Sowing the seeds of success in Africa

Many Irish companies and agencies are looking at ways to improve Africa’s agricultural industry

Talk to anyone in investment circles and Africa is likely to emerge as a topic of conversation. Perceived by many as the forgotten continent, Africa has recently emerged on the global consciousness as a potential site for investment, particularly for the agriculture sector.

Last March the first €2 million Africa Agri-Food Development Fund was launched by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Aimed at encouraging private sector investment into Africa, it reflected a broader shift in focus for Ireland’s development strategy towards trade and investment as well as aid.

Many Irish agriculture and food companies have already made inroads into Africa. Glanbia, for example, has a joint venture with PZ Cussons in Nigeria, while Kerry Group has significant commercial interests, with a number of sites in South Africa, as well as a partnership with Concern to develop the nutritional attributes of agricultural production in Zambia.

The Irish Dairy Board has already identified Africa as a major market for Irish food produce. Tonnes of Irish dairy products, including milk powder are shipped into Africa each year, with Algeria now the second biggest international consumer of Irish cheese anywhere in the world. According to Bord Bia, Irish food and drink companies export around half a billion euro worth of product into Africa.

Two-way trade

But while the investment and market potential for Irish producers is increasingly being identified by companies here, the relationship is two-way. Many Irish companies and agencies are looking at ways to improve and develop Africa’s own agricultural industry.

While the continent’s vast mines and mineral deposits are its major resource, agriculture is the backbone of the domestic economy – accounting for around 70 per cent of employment and about 30 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in sub-Saharan Africa for example.

But while it produces a major portion of the world’s commodities, agricultural production in the continent remains at a subsistence level. Even the agricultural products that are shipped out of Africa – fruit, vegetables, cocoa, spices – are moved as bulk commodities, with most of the value-adding activity, such as processing and packaging, taking place elsewhere.

Ugandan example

Coffee and chocolate are two examples. While Africa produces most of the world’s cocoa, little manufacturing or processing takes place locally.

Uganda encapsulates this dilemma. Located in the heart of Africa bordering Lake Victoria to the south, Uganda has emerged from decades of instability to embrace democracy. While the recent aid scandal, which uncovered misappropriation of donor funds in the office of the prime minister, and the proximity of the recent troubles in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has exposed challenges facing the country, Uganda is slowing moving towards a sustainable economic growth model.

Central to this is agriculture. Famously described by Winston Churchill as “the pearl of Africa”, Uganda is an astonishingly green and fertile country. Favourable soil conditions and climate – the country has two rainy seasons each year – makes it highly conducive to crop production, with coffee, tea, corn, sweet potatoes and fruit among the main food crops.

But while farming dominates activity in rural areas, most agricultural production remains at a subsistence level.

Irish involvement

One Irish agency trying to challenge the predominant economic model underpinning agricultural production in Africa, and particularly Uganda, is Traidlinks. Established to engage the Irish business community to support business development in Africa, the agency helps farmers and local producers to develop their businesses as a way of gaining access to local, regional and international markets. Central to this is encouraging Irish businesses to mentor farmers in the area.

Paul Kasaija is one successful local farmer who has taken part in a Traidlinks mentoring programme. After training as a lawyer, Paul decided to return to the family farm in western Uganda. The 18-acre enterprise cultivates pineapples, small crops and has a pig breeding business. By Ugandan standards, it’s a medium-sized farm which is on a growth trajectory.

“We have two pineapple crops a year, and our pig breeding business is expanding,” he tells me as we walk around his farm a few miles outside the village of Hoima, in the western part of the country.

Key to the farm’s development has been its relationship with Irish company Devenish Nutrition. The Belfast-based business, which specialises in nutritional products for livestock producers, has been working closely with Kasaija on the pig side of the business. As Michael Maguire explains, his connection with Africa stretches back to the mid-1980s, when he worked as a farm manager in eastern Uganda. Two decades later he became involved with Traidlinks. “What we’re trying to do is give some advice and practical knowledge to farmers. Uganda has huge potential and farmers are crying out for some technical back-up and basic management and advice.”

Maguire has been working closely with Kasaija providing nutritional advice. “The main knowledge gap is the nutritional aspect of producing livestock. Animals are protein deficient. So animals will be fed enough that they’re kept alive, but they are under nourished.”

Kasaija has incorporated some of the nutritional advice into his feeding patterns. Devenish, in conjunction with Traidlinks, plans to hire a full-time employee from Ireland to work on placement in Hoima for two years. An abandoned pig unit is being reactivated as a focal point for the project.

“We’re planning on setting up a model farm, where local farmers will be trained in nutrition and basic animal husbandry,” says Maguire. “The idea is that farmers will actually see the effect that adopting a proper nutritional system can have on the animals.”

Food ingredients

Another Traidlinks-backed project in the pipeline involves the Healy Group, an Irish food ingredient importer and distributor. Chief executive Maurice Healy says the group is looking at the potential of cassava, a crop grown throughout the horn of Africa. In particular, it is examining its use as an ingredient in bread for coeliacs.

“Cassava is a nutritious and widely used crop. In Nigeria, there is a government requirement to use a certain percentage of cassava in bread. We’re working with the Ugandan government to try and introduce a similar system there, which would encourage local farmers to direct their crops into milling.”

Already, bread manufacturers in Ireland, such as Gallaghers in Donegal, import cassava from other parts of the world for use in speciality breads.

These initiatives undertaken by Devenish, the Healy Group and companies like Country Crest, are part of a broader strategy spearheaded by Traidlinks to scale-up agricultural production in the area. The agency has recently completed the development of an enterprise centre in Hoima, in conjunction with Tullow Oil, which aims to encourage farmers to develop their products to export- standard.

Oil opportunity

With Tullow Oil set to embark on major oil exploration activity in western Uganda over the next few years, the aim of the centre is to leverage the local economic benefits of the oil industry. The hope is that farmers will supply the expected influx of oil workers with food products. Once the project is completed, it is envisaged that local production will be scaled up so locally-produced products can be exported.

Crucial to this is ensuring that local products are produced to Western standards, including processing and packaging, which will help them access new markets. Working with the local farmer groups, such as the Hoima District Farmers Association (HDFA), product is now sent to the Hoima enterprise centre, where it is washed, packaged and presented. Paul Kasaija is positive about the new supply system, pointing out that farmers are receiving a fair price- and are paid on time.

His views are shared by the other farming co-ops and organisations in the area.

Charles Kasangaki is the head of HDFA. An articulate and experienced farmer representative, he outlines the main challenges facing local farmers – small shareholdings, volatile prices and dismal infrastructure and transport, which cripples trade.

As we talk about the issues facing farmers, our conversation turns to Ireland. How has Ireland moved away from a subsistence-based farming system, he asks.

“Exports, and added-value products,” I explain. “Yes, but the European farmer is also subsidised,” he smiles. “For the African farmer, it is hard to compete.”

Suzanne Lynch travelled to Uganda with the support of the Simon Cumbers Media Fund