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Still missing - a clear long term agricultural policy
Two years ago, on June 6th 2008, in the midst of the food crisis I wrote in abc Burkina 283 (abc Burkina n° 283 ) :
"For two months now people who comment on the food crisis keep repeating: We are now paying the price for 20 years of mistakes." Many recommend investment in agriculture. But who would be willing to invest in fresh milk production without any guarantee that imported milk powder will not fall back to previous low price levels in a couple of months? Who will want to invest in domestic tomato processing as long as there is no import tax on Chinese tomato paste canned in Italy and marketed throughout West Africa ?
What more is required of this crisis and the food riots to make sure that the farmers' voice is heard and that a start is made on a new track (towards food sovereignty) ?"
What news do we have today on this, in particular from Burkina Faso and West Africa ?
It can not be said that food sovereignty has made real progress in West Africa…
What we do see is rather that the more affluent countries (such as Saudi Arabia and China) are byuing up land in Africa to ensure food security for their own citizens.
These days I had an opportunity to travel to the rice plains of Bama and Sourou. In Bama I witnessed a processing centre in full swing making parboiled rice.centre was not there two years ago. In Sourou a similar plant is under construction.
The construction of both these, financed by an international solidarity NGO, was facilitated by a number of external events : - farmers favoured by better world market prices;
- government support for easy access to inputs (subsidised fertiliser and loans); however, the government takes back a good deal by buying up almost half of the paddy rice from co-operatives at only 128 CFA francs/kg, (whereas the same rice is sold for 150 CFA francs to their own women members at 150 francs!);
- SONAGESS (Société Nationale de la Gestion du Stock et de Sécurité) buying all the parboiled rice processed by the women, at a moderate price but sending out their trucks directly to pick up the rice and paying promptly. Thus the women no longer sell out at bargain prices on the local market and can avoid unscrupulous traders.
These helpful circumstances have enabled private citizens to make investments. In Sourou, for instance, two rice farmers recently bought a mill together (for husking rice from their own fields as well as rice from other producers in their neighbourhood).
At Nyassan-Koura, also in the Sourou district, one villager has started the construction of a bar/restaurant/courtyard to house various local festivities.
What more are politicians waiting for before embarking on a clear, long term agricultural policy ?
Because in the meantime ECOWAS negotiations on import duties do not make headway. Although many have proposed using the new 35% tariff band, foreign rice is still taxed only at 10%.
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Burkina continues to import old poor quality rice at a very low price, less than 300 000 CFA francs a ton. We find for example insipid six year old Vietnamese rice on the market.
Still nobody knows if the governments intends to continue subsidising fertiliser and seed purchases. Nobody knows what the SONAGESS has in mind after the month of October this year. A clear long term farm policy is still lacking. Farmers have nevertheless started to make investments.
They would no doubt invest even more, had a new agricultural policy been in place. Koudougu, July 4th 2010
Maurice Oudet
Director, SEDELAN |
