I wish to share with you a problem I encountered earlier this week, and for which I would love to get your “2 cents” of advice. Conference organizers, who are genuinely interested in promoting the agro-sector in Africa, asked me to chair the conference that they are organizing. I still didn’t give them my approval yet; this week, we held our first e-meeting, where we got to know each other and discussed the purpose and content of the conference. I used the opportunity to raise a concern that the conference, like many before it, would be a friendly and pleasant meeting place, with many exciting speeches delivered. Yet, when the dust settles after the conference, it will be "just another conference," and like its predecessors, it will pay lip service while creating zero tangible and practical impact. The above concern is not an act of paranoia. It is enough to look at the last one or two decades, to see the considerable number of conferences on this topic and ask, "What was the progress and practical contribution resulting from these conferences?" I am afraid that the answer is easy to see and measure in every village, in every country across Africa, and it is unflattering evidence. "THE IMMEDIATE SUSPECT" Interestingly, when we ask ourselves, "How should we promote agriculture in emerging economies?" the nearly automatic answer is; through intensifying the introduction of technologies. That is precisely my fear. As a technological entrepreneur and the CEO of a leading technology-oriented company, I am well aware of the limitations of technologies, regardless of how advance and good they are. I wish to avoid once again falling for the trap of focusing on the convenient and easy answer for all the sicknesses of Africa’s agro-sector - technology. Remember, technology per se is insufficient to make a change. It requires training, education, service, skills, investment… and the belief and trust that it will bring the expected results later. In addition, I ask myself, "Is the introduction of advanced technologies the key factor for the progress in the agro-sector, or is it the other way around?” Ask yourself, "Today, do farmers in emerging economies have less access to technology than Western farmers had 70 years ago when great progress took place in those economies?" What is your answer to those questions? A STRAIGHT-FORWARD APPROACH When I encounter a problem, I do not tend to go around the bush but rather to set clear goals, even if the required results are not easy to achieve. In the case of the agro-sector, I believe that the GOAL should be; “To improving farmers’ livelihood by creating prosperity." To this end, we will need to set the TARGETS of; “To improve the quality and yield parameters, to enable access to the best global (export) markets, to fetch the best price for the quality produce.” The best prices for our produce we can fetch in the premium export markets. However, reaching the export markets poses many challenges to the farmer and the value chain. Would you change the Goal or Targets? PUBLIC OPINION I was looking to understand better what people involved in the agro-sector in emerging economies see as the main obstacles to progress. So I reached out to those people through the social nets and asked them for their opinion – below are the answers (presented in random order). |