Note: This document may not always reflect the actual appropriations determined by Congress. Final budget allocations for USAID's programs are not determined until after passage of an appropriations bill and preparation of the Operating Year Budget (OYB).
AFRICA FOOD SECURITY INITIATIVE
FY 1997 FY 1998 FY 1999 Actual Estimate 1/ Request 2/ Child Survival and Disease--- --- $2,500,000 Development Assistance--- --- $18,500,000
Introduction
The Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI) assists a broader renewed donor and African commitment to agriculture in order to improve childhood nutritional status and increase rural incomes. AFSI will use the lessons learned from USAID's strong past track record in successfully promoting agricultural development to help move a greater number of countries along the path to sustainable food security by reducing malnutrition, averting an explosion in food needs, and increasing trade and investment. The initiative supports expansion of existing bilateral and regional programs, building on recent successes in forming public-private partnerships, creating positive policy environments, and achieving significant results in agriculture and food security.
Development Challenge
The AFSI addresses two important constraints for obtaining food security: childhood malnutrition and poor rural household. Current trends for Africa indicate an emerging food and nutrition crisis of major proportions for the continent. Without concerted and serious efforts, the food needs of Africa are predicted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Food Policy Research Institute, U.S. Department of Agriculture and other U.S. and international sources to double by the year 2015. There is hope that these trends can be reversed. This hope is based on the experience of a few countries, such as Uganda, which is starting to realize sustained high growth in food production, improvements in nutrition levels, and mature trading relationships through improved policies, technologies, and civil stability. A second group of countries such as Ethiopia and Mozambique have begun to lay a stable basis for sustained food security through some policy reform but have yet to realize the long term benefits. A third group of transition countries need to achieve significant progress before they are on a path of food security, however some of these such as Eritrea show positive signs. AFSI aims to assist these countries to shift to new paths of food security through expanding the opportunities which exist and building on USAID impact and success in agriculture. AFSI represents a ten-year commitment to agriculture as a critical source of economic growth, poverty reduction, and nutritional improvement in Africa.
Other Donors
USAID's renewed commitment to African agriculture and food security has been developed as part of the United States Government's participation in and follow up to the 1996 World Food Summit in Rome. The United States, together with both African host governments and all major food and agriculture donors, agreed in that summit to the goal of cutting hunger in Africa in half by the year 2015, and agreed on the key approaches required to meet that goal. USAID's commitment to reverse the ten year decline in agriculture is one part of the broader US commitment to this Summit goal. This has been discussed in close coordination among USG agencies, and with other major donors who are themselves recommitting their own organizations to reestablish agriculture in Africa, in particular, the World Bank, FAO, and the European Union. The AFSI has been developed in close consultation with US partners in the business, land grant university, and nongovernmental organizations.
_____
1/ In FY 1998 $25 million will be obligated through various bilateral programs.
2/ In FY 1999 an additional $10 million in DA is proposed in the Malawi and Uganda bilateral programs.
FY 1999 Program
The Initiative supports USAID's successes in three areas critical for achieving food security in Africa: increased food production, improved market efficiency and access, and increased trade and investment in agriculture. The particular host countries identified for the pilot phase are Ethiopia, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda.
Smallholder agricultural production and food availability activities will include food production programs, improving financial systems, research and technology transfer on food crops, increasing management capacity of production enterprises, and improving access to agricultural inputs. In several countries, such as Malawi, Mali and Uganda, research and technology related to important food security crops such as cassava, potato and sorghum will be strengthened. Smallholder farmer associations in Mozambique and Mali will be provided with production and agribusiness skills and access to financial mechanisms to procure farm inputs and thereby increase production. Global programs will expand support for work on policy research and technology.
Better market efficiency and access to food is to be brought about through the rehabilitation and maintenance of rural feeder roads, improved market information systems, and the creation of improved policy and regulatory environments. Farm-to-market roads in many Africa countries in transition out of crises, such as Mozambique, are crucial to improve access to markets for farm products. Improved marketing information systems developed in countries such as Mali and Mozambique open up prospects for increased regional trade and integration of African countries into the global economy.
The creation of a better agricultural trade and investment environment will be achieved through supporting regional agricultural networks, improving trade policy and removing regulations and promoting agricultural exports. For example, expanding Uganda's successful program for non-traditional exports will increase employment and raise incomes in rural areas. Activities in trade and investment will be developed in close coordination with the African Trade and Investment Policy (ATRIP) Initiative.
AFRICA FOOD SECURITY INITIATIVE
FY 1999 PROGRAM SUMMARY
(in Thousands of Dollars)
USAID Strategic & Special Objectives
Economic
Growth &
AgriculturePopulation
& Health
Environment
DemocracyHuman Capacity Development
Humanitarian
Assistance
TotalSP01. Food Security Initiative
- DA
- CSD
18,500
---
---
2,500
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
18,500
2,500Totals
- DA
- CSD
18,500
---
---
2,500
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
---
18,500
2,500
Director, Office of Sustainable Development: Jerome Wolgin
ACTIVITY DATA SHEET
PROGRAM: Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI)
TITLE AND NUMBER: Africa Food Security Initiative: 698-SP01
STATUS: New
PROPOSED OBLIGATION AND FUNDING SOURCE: FY 1999: $18,500,000 DA; $2,500,000 CSD
INiTIAL OBLIGATION: 1998; ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 2008
Purpose: The Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI) assists a braoder renewed donor and African commitment to agriculture iin order to improve childhood nutritional status and increase rural incomes. Recently, a few countries in Africa have started to realize sustained high growth in food production, improvements in nutrition levels and civil stability, however at currrent trends many countries face an emerging food and nutrition crisis with projections of doubling food needs in the next ten years. The Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI) will support bilateral and regional programs to expand successful agriculture and food security activities in three critical areas: increasing agriculture production; improving market efficiency and market access; and increasing agriculture trade and investment.
