I mentioned to Prof. Noveck that I am carefully analyzing the issue of Agriculture in Africa because it comes with greater opportunities. But we need to tackle what our role should be in creating a modern Africa. Who precipitates change? We have more than 70% of African referred to as farmers when in fact we know that in as much as small holder farmers contribute to 80% of the consumption, only less than 10% are what you can call farmers. The rest are under employed hangers on in rural Africa continuously undermining productivity and their activities are not sustainable.
Two weeks ago 'Agribusiness for Africa's Prosperity' was launched here in Nairobi by the Minister of Industrialization and UNIDO and UNEP reps in attendance. It can be found at http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/user_media/Services/Agro-Industries/Agribusin... The questions you raise copied above are discussed therein. There are two significant reasons why they remain trapped in a cycle of subsistence. First, their yields are too low to generate marketable surpluses, because they lack access to modern technology and productive assets. Second, farmers cannot get their produce to markets, because of the lack of roads and linkages between farm-level production and downstream activities, such as processing and marketing. African agriculture and agribusiness must be transformed to meet the demands of the twenty-first century, and 'Agribusiness for Africa's Prosperity' book outlines the critical ingredients. Two of the seven pillars namely "Promoting effective and innovative financing" and "Improving infrastructure and energy access" are doable with ticking of policies and strategy in a manner you elaborate. What is needed to improve access to finance for agribusinesses on the continent? The key to unleashing resources from the private and financial sectors is to increase profitability and reduce risk. Most inward FDI is focused on staple food and cash crops (including biofuels and floriculture), and for some African countries, the share of FDI in agriculture in total flows is considerable, depending on factors, such as availability of land, but also policies for promotion of investment in agriculture. Despite controversies, such agreements present an opportunity for African countries to make the most of their natural resource endowments, and offer opportunities for job creation, technology transfer and revenue generation. Commercial banks lend less than 10 per cent of their loan portfolios to agriculture, with few exceptions. In a growing number of countries the problem is being overcome by indirect financing, especially by merchants who borrow from banks and then on-lend to smallholders on a contract farming basis. This is a growing trend in East and Southern Africa, especially for export crops like tobacco and cotton. At the micro level, reducing the inherent risks of financing agribusiness must be a priority, as well as facilitating innovative products and encouraging a range of finance providers to make the much-needed investments into the sector. At a macro level, it is clear that the current sources and indeed standard models of financing are insufficient to provide the necessary resources for financing agribusiness and agro-industrial development. Hence it is essential to identify sources of additional financing, while also boosting capacities to mobilize further resources from traditional sources. Despite challenges, there are significant opportunities for attracting and leveraging investment, for instance emerging forms of project financing including carbon finance (suitable especially for the energy sector), climate change adaptation funds, microcredit facilities, public-private partnerships ventures and bilateral project investments. A recent example is China’s growing participation in sub-Saharan African infrastructure investment, especially projects related to natural resources. The type of energy services and infrastructure required and the scale of demand will determine the most appropriate form of financing. Traditional forms of finance for large-scale projects include public finance (international or national), private public partnerships, concessional and non-concessional loans. Public-private ventures are increasingly being seen as vehicles of financing energy production initiatives, and should thus be considered where applicable. In addition, financing suitability of projects is boosted when the energy project is aimed at productive uses that generate incomes, as is the case of agro-industrial processes. Carbon finances are monetary resources generated from carbon markets. The overall goal of the carbon markets is to provide cost-effective measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions which are the main drivers of climate change. The value of this market was estimated to be $64 billion in 2007. The concept of build-operate-transfer (BOT) is a form of project financing whereby a private company of investor receives a concession from the public sector to finance, design, construct, and operate a facility, such as port, power plant etc. This has played a significant role in building up infrastructure in countries such as India, China and Viet Nam, and holds promise for African agro-industrial infrastructure. must run but more in 'Agribusiness for Africa's Prosperity' On 9/30/12, bitange@jambo.co.ke <bitange@jambo.co.ke> wrote:
Edith, Let me deal with the rest of my trip then highlight some key points.
On the 25 and 26th we had meetings with HR&A. These meetings were an eye opener for me since I got the insight of the American construction industry. While HR&A wanted to fully understand their mandate and also present some of the initial works, they also were making proposals on the way forward before ground breaking late October/early November. They used 3D printing to develop the Pavilion model. We were curious and wanted to know more.
