FOCUS ON AFRICA

For more on who's really behind the African Agricultural Technology Foundation - AATF - initiative featured in item 1, see the GM WATCH profile: http://www.lobbywatch.org/profile1.asp?PrId=163&page=A

1.Agreement Will Give African Researchers Access to Technologies
2.US Speeding Food Technology Transfers to Africa, Veneman Says
3.U.S.-African Relationship Strong And Growing, USDA's  J.B. Penn Says (under secretary for agriculture for farm and foreign agricultural services)
Includes Penn's prepared remarks
Includes Ann Venemann's video remarks
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1.Agreement Will Give African Researchers Access to Technologies
United States Department of State (Washington, DC)
June 21, 2004
Kathryn McConnell
Ouagadougou [shortened]
http://allafrica.com/stories/200406211410.html

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed June 21 by the United States and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) will help give farmers in Africa access to existing agricultural technologies to farmers in Africa, J.B. Penn, U.S. under secretary for farm and foreign agricultural services says.

The MOU, signed by Penn and Mpoko Bokanga, AATF executive director, will make available U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research, Penn said in a June 21 press briefing following the signing in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

It also will promote exchange programs between agricultural researchers in the United States and in Africa, he said. ... See also: U.S., Foundation Agree to Promote Food Technologies in Africa United States Department of State (Washington, DC) PRESS RELEASE, June 21, 2004 Washington, DC

Agreement announced at agricultural ministerial in Burkina Faso http://allafrica.com/stories/200406211412.html
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2.US Speeding Food Technology Transfers to Africa, Veneman Says
United States Department of Agriculture (Washington, DC)
DOCUMENT, June 21, 2004
http://allafrica.com/stories/200406211409.html
Washington, DC

Remarks open African Ministerial meeting in Burkina Faso

The United States is accelerating efforts to transfer and disseminate U.S.-developed agricultural technologies to Africa, Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman says.

In a video-recorded message played at the opening of the "Ministerial Conference on Harnessing Science and Technology to Increase Agricultural Productivity in Africa: West African Perspectives," in Burkina Faso, Veneman said a feature of the June 21-23 conference would be the singing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation to expand technology transfer to Africa and help build scientific expertise in Africa.

Veneman also said a new U.S. science and technology fellows program will fund the training of several African agricultural researchers, policymakers and professors at U.S. universities, USDA and other government agencies, international organizations and private companies.

The fellows program is named for Nobel Laureate Norman Borlaug, known as the "father of the green revolution" for helping to develop crop varieties that helped significantly reduce malnutrition and hunger in developing countries -- particularly Asia -- in the 1960s and 1970s.

The conference includes sessions on such issues as water management, biotechnology, policy formulation, capacity building and partnerships.

video remarks: http://allafrica.com/stories/200406211409.html and below
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3.U.S.-African Relationship Strong And Growing, USDA's Penn Says
http://allafrica.com/stories/200406211411.html

The U.S. relationship with Africa has never been stronger and continues to grow, says J.B. Penn, U.S. under secretary for agriculture for farm and foreign agricultural services.

Penn spoke June 21 at the opening session in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, of the Ministerial Conference on Harnessing Science and Technology to Increase Agricultural Productivity in Africa: West African Perspectives.

He said the United States is encouraged by the commitment of many African leaders at the conference to regional cooperation on policy, reform, economic growth and increased investment in agriculture.

Penn led the U.S. delegation to the conference.

To bolster that commitment, Penn said, more research needs to be directed to African staple crops such as cassava, cowpeas, sweet potato, millet, sorghum and value-added foods. He also said there are more products, including products derived from biotechnology, coming from research in the developed world for use by producers in the developing world.

Penn said the conference supports current U.S. initiatives in Africa to end hunger, build trade capacity and provide access to adequate supplies of clean water to poor people.

The secretary said the strong U.S. relationship with Africa is underscored by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which fosters economic growth and new trading opportunities; the U.S. Emergency Plan for HIV/AIDS Relief; and by many trade capacity-building and technical assistance programs to bolster agricultural development, trade, health, education and private-sector development.

He said that eight African countries, including five from West Africa, were selected to be the first to submit proposals for supplemental aid from the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

"Agriculture should be an important component in these proposals," Penn said.

"By cultivating and applying our knowledge and by working together, we believe that the power of technology can be harvested to unleash the productive and economic potential here in Africa," he said.

Penn also noted that President Bush invited leaders from seven African countries --- three from West Africa -- to attend the summit of the Group of Eight (G8) earlier in the month at Sea Island, Georgia.

The other speakers at the opening session --- including four West African presidents -- said they welcome more cooperation and communication between countries and more research into new agricultural technologies, including bi