Inforice régional April 2007

 ¨     GHANA

Ghana, Burkina Faso must implement protocols

1 MAY 2007 - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=8081

The Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC) has appealed to the governments of Ghana and Burkina Faso to facilitate an unconditional implementation of the protocol on the free movement of persons, goods and services within the West African sub-region.

“Governments of the two countries should support and facilitate the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme as against the European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and use the Common External Tariff (CET) as a means to safeguard the regional market”, the coalition stated.

Ghanaian MPs adopt GSP-Plus as alternative to EPAs

30 APR 2007 - http://www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=6754

Members of the parliamentary committee on Trade and Industry have adopted the Generalized System of Preferences Plus (GSP+), a trading arrangement that gives preferential treatment to exports of developing countries to markets in Europe.

The new GSP+ is expected to be an alternative to the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which is currently being negotiated between the European Union and countries in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc.

The adoption followed a convincing presentation by Mr. Tetteh Homeku, Coordinator of Programmes of the Third World Network (TWN) on the pros and cons of the GSP-plus vis-à-vis the EPAs, which the EU has put on the table as its alternative to the current Cotonou Trade Pact set to expire by December 31, 2007.

Unlike the EPAs, the GSP-plus does not require reprocity, except that it excludes some products from free entry. It does have some limitations, including stricter rules of origin clauses, but Mr. Homeku thinks these do not affect majority of the exports from ACP countries, arguing that ACP countries stand to lose only 2% of their market access under the GSP-plus, which to him is insignificant when weighed against the benefits that will accrue to them from t

GAWU salutes workershe scheme

30 APR 2007- http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=123270

The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) on Monday congratulated workers for their contribution to the growth of the economy.

"We wish to congratulate our gallant and hardworking men and women in the plantations, research institutes, poultry and livestock, irrigation authorities, and the self-employed, rural workers, casuals and contract workers for their dedication and commitment to building mother Ghana," Mr Samuel Kangah, GAWU General Secretary, said in a statement.

Farmers threaten demonstration

30 APR 2007 - http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=123254

Some farmers at Adamanso in the Amenfi East District whose farmlands a mining company, Golden Star Resources Bogoso/Prestea, has taken over without paying compensation have said they would demonstrate against the company on Wednesday.

Trade experts opt for liberal trade regime...reject EPA’s and opts for GSP

27 APR 2007 – The Statesman - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=8051

Advocacy groups in the country have recommended to the country’s negotiating team in the new trade agreement with the European Union to opt for a more liberal trade pact known as the Generalised System of Preferences plus-scheme.

Head of Programmes at the Third World Network Africa Tetteh Hormeku who presented an Oxfam and TWN Africa report on the findings and recommendations of the effects of the Economic Partnership Agreement on the livelihood of Africans said the degree of market opening under EPA could have significant negative impact on rural livelihoods, current and future industries, and government revenue.

Trade coalition condemns ongoing EPA negotiations

23 APR 2007 - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=7988

Barely two weeks after the European Union (EU) proposed to remove all remaining quota and tariff limitations on access to the EU market for all African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) regions as part of the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations (EPAs), a group calling itself the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC) has raised concerns about the ongoing negotiations that are scheduled to be concluded by December 31, 2007.

The group, which is a coalition of farmer-based organizations, local food crop producers, civil society organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pointed out that the EPA negotiations pose a threat to economic livelihoods and the economy of the Ghanaian society as well as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) at large.

Agriculture, Rural Development Key to Achieving Food Security, Child Nutrition – WFP

23 APR 2007 – Ghanaian Chronicle - http://allafrica.com/stories/200704230764.html

Even though Ghana is said to be one of the few African countries that is on track to meet the first Millenium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015 in terms of undernourishment, stakeholders have pointed out that there still remains more to be done to achieve total food security, equitable access to food and child nutrition.

Statistics from the World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners indicate that between 1990 to 1992 and 2001 to 2003, the number of hungry people in Ghana fell from 5.8 million to 2.4 million, representing a 59% reduction but food insecurity remains in areas like Tamale in the Northern region.

Youth in Agriculture given cash, inputs under NYEP

23 APR 2007 - http://www.modernghana.com/GhanaHome/NewsArchive/news_details.asp?id=VFZSTk1FNVVVVEk9&menu_id=1&sub_menu_id=0

One hundred and twenty people selected in the Gomoa District for the Youth in Agriculture Business module of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP), have been given one million cedis and inputs worth 650,000 cedis each to start their farming ventures.

The inputs included fertilizers, seeds and insecticides.

