REGIONAL NEWS - Eastern Africa Grain Council

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www.eagc.org
www.eagi.co.ke
MARCH 2014 MEMBERS UPDATE
In this issue:
 Regional News
 EAGC Country Update
 Policy Advocacy
 New EAGC Members
REGIONAL NEWS
EAGC hosts the Ghana Grains Council (GGC)
Samuel Okang-Boye, Felix Apeti, William Kotey, Orleans Chinery, Augusta Clottey, Alhaji Hassan from GGC
accompanied by Jane Wanza and Gideon Murenga from EAGC in the field visit to Nakuru
EAGC got an opportunity to host the Ghana Grains Council (GGC) from 3rd to 7th March 2014.
The purpose of the visit was to offer the GGC representatives the chance to interact with the
EAGC in order to understand the Warehouse Receipting System (WRS) and Inventory credit
program. The visit provided GGC an opportunity for them to meet with grain stakeholdersfinancial institutions, warehouse operators, farmer groups and traders.
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Areas of focus for the visit included:
 Structured Trading and the Warehouse Receipt Systems
 Market Information Systems
 Farmers‟ Aggregation Centre
 EAGC Warehouse certification process,
 Warehouse Receipt Financing by Chase Bank
Ghana Grain Council at Lesiolo Grain Handlers Ltd.
The GGC team paid a visit to
Ng‟arua Cereal and Produce SHG
warehouse, in Nyahururu-Kinamba
and also Chase Bank in order to
understand
the
commodity
financing under WRS. Thereafter,
the GGC team also paid visit to
Lesiolo Grain Handlers Ltd; a
private warehouse that handles bulk
grain and one of the pioneers of
WRS that piloted the program in
2008. These visits gave the team an insight of WRS successes and challenges, good grain
handling practices and farmer groups management and their challenges. EAGC has previously
hosted visitors from West Africa, Tanzania and Ethiopia. If you would like us to organize such
regional exchange visits in the grain sector worldwide, kindly contact us at EAGC. This is a
service offered to EAGC members and grain stakeholders in the region under the Eastern Africa
Grain Institute (EAGI).
EAGC at the Launch of “Seeds of Gold” magazine
EAGC participated in the launch of “Seeds of Gold” magazine at Lord Egerton Castle in
Nakuru by Chief Guest Hon. Stanley Chepkwony, Cabinet Secretary, Agriculture (Nakuru
County). The Seeds of Gold is a pull out magazine in the Saturday Nation which contains
information on how to make money, where to sell your produce, where to get certified seeds,
new farming technologies and programs such as WRS, farmers success‟ stories and challenges
experienced and show case organizations technologies and innovations. We encourage our
members to write articles and stories to change the livelihood of grains value chain
stakeholders. EAGC Members benefit from this service as it provides trade linkages, and
innovative technologies to support in growth of the business.
EAGC participates in the 2014 Eldoret Agricultural Society of Kenya (ASK) Show
EAGC in partnership with Nafics Ltd.
participated in this year‟s Eldoret ASK show
from 4th to 8th March 2014. The show whose
theme was “Enhancing Technology in
Agriculture and Industry for Food Security and
National Growth” was officiated over by the
Deputy President, Mr. William Ruto. EAGC
conducted farmer trainings which are one of
its interventions under capacity building
addressing issues of grain post harvest
handling, sensitization on EAGC Warehouse
Receipt system and WRS financing process. During the show, an emerging opportunity for
EAGC to expand it WRS operations to Elgeyo Marakwet and Bungoma Counties to tap into the
regions‟ rich maize and bean production was realized.
