 an ounce in New York on Feb. 18, the highest since March 1980.
“With the Middle East deteriorating, and the threat of inflation, you’ve got the big money flowing back into silver and precious metals,” said Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago. “Silver provides better upside exposure than gold. Gold hasn’t moved as much, and people are chasing yields.”
Gold in New York gained 2.1 percent last week and is up 24 percent in the past 12 months, trailing silver’s rally. Bullish gold holdings by managed-money funds totaled 159,814 contracts, up 10 percent from the previous week and the highest total since December, CFTC data show.
‘Silver Over Gold’
“If I had to, I’d pick silver over gold,” said James Dailey, who manages about $200 million at TEAM Financial Asset Management LLC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. “Gold and silver are picking up market share in the currency world as a store of value. Silver’s also got the tailwind of the global industrial expansion.”
Silver futures for March delivery gained 2.3 percent to settle at $32.296 on Feb. 18 on the Comex. Gold futures for April delivery gained 0.3 percent to $1,388.60 an ounce. The metal touched a record $1,432.50 on Dec. 7.
Managed-money positions include hedge funds, commodity- trading advisers and commodity pools. Analysts and investors follow changes in speculator positions because such transactions may reflect an expectation of a shift in prices.
Louis Dreyfus Said to Close Commodity Fund to New Investors
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen - Feb 22, 2011 The $2 billion commodity hedge fund of Louis Dreyfus Group, the world’s largest rice and cotton trader, stopped accepting new money from investors, according to two people, after assets advanced 20-fold in about two years.
The Louis Dreyfus Commodities Alpha Fund, managed by Geneva-based Ian McIntosh, started with $100 million in November 2008 and focuses mainly on farm products including grains, oilseeds, sugar, coffee and cocoa. The fund returned 17.3 percent in 2010, according to the people who have direct knowledge of the matter. They declined to be identified because the information isn’t public.
Investors increased their allocation to commodities as cotton and rubber soared to records, and coffee more than doubled in the past year, after drought and floods ruined crops. Commodities-related funds attracted $5 billion in the fourth quarter, the biggest such inflow since the period ended June 30, 2009, said Farhan Mumtaz, an analyst at Eurekahedge Pte.
“Physical commodity market knowledge assists in more accurate supply and demand analysis” for hedge funds trading raw materials, said Adam Taylor, assistant portfolio manager at London-based Liongate Capital Management LP, which invests more than $500 million in such funds.
The Louis Dreyfus Group, founded about 160 years ago, trades grains, oilseeds, sugar, ethanol, coffee and cotton, and has offices in more than 55 countries, its website said. The company has expanded into energy, real estate and electricity distribution in France. McIntosh, 49, has been with Louis Dreyfus since 1984. The fund also trades metals and freight.
Fund Returns
Commodity hedge funds returned on average 10.65 percent in 2010, the Newedge Commodity Trading Index shows. Investors in the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Commodity Index received 9.02 percent.
Assets managed by commodity-related funds were $195.8 billion as of Dec. 31, Eurekahedge’s Mumtaz said in Singapore.
Cotton jumped to a record $2.0893 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. on Feb. 18 and more than doubled in the past 12 months on demand from China and as floods destroyed crops in Australia and Pakistan. Rubber surged to an all-time high of 535.7 yen per kilogram the same day after floods in Thailand disrupted output.
Hedge funds are largely unregulated investment vehicles whose managers can trade any asset, aim to make money regardless of whether markets rise or fall and participate substantially in profits from money invested.
The Louis Dreyfus Commodities Alpha Fund, managed by Geneva-based Ian McIntosh, started with $100 million in November 2008 and focuses mainly on farm products including grains, oilseeds, sugar, coffee and cocoa. The fund returned 17.3 percent in 2010, according to the people who have direct knowledge of the matter. They declined to be identified because the information isn’t public.
Investors increased their allocation to commodities as cotton and rubber soared to records, and coffee more than doubled in the past year, after drought and floods ruined crops. Commodities-related funds attracted $5 billion in the fourth quarter, the biggest such inflow since the period ended June 30, 2009, said Farhan Mumtaz, an analyst at Eurekahedge Pte.
“Physical commodity market knowledge assists in more accurate supply and demand analysis” for hedge funds trading raw materials, said Adam Taylor, assistant portfolio manager at London-based Liongate Capital Management LP, which invests more than $500 million in such funds.
The Louis Dreyfus Group, founded about 160 years ago, trades grains, oilseeds, sugar, ethanol, coffee and cotton, and has offices in more than 55 countries, its website said. The company has expanded into energy, real estate and electricity distribution in France. McIntosh, 49, has been with Louis Dreyfus since 1984. The fund also trades metals and freight.
Fund Returns
Commodity hedge funds returned on average 10.65 percent in 2010, the Newedge Commodity Trading Index shows. Investors in the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Commodity Index received 9.02 percent.
Assets managed by commodity-related funds were $195.8 billion as of Dec. 31, Eurekahedge’s Mumtaz said in Singapore.
Cotton jumped to a record $2.0893 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. on Feb. 18 and more than doubled in the past 12 months on demand from China and as floods destroyed crops in Australia and Pakistan. Rubber surged to an all-time high of 535.7 yen per kilogram the same day after floods in Thailand disrupted output.
Hedge funds are largely unregulated investment vehicles whose managers can trade any asset, aim to make money regardless of whether markets rise or fall and participate substantially in profits from money invested.
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