Information is power Clifford Spencer, , Goodwill Ambassador, NEPAD and Chairman, Milling4Life Clifford Spencer, Chief Executive Officer, Global Biotechnology Transfer Last month saw a visit made by four of the Milling4Life trustees to the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) event in Kansas City in the United States. This is the largest event of its kind in the world and as such the very best place to learn of the latest developments in grain storage, handling, transport, testing, logistics and trends. Attending ensured the trustees were fully informed in their quest to bring the latest and most appropriate milling technology to developing countries. This is because without all the areas covered by GEAPS being in place the milling part of the food production process can become beleaguered in quality and supply problems. It was very helpful for me to see the most recent advances in technology as they continue to develop at a frenetic pace. This a reader may feel is to the disadvantage of developing countries but in reality it can be an enormous advantage as it allows the opportunity to technology hop. By that I mean some of the stages of technology development that traditionally more advanced countries have gone through can be missed out altogether, and new and better ways of doing things can then become the norm straight away. The often-quoted example is that of the move from landlines to mobile phones in the telecoms industry. When mobiles are directly employed as a first move in telecoms then imagine all the work that has been saved in putting up telegraph poles and running physical lines as well as underground cabling where required for safety or environmental reasons. In a similar manner having the latest support technology ready and available in terms of storage, transport and testing for a green field start for the milling industry in developing countries allows enormous opportunity for their citizens and most importantly allows not only a catching up process to be completed much more quickly but the opportunity for these countries to become industry leaders. Quality control is key in any industry and I saw some excellent examples of seed testing equipment and technology being displayed in Kansas. The use of mobile technology to transmit this testing data and obtain rapid results for growers and traders is often key to the success of many agricultural processes; information is power, it is often said in this respect particularly when farmers are marketing their goods. In developing countries allowing smallholder farmers to take part in the food and feed production line in a meaningful and representative way 22 | April 2017 - Milling and Grain
conveys all sorts of benefits in terms of community cohesion, socio-economic benefit and particularly beneficial economic growth. If the modernising process is not anchored in the local community then they do not feel the benefits, therefore much is lost in terms of generating economic benefits at the start of the development process. Technology allows this local anchoring to happen much more easily. Also because many developing countries are only now assembling and developing their infrastructure be that communications, energy, transport and the vital trade that it supports then this also allows the previously described technology hop opportunity in many and varied ways. To describe one example I go back to when as a teenager, I first visited the US and witnessed the huge grain elevators and railheads across the American Midwest. These were put in place to feed grain to the Great Lakes in as efficient and lowest cost manner as possible and then in turn allowing it to be shipped out for worldwide export opportunities for US farmers and rural businesses which depended upon them. Coming from the UK this use of rail and scale I had not seen before, it changed my thinking completely in my farming practices over the next thirty or so years. This lifting of horizons is another great effect of advanced and appropriate technology being available as early in the development process as can be attained. So the Milling4Life trustees are more technology ready in terms of their future activities in developing countries. We have even gone a little bit further and have set off a discussion on the opportunity for a GEAPS event to be held somewhere on the African continent in the near future. This could be a huge stimulus to establishing a viable and pan-African milling industry in terms of raising awareness of the opportunity to develop economic benefit and in turn this overall benefit to local communities across Africa. Better still it allows at a relatively early stage the opportunity to involve indigenous crops and their fit for purpose production method development completely relevant to local needs. Indeed I came away from Kansas with my head buzzing as a result of all the conversations from which I had benefitted with a large selection of skillful and very helpful industry leaders, particularly the excellent presentation of their goods and services at this exceptionally well organised and run event. The holding of such an event in Africa can provide a catalyst for the much needed boosting of African grain production in terms of yield, quality, soil care and animal production and this is another area the trustees can now investigate in our quest to boost milling practices for the benefit of human life around the world.