"The agribusiness industry is the engine for the solution of Africa's poverty and equity challenges"

Monsanto is a member of the Corporate Council on Africa who organised this conference.
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Area farm conference focuses on Africa
By JESSICA MARSHALL
Sentinel correspondent
Santa Cruz Sentinel, 10 Nov 2004
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2004/November/10/biz/stories/03biz.htm

MONTEREY - As the first US-Africa Agribusiness Conference continued in Monterey, Kenya's Minister of Trade and Industry praised California's agricultural success and spoke of Africa's need to rid itself of the crutch of donor aid.

Executives from large agribusiness companies discussed the role of biotechnology in African agriculture.

It's no accident the conference is in Monterey, Kenya's Minister Mukhisa Kituyi said.

"California represents the most successful case of the agribusiness industry, perhaps in the world. We're tapping into their community of entrepreneurs," he said.

California is a "state which more than any other state in the world sees the value of environmental sustainability and is willing to pay the price for it," he had said in a keynote address Monday.

He noted this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner, Kenya's Wangari Maathai, is the first environmentalist to win the prize.

"The agribusiness industry is the engine for the solution of Africa's poverty and equity challenges," he said before his address, as participants compared Californian and South African wines.

For that engine to run, Africa needs to look to the private sector.

"In the past three decades, African governments have focused excessively on donor aid," he said. "As world markets get more liberalized, the reality that development is driven by trade dawns across the board."

Bill Niebur, vice president of research and development for Pioneer Hi-Bred, one of the sponsors, "I believe that Africa is ready and able to incorporate the advances in biotechology that have been achieved in markets where it's
been tested, evaluated and fully studied."

"Africa should have the right to decide" what role biotechnology plays in its agriculture, he said.

"African countries need to develop predictable, science-based regulation," said Jerry Steiner, executive vice president of Monsanto Co., another conference sponsor.

"Unfortunately, there are parts of Africa that are getting cues from the biotechnology regulatory environment of the EU," he said.

The European Union has stricter regulation of genetically modified crops than the United States and historically has been the largest importer of African agricultural products.

"The fact is, agricultural biotechnology gets favorable scientific reviews," Steiner said.

He cited increased yields due to reduced insect and weed damage and decreased exposure to insecticides as advantages offered by genetically modified plants.

The conference, organized by the Corporate Council on Africa, concludes today.

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