Don't Sign the EPAs in our name

20 APR 2007 – Public Agenda – http://allafrica.com/stories/200704231169.html

Ghanaian civil society activists, farmers and producers have asked government not to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement being negotiated between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific states in their name, since the EPA deal is not in the national interest.

According to the group, there is overwhelming evidence, provided by country and regional specific studies that the new trade pact, which essentially is a free trade agreement, will bring them no development. Rather, they will be the losers should the government sign onto and implement the pact.

The group, made up of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), Send Foundation, the Third World Network (TWN), the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) and the Abibiman Foundation made the call on Thursday in Accra at a press conference to mark the International Civil Society Day of Action against EPAs.

Peasant Farmers Union Sends SOS

18 APR 2007 – Ghanaian Chronicle - http://allafrica.com/stories/200704180523.html

Members of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) have advocated for agricultural financing in Ghana.

They intend to engage lawmakers to work for changes in policies in the agricultural sector and champion trade justice in their interest.

Mr. Mohammed Adam Nashiru, President of the Association, noted that while the agricultural sector accounted for 40% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and contributed 33% to net foreign exchange as well as accounting for 50% of all jobs, the peasant farmer was faced with problems including lack of access to reliable credit facilities.

USAID Director Sees Nothing Wrong with Biotechnology

13 APR 2007 – Public Agenda - http://allafrica.com/stories/200704160951.html

The West Africa Mission Director of USAID, Dr J. Cheema has said that biotechnology is one of the tools that can help African countries to achieve sustainable agricultural growth.

According to Dr Cheema, African agriculture needs to grow faster not only to feed a growing African population, but also to raise incomes and boost trade if the continent is to improve its position in the world economy.

"However, it is not stand-alone solution and must be pursued in conjunction with other improvements in agricultural management such as seed delivery systems and appropriate regulations in order to encourage the private sector investment" she said.

She said this at the third ECOWAS Ministerial conference on biotechnology and biosafety in Accra, which adopted a five-year action plan on biotechnology and biosafety.

¨     NIGERIA

Farmwise - Rural Farmers versus rural poverty

29 APR 2007 – Daily Trust - http://allafrica.com/stories/200704301165.html

Many rural farmers sell their farm produce for any amount of money a buyer can offer just to have that money regardless of cost of production. The rural farmers do this in order to meet some pressing needs of their families thus remaining in perpetual poverty. They hardly break even not to talk of making profit. Most of them do not even know that their family labour is part of the production cost and they continue to get unfair prices for their produce seasonally. And nobody cares because the government, which seems to care, has not done anything tangible to relieve these farmers of their plight.

Problems of rural poverty and neglect can be solved through well designed and effectively implemented community development programmes, integrated rural development strategies and pragmatic agricultural modernization programmes with large doses of credit, research and extension facilities.

UK supports country's agric sector with N3.7bn

28 MAR 2007 – Daily Trust - http://allafrica.com/stories/200703280345.html

The United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) has injected £15.2 million (about N3.7billion) into the agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy.

The six - year program (2006-2012), tagged "Propcom" is aimed at promoting market - led pro-poor growth in Nigeria and making agricultural markets work better for the poor.

Country to host organic agric centre

22 APR 2007 – This Day -  http://allafrica.com/stories/200704220276.html

Nigeria has been selected to host the African Centre of the International Organic Agriculture, where research on the development of organic agriculture would be carried out.

The centre, named "The Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for Organic Research and Development", would conduct research and promote the development of organic agriculture in the country and coordinate same throughout the continent.

President Obasanjo said the country would continue to focus attention on the development of agriculture. "We will strive to take our own share of the world's 30 billion dollars organic agriculture market," the President said.

FG urged to spearhead Ecowas negotiations

18 APR 2007 – This Day - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=7937

The Federal Government has been called upon to take the lead in driving the Economic Community of West African States- Economic Partnership Agreement (ECOWAS-EPA) negotiations in order to guide the developing region towards effective regional integration and improved trade practices.

Also the government of Nigeria was enjoined to cause a review of the Common External Tariff (CET) to ensure the adoption of common tariff structure that protects local industries and agricultural producers, allegedly because neither 20% nor 50% can give the kind of protection required for the achievement of Nigeria’s industrialisation policy embedded in the development strategy.

Above calls formed part of observations and recommendations by the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), the Nigerian Non State Actors Focal Point on EPAs, on April 11, at a briefing in Abuja.

