3rd Quater 2008 Africa Harvest Newspaper

News - Extra

Africa Harvest CEO Wins YARA Award A

frica Harvest's sevenyear work and innovative grassroots approach has won acclaim worldwide and most recently, an international award for it s founde r a nd c hie f executive officer, Dr. Florence Wambugu.

She was one of two Yara Prize 2008 laureates and received her award in Oslo. On announcing the 2008 Yara Prize laureates, Chairman of the Yara Foundation Board, Dr. Thorleif Enger, said: “Both laureates contribute to the development of the value chain, in their respective areas, both on the input and output side through evolving and sharing knowledge, and in developing and opening markets. Dr. Wambugu represents the successful merger of dedicated scientific work and a holistic value chain approach; Mr. Mfinanga represents the younger generation's visions of entrepreneurship, and the potential for establishing smallscale enterprises that benefit producers and consumers alike.”

The Board of the Yara Foundation considered the two “to be outstanding examples of two successive generations of innovative Africans. They have been prepared to challenge the status quo and to break new ground in African agriculture, showing great dedication and a willingness to share knowledge”.

Third Quarter 2008

Norwegian Ambassador to Kenya, Elizabeth Jacobsen and ABSF’s Executive Director, Prof Norah Olembo speaking at the YARA Award celebration dinner in Kenya

Dr. Wambugu has mainly focused on the use of biotechnology for improving crops, especially the development and introduction of disease-free tissue culture banana cultivation.

This has resulted in greatly increased yields, income for many small-scale producers and improved nutrition for

consumers.

She had dedicated part of the award to supporting some women groups in capacity building in value addition and processing to expand rural enterprises and create jobs.

“This award is a motivation and reminder that there are still millions of

smallholder farmers waiting to be reached. There is urgent need to scale up success models to reach them,” she said soon after receiving the award.

Meanwhile, Dr. Wambugu has been appointed to the Global Agenda Council on Food Security that is part of a new initiative by the World Economic Forum. The

Kenyan Govt in New Biotech Outreach Through Bioaware

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ENYA'S Ministry of Agriculture h a s l a u n c h e d i t s Biotechnology Awareness Strategy (BioAWARE) ahead of the expected discussion and possible passage into law of the Biosafety Bill.

In a BioAware strategy document available to Africa Harvest newspaper, Agriculture Secretary, Dr. Wilson Songa, says “responsible adoption of modern biotechnology can be hampered by lack of accurate, reliable information, knowledge and awareness at all levels of society”.

BioAware provides the opportunity for “mechanisms and processes for information-sharing and stakeholder education on biotechnology, biosafety and intellectual property rights as a missing link,” says Dr. Songa.

BioAWARE plans to involve the broad range of stakeholders, who include agriculture-sector Ministries and policymakers, academic and research community, civil society, extension workers, farmers' community leaders and the private sector.

Africa Harvest Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Florence Wambugu, says “the BioAWARE strategy must focus on the translation of science into language that different target audiences understand”.

“Kenyans must understand and debate this technology in the context of unique challenges the country faces,” says Wambugu. “The fact that the public does not understand this technology has resulted in a knowledge vacuum, leading to unbalanced and often, non-factual

information. BioAWARE must focus its efforts on ensuring credible, factual, balanced and relevant information”.

BioAWARE key thematic areas of focus include policy and resource mobilization, capacity building, communication and outreach, biotechnology education (formal and non-formal) as well as networking and regional harmonization. To this end, BioAWARE expects to roll out basic biotechnology courses targeted to nonscientists. It will also build the capacity of scientists by offering communication through various educational institutions. The strategy includes aggressive participation in public exhibitions and events, ranging from careers exhibits to trade and science education exhibitions and events.

Summit is a gathering of several Global Agenda Councils that create an intelligence and knowledge network of the world's most influential thinkers leaders from academia, business, government and society. Its purpose is to advance solutions to the most critical challenges facing humanity.

Dr. Wambugu with AGRA President, Amos Namanga Ngogi (left), and Africa Harvest Chairman, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze, who expressed

Law on GM Technology Will Be Passed

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inister for Agriculture in Kenya William Ruto says that the country will enact a law to regulate the use of genetically modified (GM) technology.

He says that the technology offers the best tool to fight low yields, diseases and increase in agricultural productivity.

He emphasised that the way to get the nation out of poverty was to have the right technology in agriculture because the economy is agro-based.

