US embassy cable - 04ROME3862

UNCLAS  ROME 003862 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FROM THE U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME 
 
USDA FAS FOR U/S BOST, JBUTLER, MCHAMBLISS, LREICH 
STATE FOR E, EB, IO DAS MILLER, IO/EDA, IO/PPC, OES/E, AF 
AID FOR EGAT, DCHA/OFDA, DCHA/FFP 
PASS USTR AND PEACE CORPS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y - TEXT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, EAID, AORC, ETRD, KPAO, KSUM, XA, FAO 
SUBJECT: G8 SUMMIT COMMITMENTS TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY 
IN AFRICA: U.S. MISSION BRINGS MESSAGE TO THE UNITED NATIONS 
IN ROME 
 
1.  Summary. USUN-Rome organized a panel discussion 
entitled, "Planting the Seeds for Africa's Future: G8 
Partnerships to Raise Agricultural Productivity Through 
Capacity Building," on Sept. 21 in the margins of the Food 
and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Committee on World Food 
Security (CFS). The panel was chaired by Ambassador Hall and 
included the Canadian Ambassador, an FAO Assistant Director 
General, members from African partnership organizations, and 
USAID Assistant Administrator Emmy Simmons.  Before a 
standing-room-only crowd of about 100, panel members 
emphasized the need to build capacity through educational 
and research opportunities in Africa. End Summary. 
 
2.  The US Mission-organized side event to this year's CFS 
was designed to be a springboard for other G8 follow-up 
meetings in Africa. With that in mind, USUN Rome set out not 
to discuss the G8 African commitments in broad terms. 
Rather, we chose to focus on a targeted group of commitments 
within the area of agricultural productivity so that a 
meaningful dialogue would flourish.  We wanted audience 
members to have a better understanding, awareness and buy-in 
of G8 cooperation with the New Partnership for Africa's 
Development (NEPAD) and hear G8 initiatives with "take-home" 
value for African colleagues and donor country perm reps. 
The best way to accomplish this was to focus the theme on 
the need to build capacity in the areas of research and 
education. 
 
3.  Audience members consisted of Rome-based delegates from 
most African countries, visiting delegates from capitals 
(mostly agriculture and foreign affairs ministries), Rome- 
based permanent representatives from OECD countries, 
representatives from related agencies including the World 
Food Program, World Bank and African-based non-governmental 
organizations. 
 
4.  U.S. Mission Ambassador Tony P. Hall opened the 
discussion by giving a brief background on the development 
of the G8 action plan for Africa and the use of the 
continent's own organizations, like NEPAD, to help steer 
priorities. 
 
5.  Canadian Ambassador Robert Fowler, a G8 personal 
representative for Africa, described the historical 
predicate for the capacity building effort in Africa, 
including relevant initiatives and historical dialogue 
through NEPAD.  He lamented the fact that the G8 had 
substantially disinvested in relevant agricultural research 
over the past decade.  He indicated that Canada was 
responding positively to both near-term needs (e.g., Canada 
has now put CAN$6.5 million towards the locust crisis) and 
long-term strategies (Canada has doubled its contribution to 
the WFP.) 
 
6.  Richard Mkandawire, Agricultural Advisor to NEPAD, 
discussed the need to harness the human capital in Africa to 
make forward strides.  According to Mkandawire, outside 
assistance alone is insufficient if the goal is to build 
sustainable programs.  Capacity building efforts should thus 
be focused on building the human capital resource base. 
 
7.  Wilberforce Kisamba-Mugerwa, Director of the Addis Ababa- 
based International Service for Agricultural Research 
(ISNAR), an arm of the International Food Policy Research 
Institute (IFPRI), said African nations are themselves 
insufficiently invested in research.  The former Ugandan 
Minister of Agriculture pointed out that industrialized 
nations spend on average 2.6 percent of their GDP on 
research, whereas African countries spend only 0.6 percent 
of GDP on average.  Thus he urged audience members to work 
to deepen political support for agricultural science, 
strengthen science education at primary and secondary 
schools, and develop an encouraging environment for current 
and future scientists in Africa. 
 
8.  USAID Assistant Administrator Emmy Simmons focused 
mainly on practical barriers to successful capacity 
building. She pointed out that in the early 1990's some 
9,000 African students were in U.S. graduate and PhD 
programs, but now there are only 1,200 such students. 
Apparently, the same kind of trend is discernable in the EU. 
Part of this is attributable to disinvestments in these 
kinds of programs.  But the programs are also hampered by 
other practical factors.  Specifically, it has proven very 
 
difficult to get scientists, once trained, to return and 
stay in their home countries.  The pay is poor, the 
equipment is outdated, and class sizes are unwieldy, making 
both teaching and research difficult propositions. 
Infrastructural support needs to be enhanced in Africa if 
these kinds of programs are to be part of the solution. 
Disincentives need to be eliminated and, ideally, research 
and technical transfer need to be made more rewarding. 
 
9.  To illustrate the importance that well-trained African 
scientists can make, Simmons mentioned that Monty Jones 
would be given this year's prestigious World Food Prize his 
path-breaking work on the development of the New Rice for 
Africa (NERICA) while he was at the West African Rice 
Development Authority (WARDA), one of the 15 international 
centers supported by the Consultative Group on International 
Agricultural Research (CGIAR).  She also mentioned USAID's 
new Borlaug Fellowship program (in honor of Norman Borlaug, 
father of the Green Revolution) being undertaken jointly 
with USDA and the State Department.  USAID-funded 
fellowships will be aimed at increasing developing world 
agricultural scientists by enabling them to work at CGIAR- 
supported centers following degree training in the United 
States.  She invited other G-8 donors in the audience to 
join with the U.S. in reinvigorating efforts to build 
science capacity in Africa. 
 
10.  John Monyo, FAO's Assistant Director General for 
Sustainable Development, discussed the agency's key 
principles for building capacity.  Among them were to build 
upon existing systems rather than replace them, to address 
diversity to respond to different needs, and to strengthen 
the capacity of institutions as well as people.  He 
mentioned the particular success story of Eritrea, where FAO 
has been working with partnership organizations since 1996 
to improve the quality of research and technology transfer 
services to enhance productivity and food security.  So far 
the program has trained over 100 professionals. 
 
COMMENT 
 
11.  The side event was important on several levels.  (1) 
The audience was one not typically exposed to the work of 
the G8 as it relates to Africa.  (2) The G8 representatives 
underlined its partnerships with some of the African 
organizations that are helping to shape policy on a 
continent-wide level.  (3) Panelists provoked thoughtful and 
probing questions from audience members who seemed intensely 
engaged in the topic at hand.  (4) The U.S. Mission 
demonstrated a commitment to having a working dialogue and 
debate on issues critical to developing nations worldwide. 
(5) The event strengthened the U.S. Mission's facilitative 
role in connecting Africa-based representatives involved in 
capacity building with U.S. and international counterparts. 
 
CLEVERLEY 
 
 
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	2004ROME03862 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED