|
|
|
|
SATrends ISSUE 39 February 2004
Hitch
your Hatch to a Star!
Taking
Away the Toxins
Une
Nouvelle Image de la Forêt
Crops
on Contract |
1. Hitch your Hatch to a
Star! |
 |
Wary of the risks involved in starting an agri-business?
Require access to state-of-the-art facilities? Need to
encounter world-class public and private sector partners? Do
this and more at the Agri-Business Incubator at ICRISAT.
ICRISAT has joined hands with the National Science and
Technology Entrepreneurial Development Board, of the
Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of
India, to develop an Agri-Business Incubator (ABI) at
ICRISAT-Patancheru, India, with infrastructure support from
DST and ICRISAT.
 ICRISAT hopes to promote several technologies
ranging from farm-based technologies to advanced
biotechnologies based on the needs of the entrepreneurs. While
these are primarily aimed at reducing the risks in
commercialization and improved impact, the final beneficiaries
will be the resource-poor farmers who will have an easy and
affordable access to these technologies and their products.
While there are over 2000 Technology Business Incubators in
the world, and several in India, ABI will be the first of it's
kind in India that is dedicated to Agri-Business. We hope to
expand the scope internationally with the help of
international donors.
The broad mission of ABI-ICRISAT is “creation of
competitive agribusiness enterprise through technology
development and commercialization” with the strategic goal
“to improve on-farm productivity, livelihood and
on-farm income of the Indian farming community, to stimulate
agri-biotechnology development and transfer between
ABI-ICRISAT and entrepreneurs, and to provide the required
infrastructure support to entrepreneurs for commercializing
technologies developed by ICRISAT and its partners in India
and abroad”.
The ABI-ICRISAT is aimed at providing an interface between
public and private sectors for enhanced synergies in
technology development and deployment. The prime focus will be
on human resource development in modern technologies, creating
a congenial environment for encouraging R&D in the
biotechnology and agricultural, and promoting conservation of
bio-diversity and sustainable exploitation of
bio-resources.
For more information contact k.sharma@cgiar.org
| |
2. Taking Away the Toxins
|
|
Mycotoxins (as opposed to just plain toxins!) are chemical
substances naturally produced by fungi that contaminate crops,
either during the cropping season or while in storage.
In the semi-arid tropics, crops susceptible to mycotoxins
include groundnut, maize, cottonseed, sorghum, millet, rice,
brazil nuts, pecans, pistachio nuts, spices (particularly
chillies), walnuts, and their by-products.
Mycotoxins are aflatoxin, produced by Aspergillus
flavus and A. parasiticus; and fumonisin produced
by Fusarium verticilliodes. Both are commonly found in legumes
and cereal crops. Aflatoxins are potent carcinogenic and
immunosuppressive agents. Aflatoxin contamination of groundnut
and maize has become a global problem due to the effects on
human and animal health, and the negative impact on commodity
trade. Malnutrition increases disease prevalence and further
reduces the ability of the human body to cope with mycotoxin
exposure.
Many importing countries have set strict quality standards
to control the health risk from mycotoxin contamination.
However, most poor, small-scale farmers in the semi-arid
tropics cannot meet these standards.
Mycotoxin-contaminated products cause significant economic
and trade problems at almost every stage of production and
marketing. Many of our crops are affected by these mycotoxins,
and standards are becoming progressively stricter.
The research program aims to develop inexpensive, practical
methods to reduce or eliminate the levels of aflatoxin in
groundnut and its products, and to disseminate information on
the dangers of aflatoxin. Ultimately, the goal is to help
small-scale farmers in the semi-arid tropics to produce
aflatoxin-free food and feed product.
 An Elisa kit nestles among potentially
contaminated products.
Using agronomic packages to manage aflatoxin during the
cropping season significantly reduces the contamination. Based
on ICRISAT's farmer participatory research in India, these
practices coupled with the use of improved tolerant varieties
of the crop can reduce the aflatoxin contamination by as much
as 90%.
ICRISAT has developed an ELISA kit for the detection and
estimation of aflatoxins. The procedure is very simple, and
can detect total aflatoxins or B1, B2, G1 or G2 in a variety
of crops, crop by-products, and milk.
For more information contact f.waliyar@cgiar.org
|
|
3. Une Nouvelle Image de la
Forêt |
|
| Albert
Nikiema reveals the importance of under-estimated non-timber
forest species by finding out their informal economic
values.
Il était un temps où la forêt symbolisait l’inconnu et la mort.
Walt Disney, Grimm ou Perrault ne nous diront pas le
contraire. Leurs héros ont vécu la forêt comme on vit un
passage initiatique, en frôlant la mort pour mieux vivre leur
vie. Mais de nos jours, cela est révolu. Finies les sorcières.