Agriculture accounts for more than 25% of Kenya's gross domestic product, employs about 80% of the work force and contributes up to 40% of the industrial raw materials.

Although there is no law on GM in Kenya, research has been ongoing

since 1998. The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) has been carrying out research on transgenic maize, sweet potato, cassava, cotton and development of a riderpest vaccine.

admiration after she won the YARA prize in Norway

Parliament in October. The country is a Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity and has ratified the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

There are several institutions involved in agricultural biotechnology research besides KARI. Other institutions include; Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Department of Biochemistry at the University of Nairobi, the National Potato Research Centre (NPRC) and the Faculty of Agriculture at Moi University. The Rockefeller Foundation supports various organizations to carry out GM research. Other organizations include the International Livestock Research Centre (ILRI) based in Nairobi; it carries out biotechnological research on livestock diseases.

- Full story on Page 8

Agriculture accounts for more than 25% of Kenya's gross domestic product and employs about 80% of the work force

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Ruto said science had provided policymakers with concrete proof, evidence and research on the safety of GMs and Parliament must make the critical decision and pass the pending Biosafety Bill, expected to be tabled in

For more articles visit: www.africaharvest.org

INSIDE this issue Pg 3 Mr. Ruto

ABS Applauds CSIR Green House Permit

Pg 6

Funding the Green Revolution

Pg 8

Africa Harvest CEO Wins YARA Award

Biotech Can Be Catalytic To The Green Revolution In Africa The 3rd African Green Revolution Conference in Oslo, Norway reiterated the urgent need for a Green Revolution in Africa, defined as a comprehensive action plan to revitalize agriculture.

Participants noted that various interventions were required, including biotechnology, which could be catalytic to the green revolution.

The winner of this year's Yara Prize, Africa Harvest's CEO, Dr. Florence Wambugu, noted that the tissue culture banana project was a good example of how basic biotechnology can transform the lives of millions of people.

World Bank studies show that a 1 percent growth in African agriculture generates a 1.5 percent growth in overall economic growth due to the sector's stimulating effect on industry, transport, and other services.

Research by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) indicates that US$ 1 of additional income from agricultural trade generates as much as US$ 2 of incremental income in the rest of the economy.

Participants noted that while the number of poor people had fallen globally, the proportion of the poor continued to rise in subSaharan Africa. Almost one third of people in extreme poverty live in Africa; more than a quarter of all Africans are chronically undernourished Continued on page 2

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Opinion and Analysis

Biotech Features

How Malawi Turned Around

Biotech Can Be Catalytic To The Its Agricultural Sector Green Revolution In Africa A From page 1

Dr. Joel Mutisya (2nd

and the figure is rising.

The African Green Revolution is designed to address various agricultural challenges, including those linked to the Millennium Development Goals established at the United Nations World Summit in 2000. Investing in Development, the Millennium Project's report, identified lowproductivity agriculture as one of the five structural reasons why Africa remains vulnerable to a persistent poverty trap.

Biotechnology has been identified as a critical component in bringing about an African Green Revolution. The technology has the potential to speed up plant research and development, thereby drastically reducing the time it takes to introduce improved food crops or new tree varieties.

Furthermore, many aspects of biotechnology complement and enhance conventional breeding program such as genetic

The Green Revolution is a comprehensive action plan to revitalize agriculture on the African continent as the engine for economic development and social improvement markers that can shorten the selective breeding process.

Currently, Burkina Faso, Egypt and South Africa have commercialized biotech crops and many other African countries have the crops under experimental or field trial stages. It is anticipated that as agricultural research institutes augment their human and infrastructural capacity and national governments implement regulatory mechanisms, biotechnology will increasingly be used to revitalize and improve productivity in agriculture; making its contribution to bring the Green Revolution forth.

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left) guiding a group of East African journalists touring the Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute’s Biotechnology Centre

Food Crisis Reignites Biotech Debate

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illions of people around the world are suffering from the global food crisis that has resulted in unaffordable food prices and threat of hunger. A fundamental change in farming practices and policies is urgently needed to address soaring food prices, hunger and environmental disasters.

Climate change will profoundly affect agriculture and food security worldwide and will particularly impact smallholder farmers in poor countries.

Despite all the doom and gloom, the world has the technology - either available or well-advanced in the research pipeline - to feed a population of 10 billion people. Can wise policy and clever technology combine to deliver a new and sustainable agriculture?

