The Challenges of Agricultural Production and Food Security in Africa by Olusegun Obasanjo

Author:Olusegun Obasanjo [Obasanjo, Olusegun]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General
ISBN: 9781135844622
Google: sZndAAAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 18556562
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-09-13T06:59:10+00:00

WHAT GOVERNMENT CAN GET FROM AGRIBUSINESS

As regards the more interesting question of what governments can reasonably expect to get from agribusiness, at the top of the list I would put compliance with the laws of the host country. It should not be necessary to mention this obvious requirement but, unfortunately, it is. Sometimes more difficult to achieve, but also very important, is sensitivity to local customs and practices. In other words, agribusiness companies must strive to be good citizens. However big internationally, they must never, for one moment, be above the law.

Next I would put high standards of technical and managerial performance. The international agribusiness company is in a position to employ men with wide and deep experience. They are expensive and if you do not get good value for money, you have the wrong people.

It should now be the responsibility of agribusiness to maximize the involvement of small farmers, assuming that this is technically feasible. I have already quoted the Mumiras project in Kenya as an example of what can be done and there are, of course, many others. The fact is that some agribusiness companies have either been too slow to recognize the potential of small farmers or too lazy to develop that potential.

Nowadays, agribusiness companies should be fully conscious of environ-mental issues. Although it is very important to persuade farmers to practice proper soil conservation methods, for example, it is much easier for a large company to take the long view. Processing plants must also be environmentally acceptable in terms of water and air pollution. The weight of public opinion in Europe and America must now be sufficient to shame international agribusiness into adopting a responsible attitude.

I have already mentioned foreign exchange as a major problem for many agribusiness companies. The other side of that coin is that they should be very responsible and economical in their use of it, e.g., by using local materials wherever possible and, in the case of large operations, by making spare parts rather than importing them.

The training of local staff for technical and managerial jobs at all levels is a vital part of the role of the agribusiness company. Contrary to the view of some of my African friends, I do not believe that failure to train is often a deliberate plot to keep key jobs in the hands of foreigners. It may result from laziness, ineptitude, or even overwork. Sometimes local governments should share the blame. I have known cases where unreasonably rapid localization targets were set, with the result that the remaining expatriates were too hard-pressed to spend time on training.

In my company we are particularly proud of the complete localization of the Nigerian Sugar Company at Bacita about 10 years ago and delighted at its continuing success. At Mumias in Kenya we have two expatriates out of 14,000 on the payroll and technically excellent Kenyans heading every department.

What sorts of pitfalls should governments seek to avoid in dealing with agribusiness companies. One secret is that it is very

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.