¨     REGIONAL

Africa continues search for increased agric production

19 AVR 2007 - http://www.panapress.com/newslatf.asp?code=eng017234&dte=19/04/2007

Boosting agriculture in Africa was at the top of the minds of experts from academia, scientific research bodies, universities and policymakers when they began a two-day West and Central Africa Agricultural Research and Development (WECARD) Strategic and Consultative meeting here Thursday.

Africa's agricultural output remains low and with more than 70 per cent of the people being in agriculture, the poor performance of the sector is a major indicator of the poverty wracking the continent.

The meeting, being held within the framework of the implementation of new programmes resulting from its strategic plan review process, is aimed at sharing information and reaching consensus on raising agricultural strategies to reduce poverty. It would eventually redefine the operations of WECARD as a viable sub-regional organization for agricultural scientific cooperation in Africa.

"Our desire is to work in making agricultural research and development output about six per cent of the national GDP of our member countries. By this, we would be aiming at sustained food sufficiency in the sub-region."

¨     EPAs

Ghanaian MPs adopt GSP-Plus as alternative to EPAs

30 APR 2007 - http://www.ghanaweb.com/public_agenda/article.php?ID=6754

Under Ghana’s headlines

EU says West Africa trade talks may stretch to 2008

29 APR 2007 – Reuters - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=8069

The European Commission is pressing West African governments to negotiate a deal on trade before a WTO waiver on current trade perks expires on December 31, but acknowledged on Thursday a short extension may be needed.

If we find ourselves (not having signed) by December 31, we will be in a very, very difficult position with the WTO," Gilles Hervio, head of the European Commission delegation in Senegal, told a news conference in the capital Dakar. "If we make progress, if things have moved forward ... I think we will be in a very strong position with the WTO to say we need a little more time, and to negotiate a postponement — but only a few months," Hervio said. ECOWAS heads of state and ministers have proposed extending the current trade terms by two or three years to allow more time to reach a new deal but the countries agreed in Brussels in February to work towards the end-of-year deadline.

UK-based aid agency Oxfam International called on Wednesday for Brussels to offer preferential trade terms to ACP countries under the same enhanced "generalised system of preferences" scheme it has for some other countries, mainly in Latin America. Oxfam and fellow campaign group Third World Network Africa said that would allow the negotiation of a better deal.

EU concessions to african farmers suspect

29 APR 2007 - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=8064

The recent trade concessions by the European Union to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries mean little in real terms, says an international non-governmental organisation.

The Agency for Co-operation and Research in Development (ACORD), a Pan-African organisation working for social justice and development has scoffed at the EU’s offer. It says the deal, which comes ahead of the Economic Partnership Agreements is not a new development in the negotiations, and is too little too late, especially for Africa’s smallholder farmers.

Dropping tariffs in the EU market will not result in Africa’s small older farmers accessing the EU market. Without reformed rules of origin and assistance in meeting supply side constraints such as sanitary and phytosanitary standards, they will continue to be kept out of the EU market. The EU promises to help, but has not bound itself to those promises, making them empty, Deborah Scott adds (ACORD policy advisor).

Trade experts opt for liberal trade regime...reject EPA’s and opts for GSP

27 APR 2007 – The Statesman - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=8051

Under Ghana headlines

Trade coalition condemns ongoing EPA negotiations

23 APR 2007 - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=7988

Under Ghana headlines

Don't Sign the EPAs in our name

20 APR 2007 – Public Agenda – http://allafrica.com/stories/200704231169.html

FG urged to spearhead ECOWAS negotiations

18 APR 2007 – This Day - http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=7937

Under Nigeria headlines

ENGLISH VERSION !!!!

EU offers full market access to Africa, Caribbean and Pacific regions in EPAs negotiations

4 APR 2007 - http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/bilateral/regions/acp/pr040407_en.htm

The EU has today proposed to remove all remaining quota and tariff limitations on access to the EU market for all African, Caribbean and Pacific regions as part of the Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations. The offer covers all products, including agricultural goods like beef, dairy, cereals and all fruit and vegetables. It will apply immediately following the signing of an agreement - with a phase - in period for rice and sugar. The only exception will be South Africa where a number of globally competitive products will continue to pay import duties.

¨     WTO

African Countries to Develop a Common Position on Sensitive and Special Products in trade negotiations

24 AVR 2007 - http://www.africatime.com/Benin/nouv_pana.asp?no_nouvelle=322934&no_categorie=3

The Economic Commission for Africa will convene a high level Ad Hoc experts group meeting from 3 to 4 May 2007 in Cotonou (Benin) to help African countries define sensitive and special products in a way that takes into account their own interests in multilateral trade negotiations.