There are only two components to influence the supply side of food security: to produce more food, we can either increase the land under cultivation or increase yield on already cultivated land. Irrespective of improving distribution to the most needy, we only have those two options at the global level.

In reality we only have one, since increasing land under cultivation is becoming increasingly untenable from an environmental viewpoint.

Biotechnology is one of the most promising tools for improving the productivity of agriculture and increasing the incomes of the rural poor. It is part of the solution to developing countries and small farmers

seeking ways to combat high food prices.

Biotechnology, especially the Genetically Modified (GM) technology, could help produce more food by raising yields and producing crops resistant to disease and pests. Overall, it can offer long-term solutions to some of major crop production problems.

Persistent poor agricultural production and rising food insecurity in SubSaharan Africa has brought into sharp focus the role of modern agricultural biotechnology in human development. Related to the

biotechnology have made it possible to produce new, improved, safer, and less expensive drugs, food additives, industrial enzymes, and oil-eating and other pollution degrading microbes are just a few of the goods that can be developed using this technology. To meet increasing demand for food and enlarge the basis for food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, productivity increases will therefore be required. This will not be through expansion of cultivated area but mainly on the basis of improvements in crop yields. Greater attention must be put on measures that will improve the region's ability to harness and apply new scientific and technological advances to increase food production.

How then should African countries respond to the opportunities and challenges posed by agricultural biotechnology? These countries should establish broad-based platforms to mobilize the public and scientific communities to build confidence in the technological advances associated with genetic engineering. In addition, they will need to identify their specific national priorities in food production and harness the growing body of science and innovations in genetic engineering to address specific problems.

Public R&D agencies and policies dedicated to genetic engineering as well as partnerships with private industry will be crucial. African countries will also need to develop and implement regulatory measures to manage any environmental, economic, health and social risks associated with genetic engineering.

griculture is the most important economic sector in Malawi as it employs about 90 percent of the population. It contributes more than 35 percent of Gross Domestic Product and accounts for almost 85 percent of the country's export earnings.

In the late 1990s, Malawians watched as insufficient rains and price fluctuations made staple crops such as maize less and less appealing to farmers for cultivation. Malawi's government invited the Carter Center to help avert disaster by assisting with agricultural development programs to stave off the worst effects of drought and prevent a food crisis.

The program is currently working with the regional Agricultural Development Division under the Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation in six of the eight divisions to demonstrate that small-scale farmers across the country can make up for this shortage, achieving large yields with the use of fertilizer, droughtresistant maize, and other techniques.

Since the program began, more than 16,000 maize management training plots have

been planted. The project also promotes the improved technologies to small-scale farmers through farm field schools. These schools work closely with local agricultural departments to discuss and explain the techniques being used in demonstration and management training plots, the importance of land preparation and conservation tillage, the planting dates for different regions, and the recommendations for maize. Training also covers soybeans, pigeon peas, rice, and wheat production technologies as part of promoting crop diversification.

In 2006, Malawi's maize harvest was the highest on record.

A year later, the new record was smashed by a harvest that was nearly a third bigger again. Two years of good weather, combined with a government program of subsidies on fertilizer and improved maize seed, created a one million ton maize surplus.

Under the Agricultural Inputs Subsidy Programme (AISP), introduced in 2004, over half of Malawi's smallholder farmers receive coupons which enabled them to buy 100kg of fertilizer for around US$14, a quarter of the normal market price.

Another coupon entitles them to 450 kwacha worth of maize seed, which equates to 3kg of standard seed or 2kg of hybrid seed. The coupons are targeted at the 'productive poor', those with the land and human resources to make best use of them. After the 2007 season it was estimated that the area planted to hybrid seeds was 20 per cent larger than in the previous year, and an external appraisal reckoned that one-fifth of the national harvest could be directly credited to the subsidized seed and fertilizer.

Other Sub-Saharan African countries can learn from this successful Malawi agricultural subsidy program the importance of agricultural inputs like fertilizer that has made tremendous improvements in fighting hunger by introducing among others the fertilizer subsidy program. The high cost of farm inputs is one of the key constraints to profitable farming in Africa. It is evident that making farm inputs readily available and accessible to farmers does result in increased food production. Malawi has shown that it is possible for African countries to attain food security both at household and national level without depending on food aid.

The world is grappling with ways to help Africa emerge from decades of poverty and turmoil. One would imagine that these efforts are played out in the African media.

While the western media often accused of unbiased reporting is writing on the African Green Revolution, the African media is in neutral.