USAID Role and Achievements to Date: USAID is a recognized leader in addressing food security issues in Africa. USAID's approaches, partnership arrangements, monitoring, and policy expertise have lead the way for donor and African efforts to improve agriculture's contribution to reducing poverty and improving nutritional status. A recent assessment of USAID's agricultural programs in Africa showed that objectives were being met or exceeded in 89% of cases, and were having major impact on the lives of poor rural people. AFSI will build on and expand past successes. Examples of the successes are Mozambique's private-public-nongovernmental organization partnership through which, 160,000 smallholder farmers adopted new cash earning technologies, and 80,000 of them have simultaneously increased food crop production. New agricultural exports and small, local agribusiness ventures in Uganda and Ghana have led to rapid growth in rural incomes and employment opportunities. A market information system in Mali has permitted a smooth replacement of government grain markets by the private sector. Fertilizer privatization reforms have occurred in Ethiopia. Finally a rapid provision of seeds across African borders (including responding to emergency crises such as Angola and Rwanda) has stimulated a regional networks of crop scientists working together to share the latest information and technology.
Description: AFSI will primarily support the expansion of bilateral programs with modest funds for regional activities with U.S. universities, regional and international research organizations, and private voluntary organizations.
In the first pilot phase of the Africa Food Security Initiative, food security activities will be expanded in Uganda, Ethiopia, Mali, Malawi and Mozambique, and some regional and global programs will build on successful USAID experiences in expanding smallholder agriculture and incomes in Africa. Programs will be expanded in three general areas.
1. A smallholder agriculture production and food availability activity will focus on improving food production programs, smallholder financial systems, research and technology transfer on food crops, increasing management capacity of production enterprises, and improving access to agricultural inputs. For example, Malawi has proposed strengthening research and technology related to important food security crops such as cassava, potato and sorghum, and expanding work with smallholder associations to strengthen production and agribusiness skills. Uganda has planned the expansion of a program which has succeeded in increasing maize production and raising food security levels in the country. In addition, models of successful agricultural strategies will be transferred to the northern region of Uganda which has experienced instability.
2. Better market efficiency and access to food are basic for the AFSI. Rehabilitation and maintenance of rural feeder roads, improved market information systems, improved food security safety nets, and
the creation of improved policy and regulatory environments will be supported. More farm-to-market roads will be rehabilitated in Mozambique using proven labor-intensive techniques. In Mali, AFSI will support improved marketing information systems which will open up new prospects for regional trade and integration. In Malawi, where malnutrition levels are high, the transition to open market policies will be supplemented by food security safety nets.
3. The creation of a better agricultural trade and investment environment will be achieved through supporting regional agricultural networks, improving trade policy and removing regulations and promoting agricultural exports. For example, expanding Uganda's successful program for non-traditional exports will increase employment and raise incomes in rural areas. Activities in trade and investment will be developed in close coordination with the African Trade and Investment Policy (ATRIP) Initiative.
At the regional level, AFSI will focus modest funding on expanding two types of successful activities: (1) Strengthening partnerships between U.S. universities, international agricultural research organizations, and African regional and national research organizations. Global programs will expand support for work on policy research and technology. (2) Expanding partnerships and networks of public, private and private voluntary organizations focused on agriculture and food security within Africa. Activities in regional technology transfer, regional agriculture policy exchange, and the development of regional farm and business associations will be targeted.
Host Countries and Other Donors: USAID's commitment to renew the strength of food security programs in Africa represents an important contribution of USAID toward the goals of the World Food Summit. USAID will continue to work with the donors and other partners committed to the goals of the World Food Summit in the development of AFSI. The AFSI has been developed in close consultation with U.S. partners in business, land grant university, and nongovernmental organizations. The particular host countries identified for the pilot phase are Ethiopia, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda. USAID missions work with host country counterparts and donors based in these countries in the development and implementation of AFSI activities.
Beneficiaries: Agriculture programs will benefit people in rural Africa through increasing incomes and making food more affordable, which contributes to improved nutritional status of children. Smallholder farmers (many of whom are women), farming families, agricultural laborers and small businesses will benefit directly from increases in market access, improved roads and access to inputs. As rural incomes rise and food prices decline, both urban and rural households benefit, especially the poor who spend most of their budget on food.
Principal Contractors, Grantees or Agencies: USAID Missions will identify appropriate contractors and grantees. These will include U.S. contractors, local and international private voluntary organizations, and host governments. In addition, regional programs will work with U.S. universities, international research organizations, regional agricultural research organizations and networks, and private voluntary organizations and other relevant African institutions.
Major results indicators: Two high level indicators will be tracked over the length of the Initiative: rural incomes and nutritional status. An important measure will be the change in the percentage of people who can purchase an appropriate amount of food each year. Direct program impacts will be monitored by operating units reporting within their existing programs, as appropriate, on increases in agriculture and food production, improved market access to food, and increased agricultural trade and investment.
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