L’homme a arrêté de les brûler. Finies ces forêts théâtre de
l’inconnu. Ont fait place des espaces gérés, un jardin à
l’image voulue par l’homme. [PICTURE:
image composite
Un photo-montage proposé par Albert Nikiema loin
de l’image des forêts des pays développés. Ici la forêt n’est
pas récréative ou industrielle  mais elle est un lieu
d’habitat.
Cette
image voulue inquiète Albert Nikiema, doctorant basé à
l’ICRISAT Niamey. Ce n’est pas tant le concept moderne de
jardin planétaire qui l’inquiète : Agro-forestier de
formation, il sait qu’une gestion appropriée est bénéfique à
la forêt. Ce qui le trouble est le fait que ce soit la
représentation de la forêt venue des pays développés qui se
propage dans les hauts lieux de prise de décision. Cette
représentation-là, basée sur un système libéral, est trop
réductrice. En effet, dans les pays en développement, un
nombre très important d’espèces forestières échappe aux
récoltes de données mise en place pendant l’élaboration d’un
projet car ces espèces sont cantonnées au marché informel.
Leurs transactions s’effectuent souvent directement du
cueilleur au consommateur sans laisser de trace écrite.
Albert Nikiema, a alors cherché à révéler ces espèces sous-estimées
en chiffrant leur valeur commerciale. Il a mené une série
d’enquêtes dans les marchés locaux. Il a pu ainsi identifier
16 espèces importantes et a calculé les revenus qu’elles
génèrent. Ces espèces sont vendues sous diverses formes et
unités de mesures (petit tas, poignée, bolée…), avec des
transactions dont l’unité varie de 50 FCFA (0,10 USD) à 800
FCFA (1,6 USD).
Ses
estimations, élaborées d’après des enquêtesqu’il a réalisées
au Burkina Faso, font ressortir en 2002 des revenus annuels de
7,6 millions de dollars engendrés par le karité et 8,3
millions par le Néré.
Ces
montants, non pris en compte jusqu’alors, auraient été ainsi
équivalents, en 2002, à 7% du PIB burkinabais. Ce pourcentage
prouve à lui seul l’importance de ces espèces forestières
méconnues et la nécessité de les intégrer à tout projet de
gestion durable des forêts africaines sous peine de changer
considérablement les traditions locales et donc d’échouer.
Pour plus d’information contacter a.nikiema@cgiar.org |
|
|
|
|
|
Farmers grow grain, traders buy it, we eat it. But how
exactly does the marketing chain work, and who benefits? How
can marketing arrangements be made more efficient? How can
smallholders gain a bigger share of the pie? To find the
answers, ICRISAT economists are studying farmer-trader
arrangements in different countries and for different
crops.
Traditionally, small-scale farmers in Africa sold their
crops to traders, through cash market transactions. Prices
could fluctuate considerably, depending on the size and
quality of the harvest – high prices in a drought year, low
prices during a glut.
But such cash transactions are gradually giving way to
contract farming, where a buyer commits – before the crop is
even planted – to buying a certain quantity at an agreed
price. The buyer may pay after harvest, or may offer part
payment in advance. Some buyers go even further. For example,
beer manufacturers have regular contract farmers who provide
them with sorghum grain, an essential ingredient in opaque
beer. The company supplies seed and fertilizer on credit,
periodically inspects the crop, provides extension advice –
and even pesticides, if needed. Farmers are paid after
harvest, after deducting the value of seed or other inputs
supplied.
Farmers growing seeds with
confidence.
Contract farming offers advantages for both sides. Farmers
can plan their land allocations, labor requirements, and input
purchases well in advance. They get good seed and good
technical advice. Their risk is reduced. And because they are
contracted to a reputed firm, they can get credit more easily.
The company benefits because it can ensure adequate supplies,
uniform quality of grain, and reduced costs.
ICRISAT economists are examining different kinds of
contract arrangements. One objective is to see how NGOs and
other organizations can facilitate contracting and ensure that
farmers get a fair deal.
In many cases, the critical problem is risk. Farmer and
buyer may know that a deal is potentially profitable, but are
worried by the risk involved. So no contract – unless a third
party agrees to shoulder this risk to encourage agricultural
development. For example, CARE Zimbabwe offers credit
guarantees to facilitate the supply of fertilizer – a key
component of grain production contracts. Village-level traders
obtain fertilizer on credit from wholesalers, and sell to
smallholder farmers. Worried about payment? CARE steps in,
offering to pay if the trader defaults. Once wholesalers were
assured of being paid, trade expanded rapidly, and good
business relationships developed. In fact, of the 800 traders
who were “guaranteed” by CARE, over 600 now deal directly with
the wholesaler or manufacturer, without the need for credit
guarantees.
For more information contact j.rusike@cgiar.org
| | |