It is a fact that science and technology can help Africa easily double or triple the yields of most of its crops. This is a story that should be burning in the bones of every African reporter, but it is not. The possibility of Africa not just feeding itself but becoming a dynamic agricultural exporter within a few decades should be on the radar of African newspapers, but it is not!

The African media can and should turn the tide of negative reporting on the continent. True, the Africa farmer faces the challenge of depleted soils, a scarcity of water and distorted economics. But none of these problems is beyond our capacity to solve.

Malawi has confirmed that with access to fertilizer - either chemical or organic you can turn agriculture around. Why is Malawi not a showcase to wake up other African leaders from their deep slumber?

Why are there no investigative stories about the conspiracy of economic forces that

keep fertilizer out of many African farmers' hands?

Only about 4 percent of farmland south of the Sahara is irrigated, compared with 17 percent of farmland worldwide. Who will speak for the millions, whose lives can be transformed through simple, yet clever, small-scale technologies that can make parched lands bloom?

Should the African media provide the platform for debate on whether or not to include biotechnology as part of African agricultural reform? I'd expect that African editors are warning their leaders of the dire consequences of turning their backs on this technology. The spotlight should be on how to manage and regulate this technology for the benefit of their farmers and citizens.

Daniel Kamanga...

Persistent poor agricultural production and rising food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa has brought into sharp focus the role of modern agricultural biotechnology in human development concerns of increasing food insecurity are the deepening poverty, increasing cases of tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS epidemics. There is also increased environmental degradation in the region. SubSaharan Africa is now the poorest region of the world at a time when other parts of the world are experiencing growing levels of food security, high rates of economic growth and better health standards.

A growing portion of the wealth and better standards of living high quality health, food security and low rates of mortality are attributable to scientific and technological advances. For example, advances in modern

Africa Media and Green Revolution

Tel: 254-20-444-1113/5/6 Fax: 254-20-444-1121

www.africaharvest.org fwambugu@africaharvest.org dkamanga@africaharvest.org bkariuki@africaharvest.org

Grace Chivaura

gchivaura@africaharvest.org ybenya@africaharvest.org

Improved seeds, subsidized inputs and farmer training programmes drastically increased maize yields in Malawi africaharvest.org

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Biotech Features

Biotech Features

Food Crisis Fans Global Biotech Acceptance

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gricultural biotechnology has grown significantly and is being endorsed by more governments across the world. The establishment of the Strategy for Europe on Life Sciences and Biotechnology by the European Commission, the setup of a Working Group on Biotechnology by the six member nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the endorsement of a 20-year biotechnology action plan by the African Union Heads of State Summit in Ethiopia reflects the growing support for biotechnology.

The global food crisis especially in Africa has brought a sharper focus on the importance of biotechnology. Debate has shifted to how nations should engage with the technology to enhance food security, nutrition, health and biodiversity conservation. Even the few countries that have banned biotech crops, such as Austria, are under pressure from fellow European Union States, the European Commission and World Trade Organization to uplift their ban. In Africa, Zambia, which rejected GM food aid grain during a drought in 2002, has adopted a biotechnology policy and is currently pursuing research and development in biotechnology.

The expansion of agricultural biotechnology is best reflected by its increasing commercialization. According to a report by the International Service for Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA), the area of commercially grown biotech crops has increased by 12% or 12.3 million hectares between 2006 and 2007.

Since the first GM crop was commercialized

Biotechnology can improve productivity of rural small holder farms in Africa

in 1996, the global biotech crop area by 2007 has reached 114.3 million hectares across 12 developing and 11 developed countries.

The United States leads with 57.7 million hectares. Brazil and Argentina have commercialized about 15 million hectares while India and China have 6.2 million hectares and 3.8 million hectares respectively. In Europe, Portugal, Spain, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland,

Slovakia and Romania have all commercialized GM maize. In Africa, South Africa has commercialized 1.8 million hectares of GM maize, soybean and cotton while Egypt and Burkina Faso have initiated growth of maize and cotton respectively.

The most popular GM crop is Bt Maize that has been commercialized in 16 countries.

Other crops include cotton, soybean, canola, tomato and papaya. From 1996 to 2007,

farmers have planted over 690 million hectares of biotech crops throughout the seasons thus reflecting 55 million individual decisions by farmers to plant the crops. This very high adoption rate by farmers reflects the fact that biotech crops have consistently performed well and delivered significant economic, environmental, health and social benefits to both small and large farmers in developing and industrial countries.