The objective is to secure more development opportunities for the continent by allowing African countries to designate some of their products as “sensitive and special” in sectors that are crucial for economic diversification, protection of rural livelihoods and food security.

The meeting is being jointly organized with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union (AU), the Geneva African Group and the Government of Benin.

New trade rules expected to benefit some developing countries

11 APR 2007 - http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000536/index.html

Multilateral agricultural trade policy reform is expected to stimulate trade and economic growth, but any new trade rules need to be compatible with the first Millennium Development Goal, which calls for the proportion of people suffering from hunger or living in extreme poverty to be reduced by half by the year 2015, warns the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in its annual report on the State of Agricultural Commodity Markets 2006 (SOCO2006), issued today.

According to the FAO report, “many lower-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, are less well placed to gain in the short- to medium run from of trade liberalization that includes improved access to export markets, or from further opening of their own markets. The extent to which these poorer countries benefit from trade liberalization will depend upon their economic structures, their competitiveness and their capacity to respond to new market incentives.”

RICE: larger supply and lower world prices

APR 2007 – http://www.arroz.agr.br/site/interarroz/zip/ia0407en.pdf

Market Trends: In April, the world prices went down due to the arrival of Asia’s second harvest. Even so, the upward trend should come about in the next weeks with a higher global demand and the likely reduction of exportable supply in some Asian countries.

Export market: In Africa, the growth of rice production, by 7% in 2006, will not be enough to compensate the continent’s consumption needs. The imports, although rising in 2007, are likely to be smaller than the record amount of 2005.

Meeting the food security challenge through organic agriculture

3 MAY 2007 - http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000550/index.html

“Organic agriculture is no longer a phenomenon in developed countries only, as it is commercially practiced in 120 countries, representing 31 million hectares and a market of US$40 billion in 2006,” FAO underlines in a paper, Organic Agriculture and Food Security, presented here at an International Conference on Organic Agriculture and Food Security (3-5 May 2007).

The paper recognizes that "most certified organic food production in developing countries goes to export" and adds that "when certified cash crops are linked with agro-ecological improvements and accrued income for poor farmers, this leads to improved food self-reliance and revitalization of small holder agriculture."

Agriculture key player to stop degradation of vital ecosystems

25 APR 2007 - http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000542/index.html

Environmental degradation could threaten agricultural productivity and food security

Agriculture offers important solutions for many of today’s environmental problems, FAO said today in a report prepared for its Committee on Agriculture meeting in Rome (25-28 April 2007).

“Agriculture is often responsible for environmental degradation, such as non-sustainable food production, poor fuel use, natural resource depletion and habitat exploitation. But at the same time farmers should be considered as key players in stopping degradation of vital ecosystems,” said Alexander Müller, FAO Assistant Director-General.

“It needs the political will to reverse the degradation of ecosystems through the change of agricultural policies, institutions and practices. Agriculture has to be at the centre stage if we want to preserve an ecological balance on which current and future generations can depend,” Müller said.

Bioenergy could drive rural development

23 APR 2007 - http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000540/index.html

Top international experts met in Rome to consider the environmental and food security impact of the rapidly-expanding bioenergy industry and agreed that governments could use bioenergy as a positive force for rural development.

Key role for governments

“In food security terms, bioenergy only makes sense if we know where the food-insecure populations are located and what they need to improve their livelihoods. Environmentally, we must make sure that both large- and small-scale producers of bioenergy fully take into account both the negative and positive impacts,” Alexander Müller, Head of FAO’s Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, said.

UN Climate Change Impact Report: Poor Will Suffer Most

6 APR 207 - http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2007/2007-04-06-01.asp

The impacts of future climate change will be mixed across regions of the world, with more than a billion people at risk of increased water stress and hundreds of millions at risk of sea-level rise, but there will be higher crop yields in some areas, finds a new global scientific assessment released today.

"It is the poorest of the poor in the world, and this includes poor people even in prosperous societies, who are going to be the worst hit," IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri told journalists at the release of the report's summary for policymakers in Brussels. "This does become a global responsibility in my view," he said.

FAO Says African Agriculture Performing Poorly

5 APR 2007 – The Daily Monitor - http://allafrica.com/stories/200704050315.html

African agriculture is performing poorly both in absolute and relative terms when compared to other developing regions of the world, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations said on Tuesday.

FAO said that in some instances, the most undernourished and malnourished are mostly the farmers themselves.

In 2003-4, of the 53 countries in the world with food emergencies situations, 24 were from sub-Saharan Africa, the UN agency added.