Innovation and partnerships to realize Africa's rice potential

Your Excellency, President Amadou Toumani Touré,
Honourable Ministers,
Dr Getachew Engida, Chairman, Board of Trustees and other Board Members past and present,
Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck, Director General of the Africa Rice Center,
Fellow scientists,
Development colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen

First let me express my heartfelt gratitude for honouring me with this Distinguished Service Award. The Africa Rice Center is a fine institution and one which I am immensely proud to be associated with. Having worked for 10 years with Africa Rice, this is very special indeed.  It is therefore with great honour and humility that I accept this Distinguished Service Award.

As they say at the Oscars, I couldn’t have done it without the support of so many – the Africa Rice Council of Ministers, the Board of Trustees, the Center’s management, the scientists themselves, research assistants and technicians and our general services staff, my many colleagues – and not least my wife and family.

So thank you to all those who supported me during my ten years at the Africa Rice Center.

I am, of course, delighted to be able to join you today for the second Africa Rice Congress, having initiated these Congresses during my term of office.  I hope you will indulge me a moment to make a few comments.

Working at WARDA (which we subsequently renamed the Africa Rice Center) brought me many opportunities, for which I am immensely grateful.

It gave me the opportunity to bring agricultural research and development to the world stage – work that I continue to pursue as President of IFAD.

It gave me the opportunity to oversee and – I hope – guide the NERICA revolution. As we all know, this transformed rice production on this continent, multiplying yields first in West Africa and then beyond.

It gave me the opportunity, through NERICA’s success, to promote scientific research and development as an engine for rural development and therefore fundamental to improving the lives of Africa’s poor, rural people. Again, this is work which I continue to pursue in my current role at IFAD.

It gave me the opportunity to lend my shoulders to a younger generation of African scientists to climb the ladder of success.  My greatest joy is to see those who have taken advantage of that opportunity.

And it gave me the opportunity to forge strategic alliances with key UN partners, such as the UNDP, FAO and IFAD; with bilateral donors including Japan and the European Commission; with private foundations, including the Rockefeller Foundation; and with national governments throughout the African continent and beyond.

In short, over the 10 years that I was Director General of the Africa Rice Center I was able to gain hands-on experience of innovation and partnerships – the very theme of this Congress.

Innovation

Innovation, in the context of the work of the Africa Rice Center, is often seen as something scientific. NERICA is a case in point. So is the ASI thresher-cleaner, or the ROK series of salt tolerant rice varieties from Rokupor in Sierra Leone.

But innovation can go wider than science. Innovation can encompass our perceptions too.

Positioning WARDA as the Africa Rice Center, was a recognition of the increased role, relevance and demand for WARDA’s outputs outside of its original 11 Member States.    This was not only a change of the reach and scope of the Africa Rice Center, but also a change of the Center itself. 

The diversity of our staff also increased during this period at the Africa Rice Center.  We were able to recognise the talents among developing country nationals who have themselves lived the challenges of economic development and empowerment. 

At IFAD, I am also trying to redraw international perceptions.

For example, poor rural people – whether smallholder farmers, fishers, pastoralists, forest dwellers or herders – are traditionally perceived simply as poor beneficiaries of handouts, grants and other financial support.

But poor rural people should be seen differently. Having witnessed the capacity of African farmers to adopt new technology and make it work to their profit, smallholder agriculture needs to be seen as a business. That is the way to untap the potential of the world’s 500 million smallholder farms.

It is my vision that smallholder agriculture should be seen as small-scale business and not as a place for poor people who need handouts.

To make this vision a reality, we need to channel national and international support into making smallholder agriculture productive and profitable. Only then will smallholders be able to transform themselves into agribusiness entrepreneurs.

This is particularly important when it comes to Africa’s youth. Because without business opportunities in rural areas, young people will be driven to the cities in search of work. So it is therefore our choice.  Create conditions for tomorrow’s food producers.  Or allow for a potential time bomb to explode in urban areas.  And then who will feed the world in 2020 or in 2030? 

Governments, donors and private sector operators need to recognize smallholder farms as agribusinesses, irrespective of their size or scale. We need to act – individually and collectively – to make rural agribusinesses the main engine of economic growth; we need to make rural agribusinesses a viable opportunity for Africa’s youth; we need to make rural agribusinesses a pathway out of poverty. 

This is the innovation that I am now pursuing through IFAD’s work.

Partnerships

But we won’t be able to achieve it on our own. Just as strong and flexible partnerships are essential to the success of the Africa Rice Center’s research activities, so they are the bedrock of IFAD’s work to eradicate rural poverty.

Poor rural people themselves and their organizations are IFAD’s main partners. But we also work closely with developing country governments, development organizations, NGOs and – increasingly – the private sector.

When I was in Davos in January, I highlighted to the CEOs and business leaders there the mutual benefits of forming partnerships with small producers. Much-needed capital investment from the private sector can enable smallholders to provide the same private sector with a sustainable supply of high-quality agricultural produce. In other words, there is the potential for an effective symbiotic relationship.

Indeed, the private sector has a pivotal role to play in rural development throughout the developing world. But public-private partnerships must be backed up with the right government policies and support for rural communities, so that poor rural people can increase food production, improve their lives and contribute to greater food security for all. So there is also a crucial role for national governments as policymakers that goes beyond declarations and statements.  Declarations and statements do not feed hungry people.  This is the time for action.

And lastly, my call is to African governments and their leaders.  The international community of donors and NGOs will not transform our countries for us.  We must do it ourselves.  We must invest the political capital, the political will at the highest levels and lay the foundations for sustainable development.  Only then can we transform our nations and our populations.  And agriculture is key to economic growth.  A tree cannot make use of the energy from the sun if it is not firmly rooted in its own soil.

Conclusion

I would like to believe that, during my ten years as Director General, I was able to make some contribution to the Africa Rice Center’s international effectiveness in promoting Africa’s rural development through innovation and partnerships. But whatever modest contribution I was able to make, I commend my successor, Dr Papa Abdoulaye Seck, for going even further in extending the reach of the Africa Rice Center.  I congratulate the governments of member states, the Council of Ministers and the National Experts Committee for today collectively ranking number one “core donor” of the Center. 

As we know from the work of both the Africa Rice Center and IFAD, innovation and partnerships are fundamental to realizing Africa’s potential. And, as we also know, there is much untapped potential on this continent to be realized. Whether here at AfricaRice or at IFAD, I say that we owe it to Africa’s people to ensure that we achieve this goal. Working together, I am confident that we will.

Thank you.

22 March 2010, Bamako, Mali