So, Who Will Fund the African Green Revolution?

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verybody agrees that the key to economic development in Africa is agriculture. According to the Father of the Green Revolution, Dr. Norman Borlaug, the world has the economic and technological means to bring about an agricultural revolution on the continent.

The former head of the UN Hunger Task Force, Dr. Pedro Sanchez, laments that while the rest of the world has seen dramatic increases in food production in the last 30 years, the opposite has taken place in Africa.

The proportion of hungry people in Africa - 34% of the population - is twice the average of developing counties.

Projections to 2015 suggest that the numbers of hungry in Asia, Latin America and near East and North Africa are likely to decline while in Sub-Saharan Africa, the numbers are likely to remain constant.

However, during a recent Alliance for an African Green Revolution conference in Oslo, Norway, despite agreement on the need for a green revolution, there was little or no consensus about how this would be funded.

Figures of between US$10 to 20 billion (per year) were

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Project Welcomes Permit Approval

mentioned, but nobody rushed to pick this bill, roughly the size of Kenya's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A f r i c a n governments through the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) agree that each government should set aside 10% of its GDP Dr Sanchez for agriculture.

However, only a handful of countries have translated this into action. Malawi, whose president, Bingu wa Mutharika, was at the Oslo conference, has set aside almost 20% of his country's GDP. The results speak for themselves: in less than five years, the country has moved from a net importer to being self-sufficient.

During the Oslo meeting, some funders felt that future support should be pegged to the each country's

commitment to reaching the 10% target. “It's not about how rich or poor you are, it's about translating your commitment to action. If you cannot set aside what you have already agreed, how can development partners know you are serious about agriculture?” one donor wondered.

However, donors were lambasted for abandoning African agriculture for close to three decades. Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, who believes the world has the resources to make poverty history, lamented that nobody was putting sufficient funds on the table to spark the green revolution.

“Reducing hunger and malnutrition by half in Africa is perfectly possible in the next 10 years if the world community decides to do so”.

Prof. Sachs says the first green revolution led to the food production in developing countries tripling during the last 30 years. The number of rural poor has decreased by half, the proportion of malnourished people has dropped from 30 to 18 percent and the real prices of the main cereal crops decreased by 76 percent. To achieve the African Green Revolution will require greater commitment and funding, but the latter has been slow in coming.

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he Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project welcomed the decision by the South African government to approve greenhouse trials on Genetically Modified (GM) sorghum at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Would you label this a milestone decision?

No, not necessarily. Contained greenhouse trials on indigenous crops are undertaken by researchers around the world; it is an almost everyday occurrence in plant biotechnology.

An Appeal Board set aside an Dr. Gatsha Mazithulela earlier ruling by the regulating authority, What do you think swung the decision the GMO Executive Council. The Board was your way? appointed by the Minister of Agriculture This is contained greenhouse trials; there is and Land Affairs, Ms Lulu Xingwana, in almost zero risk of gene escape. The accordance with the country's Genetically government was obviously satisfied by the Modified Organisms Act (No 15 of 1997). containment measures as well contingency The CSIR filed an appeal last year, measures we have put in place. as provided for by the GMO Act. The CSIR is one of eight consortium members of an So what happens after greenhouse international research project to trials? Will you apply for field trials? nutritionally enhance grain sorghum. The The research findings from the contained project seeks to develop a more nutritious experimentation determine the next step. and easily digestible sorghum that contains Overall, the project has made good progress. increased levels of For the CSIR, it is too essential amino acids, early to say what the especially lysine, next step will be after increased levels of the greenhouse trials.

Vitamins A and E, and more available iron and How will you zinc. guarantee that no Africa Harvest contamination spoke with Dr. Gatsha happens during Mazithulela, CSIR's the greenhouse Executive Director, trials?

(Biosciences) about the Again, this is way forward for the contained trials in a project. greenhouse.

We have Dr. Mazithulela What is the sentiment at the CSIR and in the consortium? Are you relieved that the battle is over for now?

The CSIR is pleased that it can continue with its research in the greenhouses. The consortium shares this sentiment.

How far have you fallen behind with your research plans and will you be able to catch up?

The project had to re-strategize and we have made excellent progress. We were requesting for a permit to work with ABS#1; as we speak, ABS#2 has been field tested in the USA. The CSIR has fallen behind on our research work but our researchers will do their utmost to make up for lost time.

Do you think that this ruling suggests that GM on indigenous crops will be allowed?