In one of their works, the Barclays Centre in New York City, everything was done with the use of technology. Each part that went into building the massive center was bar coded and placed exactly how the model was developed on the computer. The roof material which had decra-like material had all the pieces barcoded 3D printed and placed where it was meant to be. There are no estimates. If you have built in Kenya you know what this method would do to efficiencies in building. There was no “Mzee Mabati haikutosha”. This is precision building.
These new technology is changing and will change the world as we know it. In the past nine of my speeches I have mentioned eight times but nobody ever bothered to fully understand what it is and how we can leverage on this. The technology defies the rule of economies of scale. It is precisely like any printer where the cost of one copy remains the same till the last copy. This means even a small scale producer can be as efficient as a large scale producer. It means when you build, you go to a small scale producer and print the number of Mabatis you need including angle cuts that is usually the bulk of our waste in construction.
The printer works with a new software code in different prints. This is where we shall need millions of software coders for different jobs. In building a house you need floor and roof tiles, ceiling, timber, cement, etc. Each of the material would need a new software code. I asked the consultants to make a presentation to one of the Universities when they come towards the end of the month. Architects, quantity surveyors, Civil Engineers must get themselves acquainted with the technology before they find themselves irrelevant.
Action: We must get Universities adopting these new technologies now. Already we are working with Dr. Gachigi at University of Nairobi to get to do something tangible before Private Sector jumps in. We are desperately trying to raise Ksh. 15 million to buy a 3D printer for a research project in circuitry. This is what will translate to jobs both in software and manufacture of many items. We could start this project with as little as Ksh. 4 million. If you feel we can get together and raise the amount, please say it. The bureaucracy in Government will take far too long to raise the funds.
If you want to know more about 3D printing sometimes referred to additive manufacturing or computer assisted design, there is a comprehensive coverage of it in one of the past Economist. You can start with Wikipedia.
During Lunch break on the 26th, I met Prof. Beth Noveck of MIT to discuss issues relating to an upcoming conference on Open Data in November. In three minutes the prolific professor and former Obama advisor on technology had asked why we were in New York, What makes Kenya think it will the best technology hub, why we want to build a tech city. She is driven by data and data is her life and the future in solving the many problems. I concur with her and feel bad that we have not exploited what already is out there in the Open Data Portal.
At JFK I picked Financial Times and was drawn to an article titled, Chances of Survival are on the rise by Andrew Jack who argues significant advances have made by scientist in the battle against the disease but victory remains elusive. Further he says “poor quality data – in identifying cases, registering outcomes from treatment and confirming deaths from cancer – means precise figures are difficult. Yet estimates from 2008 suggest that, at least 12 million people around the world contract the desease annually, 8 million die from it and nearly 30 million are living five years after diagnosis”.
This is precisely what I had been discussing with Prof. Noveck. How do we identify a problem as well as solution by utilizing technology? Can we for example create a mobile app for Cancer patients? Can the doctors be compelled to report the data to a central data bank? How about indigenous contribution to this knowledge? What is Africa’s future with respect to both food security as well as safety?
I was pleasantly surprised ro read in today’s Sunday Nation an article by a Nation Correspondent in Arusha. Why Africa food crisis persists? Here every data you need to solve the problem was given and I must commend the writer since he effectively used data to drive the point home. He says “one of the reasons for low yields has been the high rate of soil nutrient depletion”. This is the outcome of excessive land subdivision. Citing a report from Alliance for Green Africa headed by Kofi Annan and co founded by Bill and Melinda Gates, the report says Africa uses only 8Kg of fertilizer per hectare when it needs to use at least 50Kgs for the same. Currently Africa uses less than 3% of global fertilizer and if we doubled that to 6%, we can improve crop production by 50%. We need these data available in all formats if indeed we want to change Africa. How do we get this message to the ordinary farmer?
I mentioned to Prof. Noveck that I am carefully analyzing the issue of Agriculture in Africa because it comes with greater opportunities. But we need to tackle what our role should be in creating a modern Africa. Who precipitates change? We have more than 70% of African referred to as farmers when in fact we know that in as much as small holder farmers contribute to 80% of the consumption, only less than 10% are what you can call farmers. The rest are under employed hangers on in rural Africa continuously undermining productivity and their activities are not sustainable.
