By Jim Borel
During President Barack Obama’s recent historic visit to Africa, he said
that the continent is on the move and that a new Africa is emerging. It is
true. A new Africa is indeed emerging at a transformative time for the
continent. The population of Africa is expected to make up more than half of
the projected global population growth by 2050.
Ethiopia, a prominent stop during President Obama’s trip, is the second most
populous country on the continent, and one that is at the epicenter of food
security and poverty challenges. Every day Ethiopia is confronting hurdles in
its ongoing efforts to develop local agriculture and the economy and improve
the availability of nutritious food. Thus the reason for Ethiopia being one of
the priority countries for the U.S. Government's Feed the Future initiative,
led by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
USAID and DuPont share a common vision that the unprecedented challenge ahead
will require everyone working together inside and outside of our respective
organizations in ways we are now only imagining. We need continued
collaboration with non-traditional partners and global leaders to arrive at and
implement truly sustainable solutions.
Ethiopia is proving that when we come together, progress can be made. This East
African country has reduced the number of people living under the poverty line,
increased the general food supply and established national dietary guidelines
in recent years. These are just some of the factors that contributed to
Ethiopia’s improved Global Food Security Index rankings.
To ensure people everywhere have equitable access to safe, affordable and
nutritious food, we must bring innovation to places that need it most. We must
strengthen local food value chains and agricultural systems. As a part of our
commitment to advancing global food and nutrition security, DuPont is
collaborating to combat malnutrition and boost smallholder farmer productivity
in Ethiopia and countries around the world.
Malnutrition comes with a steep price tag in terms of economic, health,
development and social welfare costs. And, these issues will be further
exacerbated by urbanization and a burgeoning population.
Given cultural tastes and nutrition needs in Ethiopia, soy protein was
identified a potential solution that could provide health benefits for growth
and development, weight management, and muscle health from infancy to
adulthood. National Ethiopian company FAFFA Foods, which hosted President Obama
during his trip, collaborated with DuPont Nutrition & Health to develop a
nutrient-rich protein that is helping boost the nutrition content in local
Ethiopian diets.
In order to improve nutrition, we must also ensure support for local farmers.
Globally, farmers and their families make up more than half of the 805 million
people who are hungry. If we want to feed the world and fuel economic
development, we have to make sure farmers can feed their own families first,
and then ultimately, have enough remaining crop to sell at market.
Through an initiative called the Advanced Maize Seed Adoption Program (AMSAP),
smallholder farmers are benefitting from increased access to improved agronomic
practices, extension services, grain storage and quality inputs such as seed
technology. Together, these efforts help their operation be more productive and
profitable. Over 10,000 smallholder farmers have seen their maize yields double
or triple. AMSAP also is opening up new markets for farmers as much of the
grain supplied for FAFFA Food’s Corn Soy Blend products is supplied by
smallholder AMSAP farmers. And this is just the beginning.
To further support smallholder farmers, USAID announced it is extending the
AMSAP with collaborators, which include DuPont Pioneer and the Government of
Ethiopia, to reach 100,000 Ethiopian farmers by 2018 with new high-yield seed
technologies and technical assistance.
During his trip, President Obama emphasized that we cannot just be in the
business of donating, but we must ensure we’re in the business of creating
entrepreneurs, opportunity and capacity locally so that over time Ethiopia will
not only be able to feed itself, but will be a food exporter as well. The
challenges facing the agriculture and food industries today, and into the
future, are significant, no doubt. I believe that by working together – across
the public and private sectors and geographies – we can multiply these examples
of success in Ethiopia and in other parts of the world within our lifetime.