European donor support for agricultural development in Sub-Saharan Africa: a

review

Professor Sir Gordon Conway, Imperial College

Financing agriculture and Rural Development in ACP countries Briefing 20Brussels Rural Development Briefings at the European Commission, BrusselsSeptember 15, 2010

The decline in global DAC agricultural aid

19741976

19781980

19821984

19861988

19901992

19941996

19982000

20022004

20062008

-

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

7,000

8,000

9,000

10,000

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Agriculture bilat & multilat (3-year rolling average)Agriculture Bilat & multilat (Actual commitments)Agriculture as % of sector allocable ODA (3-year rolling average)Agriculture as % of sector allocable ODA (Actual)

USD

Mill

ions

(200

7 co

nsta

nt p

rice

s)

Agriculture as a %

of Sector Allocable A

id

Donor spending on agricultureOverseas Development Aid (ODA) World Bank lending

1980s 17% 30% mid 2000s 4% 7%

Europe’s Recent Good Track Record

– Key role in getting agricultural development back on the political agenda, notably the Kampala conference of 2004

–Support for a shift from food aid to food security in the 1990s (including the move to regional and local purchases, 1996)

– Individual country commitments, e.g. the Irish Hunger Task Force 2008

The Ongoing Food Price Spikes

AUG FIGURES TO ADD

European Responses

– Food Security Thematic Programme (FSTP) created in 2007 to address food security at global, continental and regional levels.

• total financial allocation from 2007-2010 €925 million

• second phase for 2011 -13 being programmed an indicative budget of €750 million.  

– December 2008, the EC launched a three year €1billion Food Facility bridge the gap between emergency aid and medium to long-term development aid in 50 countries 

 

European Union & Member States

• EU over 60% of the world’s ODA. • About $ 1.75 million • 50% going to SSA. • France and the EC each contributed

more support than the US in 2007.• Some small European countries, e.g

Denmark, contribute greater amounts as a percentage of their GDP.

Aid to Agriculture in SSA as Share of Total DAC Aid % by Donor Country (2007)

Hearn, Koc, Piesse and Thirtle, 2010

6%

0%

37%

6%3%1%3%5%

3%3%

2%3%

9%

11%

8%

Denmark Finland France Germany Ireland

Italy The Netherlands Norway Spain Sweden

Switzerland United Kingdom United States EC Other DAC

EU

France

UK

Sector Allocations

Contributions to the Consultative Group on International

Agricultural Research (CGIAR)TO FIND PIE CHART

Allocations by Recipient

Top Ten Recipients of French Aid to SSA Agriculture

COUNTRY AID TO SSA AG % OF ALL FRENCH AID % OF ALL DAC AID TO AG

2007 France

Madagascar 56.0694 36.90% 81.91%

Cameroon 41.9779 5.60% 95.18%

Burkina Faso 27.8409 21.43% 50.69%

Senegal 25.1383 12.77% 62.67%

Mali 24.5454 10.22% 43.66%

CAR 18.3436 30.52% 100.00%

Gabon 17.0970 25.62% 99.68%

South Africa 16.2628 13.41% 73.08%

Zimbabwe 12.4162 80.91% 79.68%

Ghana 10.3918 19.79% 20.77%

Top Ten Recipients of UK Aid to SSA Agriculture

COUNTRY AID TO SSA AG % OF ALL UK AID % OF ALL DAC AID TO AG

2007 United Kingdom

Malawi 6.9290 5.18% 16.74%

Ghana 4.6855 3.08% 9.36%

Rwanda 3.8201 4.02% 20.29%

Nigeria 3.0872 0.87% 41.78%

Kenya 2.0766 1.51% 4.14%

South Africa 0.9702 0.59% 4.36%

Ethiopia 0.3111 0.11% 0.68%

Tanzania 0.2966 0.13% 1.12%

Swaziland 0.1812 4.75% 37.83%

Zimbabwe 0.1500 0.16% 0.96%

Top Ten Recipients of US Aid to SSA Agriculture

COUNTRY AID TO SSA AG % OF ALL US AID % OF ALL DAC AID TO AG

2007 United States

Uganda 16.2850 5.40% 36.77%

Mozambique 11.3568 7.40% 24.11%

Kenya 10.2457 3.15% 20.44%

Zambia 9.4648 5.73% 25.49%

Malawi 5.4532 6.90% 13.17%

Mali 4.9192 9.11% 8.75%

Ghana 2.8893 4.09% 5.77%

Madagascar 2.7869 4.17% 4.07%

Rwanda 2.6036 2.87% 13.83%

Tanzania 2.3966 1.44% 9.04%

Europe in a strong position to have more impact :

• EU - largest agricultural development donor in Africa.

• Europe - extensive and long established knowledge and experience of agricultural development.

• Europe - home to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and its reform process; has political experience of negotiating a regional approach to agriculture.

• EU- largest agricultural commodities trade partner with Africa

Mutual Benefits• Agricultural development contributes

to trade in which both Europe and Africa benefit.

• European public committed, despite the current financial crisis, to helping Africa reduce poverty and hunger.

• Agriculture is the largest source of gainful employment that can contribute to the reduction of illegal immigration 

• European security depends on global security, including a world free of starvation.

Where are we now?

High rhetoric and funding

A Gap in Between

On the Ground achievements

In Between• Global Coordination

– Global Partnership for Agriculture and Food Security– Committee on Global Food Security (CFS)(GPAFS)

• Donor Fund Programmes– World Bank Global Agriculture and Food Security Program– US Feed the Future– EC Development Fund and Global Agriculture and Food Security Thematic

Programme

• African Implementing Programmes– Comprehensive African Agricultural development Programme (CAADP)– Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA)

• African Countries’ Policies and Budgets

• A Theory of Change

• Scaling Up

An On-Line Tool• An initial attempt to map the

activities and political commitments of thirteen European donors to agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Hearn,B., Koc, V., Piesse, J. & Thirtle, C (2010) A preliminary analysis of European assistance to agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.

• http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/africanagriculturaldevelopment/resources/europeanactivity/donorfinancial/aiddataanalysis