Our discussion later drifted into what Universities are doing to prepare for massive change that is on the horizon. This is where we feature poorly. While some of the leading Universities have changed significantly their courses, we have not. We still offer yesterday programs and we are not able to manage knowledge properly. We need for example to have a course in history for everything. History of technology, history of cancer, history of agriculture in Kenya and so on. What this would do is to force us to begin to understand our past that will inform our future.
Sometime back I read Prof. H.W.O Okoth-Ogendo’s paper, The perils of Land tenure reform: a case of Kenya that extensively draws from R.J.M Swynnetorn Report 1954. The report first proposed privatization of land in order to improve on agricultural productivity. Prior to 1954, land tenure was communal. This is where our land disease started and has spread on to Zimbabwe. How do reverse the acquired culture and move people to rural urban cities or communal settlement? How can we build on the Maasai land tenure practices?
It will be a mockery of our intellectual capital if we continue to slide in both food security and safety. We have the knowledge but we are looking to elsewhere to sort our problems. If we do not deal with the food situation comprehensively, then non of us will be safe in the days to come.
Action: Let us crowd source the solutions and ways we can take this debate to rural Kenya. I started this in selected districts. Initially I thought they would call me a mad man but I have four invitations from different groups in different parts of the country to discuss and propose the way forward.
Edith, there are many lessons from my NY trip. We need to draw the job description of the 1. County Representative, 2. The Member of Parliament (MP), 3. The Senator, 4. The Governor and 5. The Prsident. I can bet a million shillings that the county representative does not know that it is his/her responsibility to ensure utilities are available in their locality. Check with Ongata Rongai, Kitengela and other fast growing peri urban centers, the representative does not even know where to start. This is the problem. Eng. Rege will tell you that most of the legislatures hardly know any piece of legislation that goes through Parliament. We need to draw a performance contract with all legislatures, at least an exam on all the legislations that they have passed. What will the Senate do? The Governor, watching the Kiambu Debate on NTV, only God will help them before they end up in Jail (they were discussing Mungiki instead of ways of creating jobs for youth). As for the President, they will need a lesson from the current President, SHOW THE VISION AND LEAVE THE PEOPLE TO WORK.
The people of Kenya must precipitate change.
Ndemo.
Bwana Ndemo,
Interesting peek into New York's future!
I worry that in this country, we talk too much....and do little.
From your New York visit, could you enumerate 3-5 key action points that could be taken in Kenya with the future in mind? (A sort of "Ndemo for President" manifesto based on your New York visit).
Those in a position to take action (on this list) may run with one or two of those ideas and make a difference....
I want to invite you to one of the Universities (that focusses on Science, Technology and Innovation) to a deliver a post-New York speech to inspire us into action. Agreed?
Edith
-----Original Message----- From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of bitange@jambo.co.ke Sent: September 25, 2012 12:02 AM To: Edith Adera Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: Re: [kictanet] Taking Care of the Future
Through HR&A our Master Developer at Konza we met two agencies today in New York involved with the development of a futuristic New York that will be competitive in the next 50 years.
Hudson Yards Development Corporation was created by Mayor Bloomberg to redevelop a section of New York that was their industrial area. It covers approximately 300 acres with mostly non high rise buildings. The city now wants high rises to meet future office demands.
Here they are buying back most of the land while developing modern infrastructure including the subway. Consultants are working day and night to ensure the redeveloped area meets current and future needs.
Later we visited the New York City Development Corporation charged with NY's future competitiveness. They noted that in 1890, NY wad basically a trading centre. In the 1940s, it became an Industrial City and today it is largely a financial and services city. They now want to switch gears to a more technology city.
Through a competitive process, they have put together a number of universities to deliberately steer NY into another Silicon Valley. Cornell University is paired with Israel Institute of Technology to deliberately create multi disciplinary programs in applied sciences and entrepreneurship. NY University too will partner with other global centres of excellence such as Indian Institute of Technology to also focus on innovation and entrepreneurship.
To help create a competitive future, the city will give free land and other incentives. They are demolishing one of the hospitals in order to create space for a futuristic project. Each of the different university grouping will focus in a specialized area that will be critical in the days to come. They are coming up with courses like health analytics, smart cities etc.