We don't believe that this ruling should be interpreted as anything more than it is. It is a permit to grow transformed sorghum in a contained area. We don't view it as a policy change.

put in place risk mitigation measures that are satisfactory to the panel. The greenhouse is also approved as per existing legislation.

How would you defend a statement that this permit approval was taken in the interest of agriculture and at the cost of the environment?

All aspects are taken into consideration through the regulatory process: agricultural, science and technology, environmental, trade, health etc. So the statement is incorrect.

This research is part of an Africanled initiative that brings together seven leading African research organizations and two US-based organizations. As Africans, we identified our greatest need and through a competitive grant process, the Gates Foundation funded this project.

Undertaking research locally in contained greenhouse trials and generating our own biosafety data, using our own scientists and working on one of our own crops is something that we should all be proud of.

L-R: Ms Gisele d’ Almeida, Dr Silas Obuhosia, Ms Clarisse Barro, Prof Gnissa Konate, Dr James Onsando and Dr. Paul Anderson and (below) Ms Barro displays seed storage shelves at INERA

ABS Team Visits Burkina Faso An Africa Biofortified Sorghum (ABS) Project team, lead by Principle Investigator, Dr Paul Anderson, made an exploratory visit to Burkina Faso and met, among others, the INERA Director, Dr. Prof Gnissa Konate.

Dr. Anderson who was accompanied Dr James Onsando (Project Manager), Dr. Silas Obukosia (Regulatory Manager) and Daniel Kamanga (Communications Director) - make a technical presentation on the ABS project to INERA scientists.

The ABS team learnt that after many years of confined and open field trials, Burkina Faso had finally commercialized Bt. Cotton, making it the third African country after South Africa and Egypt to commercialize biotech crops. Egypt recently commercialized Bt. maize (MON 810) and South Africa has been growing biotech crops (Bt. maize, Bt. Cotton and GM Soybean) for about 10 years.

Burkina the Environmental and Agricultural Research Institute (INERA) and Monsanto recently signed a commercial agreement paving way for the importation of Bt. cotton seeds to be grown for seed multiplication. Seeds enough for 15,000 hectares had been imported and are already

being planted by Burkinabe farmers.

INERA hopes to produce 400,000 hectares worth of seeds for the next planting season.

There is widespread optimism in the country that Burkinabe farmers will finally enjoy the economic and agronomic benefits of Bt Cotton that South African, Chinese and Indian small scale farmers have been enjoying for many years. With Burkina Faso (West Africa) and Egypt (North Africa) joining the ranks of biotech countries, the challenge is now on eastern and central African regions to stop dragging their feet on the technology.

In the meantime, Dr. Konate has joined the ABS External Advisory Board (EAB). He brings vital knowledge on the biotech environment within francophone West Africa.

Also joining the EAB is Mr. Kulani Machaba, the Registration Manager at Pioneer Hi-Bred, South Africa. He brings knowledge and expertise on the regulatory landscape in Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. His involvement will add a private sector perspective to the project operations and add value to development of deployment mechanisms.

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YARA PHOTO SPREAD

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1. Africa Harvest CEO, Dr Florence

speaks to Dr. Ephraim Mukisira, the

Wambugu triumphantly holds up her YARA

Director of the Kenya Agricultural Research

Award.

Institute

2. TWINS?: The evening's hostesses who

7. Kayamba Dancing troop lead celebrating

denied they are twins - ensured the

the much deserved YARA award in Kenya

ceremony was first-class

8. SOUTH AFRICAN MELODY: Black

3. CHAIRMAN TO CEO: Dr. Wambugu

Mambazo lead singer, Joseph Shabala,

congratulated by Dr. Nwanze Kanayo, Africa

entertains guests during the evening

Harvest Chairman

9. ON THE CARPET: Kofi Annan, the

4.Dr. Wambugu posing with daughter

Chairman of the African Green Revolution

Marybeth Wangui

Alliance (AGRA) being interviewed by Peter

5. AFRICA IS PROUD: Dr. Wambugu

Ndoro, CNBC Anchor

congratulated by Rhoda Peace Tumusiime,

10. APPLAUD: Outgoing Yara President,

Africa Union Commissioner

Thorleif Enger, applauds Dr. Wambugu as

6. NETWORKING: Dr. Mpoko Bokanga (left),

she holds the citation high for all to see

former Executive Director of the African

11. STILL GOING STRONG: Mama Africa,

Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF)

Miriam Makeba, saluted Dr. Wambugu

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