Leadership for Agriculture Forum

On 28 November I attended the Leadership for Agriculture Forum at the headquarters of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The forum was established a few years ago to bring together leaders —policymakers, technical experts, private sector actors and community champions from the public and private sectors in agriculture in Africa to tackle the obstacles to Africa’s agriculture transformation. In particular, it involves ministers of finance and agriculture. The event was organized in collaboration with the Initiative for Global Development, Grow Africa and the Rockefeller Foundation. I used the opportunity to remind the participants of the importance of the livestock sector in the economic development of the continent— livestock accounts for, on average, 40% of agricultural GDP, provides employment for millions of people and supplies vital nutrients, especially critical in the first ‘1,000 days’ of life. More information about the forum can be found here.

Stunting and how to reduce it

I found an interesting report from the World Bank on ‘The economic costs of stunting and how to reduce them.’ As the authors state, ‘the undernourishment and disease that cause stunting impair brain development, leading to lower cognitive and socioemotional skills, lower levels of educational attainment, and hence lower incomes. Health problems in terms of non-communicable diseases are more likely in later life, leading to increased health care costs’. They go on to estimate that Africa and South Asia are losing around 9-10% of GDP per capita due to stunting. If we couple this statement with the growing evidence that animal-source foods are critical to prevent stunting (a recent study showed a 47% reduction in stunting when children were given one egg per day) we can conclude that without livestock, developing countries will not be able to achieve their economic potential. And this does not even consider the direct economic value of the livestock sector. Surely a powerful argument for investment in livestock.

Migration and livestock

There were 247 million migrants across the world in 2015 – a three-fold increase from 50 years earlier. Migration is now recognized as one of the big economic and political challenges on the early 21^st century. A growing population of young people sees limited opportunity in many areas, especially in rural settings, and so we are witnessing large demographic changes. People are moving from rural to urban areas in search of employment, large numbers are being displaced by conflict, whole families are risking their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea to seek a better live in Europe. This unprecedented movement of people is placing all sorts of pressures on the towns, cities and countries to which they are moving.

I attended a meeting on 20 November organized by the African Migration and Development Policy Centre (AMADPOC)  who have been working on a project funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that is looking at ‘The root causes of migration and enhancing the resilience of rural communities’ in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. We are starting to consider how ILRI’s research might contribute to reducing the need for migration and how the livestock sector could be leveraged to provide greater economic opportunities, employment and livelihoods, especially for young people, not only in livestock keeping but all along the livestock value chains. I have invited the research director of AMADPOC to visit ILRI early next year to explore how we might work together. Of course, not all migration is unwelcome. Migration provides new opportunities for people and movement of people stimulates innovation and economic growth—the political challenge is how to achieve a balance of the positive and negative effects.

President of Ghana’s speech

Finally, I would encourage you to listen to a speech given by President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana during a visit to Ghana by President Macron of France a few days ago. He describes the Africa that I want my eight-week old Kenyan-British twins to grow up in. I hope the political leaders of the continent were listening.

Till next month.

Iain