This is how in future we can use data to predict our future. This is very critical and many lessons for developing countries. As we continue to do things the same way it has always been done, things remain the same and this ain't good at all. We need to leverage on what we have and do a little more.
In the evening I attended a UN sponsored launch of Better than Cash Alliance at the Ford Foundation. Here speaker after speaker lauded Kenya for its contribution towards mobile money. Our own Michael Joseph was in attendance. This was a launch to scale up what has been successful in Kenya (75% of mobile money transactions world wide happens in Kenya). We shall see many researchers coming to Kenya. We must move up the ladder through research and begin to lead the rest of the world.
Instead of spending many hours arguing the merits and demerits of SAP training some Kenyans we need a mobile payroll system that can be integrated with Government's Integrated Financial Management System.
When Matatus were introduced, there was a regulated transport system in Kenya. Buses could not just stop anywhere. They were like the proprietary software. Mini buses could stop anywhere and charged based on distance travelled and eventually dealt a blow to buses in urban centres. The rest today is history.
That is ok for now.
Ndemo.
Sent from my BlackBerry(r)
-----Original Message----- From: bitange@jambo.co.ke Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2012 04:00:12 To: Alice Munyua<alice@apc.org>; kictanet<kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Reply-To: bitange@jambo.co.ke Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: Re: Taking Care of the Future
Sent from my BlackBerry(r)
-----Original Message----- From: Alice Munyua <alice@apc.org> Sender: "kictanet" <kictanet-bounces+bitange=jambo.co.ke@lists.kictanet.or.ke>Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 20:20:09 To: <bitange@jambo.co.ke> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions<kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> Subject: [kictanet] Invitation to join dialogue on African civil society's, engagement with internet governance processes
(apologies for cross posting)
Dear friends and colleagues
INVITATION TO JOIN ONLINE DIALOGUE!
We invite you to join an online dialogue among African civil society, media and other people who care about a free, open and accessible internet to share their views and increase their understanding of current trends in internet regulation and governance.
The UN's Human Rights Council adopted a landmark resolution in 2012 that 'human rights apply online as well as offline'. We need to be aware of this and help promote the application of this decision at all levels of internet policy and regulation.
The dialogue should help us consider questions such as:
1. What are the implications of the HRC resolution for our work?
2. How does it relate to broader debates on human rights, governance and development?
3. What do you think are the fundamental principles that should frame and guide the decision-making processes that shape the evolution of the internet - at infrastructure level as well as at access and usage level?
4. What are your suggestions to improve the participation of African constituencies in the coordination of the internet global resources as well as in related policy-making processes?
5. What are the specific changes you would like to see, if any, across the range of entities and processes that carry out the governance of the internet?
Aside from these broader questions it is also crucial that we consider upcoming processes such as the African Internet Governance Forum (Oct), the global Internet Governance Forum (Nov) and the review of the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITRs) at the ITU's World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) (Dec).
It is hoped that this platform will strengthen African civil society's engagement with internet governance processes at national, regional and global levels and enable us to contribute to shaping the future development of the internet and the telecommunications networks most of us depend on for access.
To join this discussion do one of the following:
1) Go tohttps://lists.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/africs-ig and follow the instructions to join the mailing list. 2) Write to Mawaki Chango atmawaki@apc.org and he will add your email to the list. 3) Visit our background page http://africa-ig.wiki.apc.org/index.php/Main_Page to learn more about this process.
Looking forward to hearing your views and questions. Remember there is no such thing as a 'stupid question'! Don't feel intimidated by jargon and concepts that you don't fully understand. As a community of African internet users we will be able to learn from one another.
Staff and members of the Association for Progressive Communications will help facilitate this discusssion. Participants are free to post in English and French. We will develop regular summaries and post them in both languages.
Warm regards from the APC Africa policy team
Mawaki Chango Emilar Vushe Anriette Esterhuysen
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- David Otwoma, Ministry of Energy, Nyayo House 22nd Floor, Mobile tel: +254 722 141771, Office tel: +254 (0)20 2346915, P. O. Box 5687 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya email: otwooma@gmail.com & otwoma@uonbi.ac.ke http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/dotwoma