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EAGC participates in SNV‟s „Grain
Business Hub Market Progression‟
Workshop
SNV Netherlands in conjunction with the
Uasin Gishu County State Department of
Agriculture organised a „Grain Business
Hub Market Progression‟ Workshop from
19th to 20th March 2014. The workshop
aimed at bringing together stakeholders
working within the grain value chain with
smallholder farmers to share views on the
proposed Grain Business Hub Model that
has been put forward as a vehicle to take
the Farmer Organisations (FOs) to the next
level. The stakeholders present during the
workshop included The State Department
of Agriculture officers from Uasin Gishu,
Trans Nzoia, Nandi and Elgeyo Marakwet
counties, WFP, EAGC, SNV, AMPATH,
KENAFF (USAID KAVES) and Agric Chain
Development (ACD). During the meeting
EAGC and SNV discussed the way forward
towards certifying warehouses, training
warehouse operators and farmers on post
harvest
management,
grain
quality,
standards,
business
management,
governance and WRS.
EAGC nominated to lead other green gram
value chain actors.
EAGC participated in the green grams
value chain actors forum organized by
Agricultural Sector Development support
Programme (ASDSP) held on 6th March
2014 in Wote. ASDSP is a programme being
implemented
by
the
Ministry
of
Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
(MoALF),
which
facilitates
the
transformation of Kenya‟s agricultural
sector into innovative, commercially
oriented, competitive and modern industry.
The aim of this forum was to deliberate on
how to improve the green gram quality and
increase quantity so as to meet the current
demand. Being a major player in the grain
sector, ASDSP and its members agreed
unanimously that EAGC will lead the other
green grams chain actors in reporting
updates on green grams as from May 2014,
basing on its wider coverage in the county
and past experience on the same.
EAGC hosts the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Executive Director
EAGC hosted the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Executive Director, Dr
Yemi Akinbamijo, to discuss key areas of collaboration on private sector participation in
Agricultural Research in Africa. It was noted that FARA hosts various programmes including
the Agricultural Professional Society for Agricultural Research (ASARD), AFADA – that
supports future adaptation on Climate change, SPEAR, which focuses on Environmental
research, ReMoCaSt focusing on capacity strengthening, the PAINT Programme and AFAPP
which support Africa Food and Agriculture policy in Africa.
EAGC will participate at the ministerial experts meeting scheduled to be held in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia from 27th April to 1st May 2014, to represent the interests of the private sector in the
grain sector. EAGC and FARA will work together to:
 Expand agricultural research on markets and trade;
 Enhance communication of the agriculture research results through EAGC communication
systems;
 Support regional agricultural market information systems across the continent;
 Collaborate in evidence based research using already existing models from EAGC, which
include the SMS based research, use of mobile technology;
 Establish capacity building of ReMoCaSt through the Eastern Africa Grain Institute Enhance
private sector role in Agricultural research in Africa.
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EAGC Signs RATIN Data Sharing Contract with Gro- Intelligence
EAGC has signed a RATIN Data Sharing Contract with Gro- Intelligence as part of the value
addition of EAGC services to the stakeholders. Gro-Intelligence is a data analysis company
based in Kenya, but serves internationally. The joint contract will allow mutual benefits for the
two parties. EAGC will have access to the final analysis, while Gro-Intelligence will work on the
EAGC Policy platform, to advance the results of the various data analysis in the course of the
partnership. As EAGC RATIN moves towards self sustainability, we encourage members to
provide continue feed back, so as to improve the services of EAGC.
EAGC hosts the Market Analysis Sub-group (MAS) quarterly meeting
EAGC hosted the MAS at the EAGC offices on 25th March 2014 to review and discuss the MAS
Terms of Reference and work plan. MAS was formed by representatives from Eastern Africa
Grain Council, FEWSNET, WFP and FAO. The main output of this meeting was the revival of
“Trade Talk‟ meetings. EAGC and MAS partners will be hosting the traders and other
stakeholders meetings to discuss the market trends, the surpluses, prices on RATIN, the
implications of trade, trade projections, projected imports and exports, market forecasts and get
intelligence from the real stakeholders themselves. The meetings will be hosted quarterly on
rotational basis and the next meeting will be at FEWSNET offices on 16th May 2014.
EAGC Agribusiness Fair 2014
EAGC‟s 2014 Agribusiness Fair in Kenya is
scheduled for 14th to 15th August 2014 at
Kabarak University, Nakuru. This year‟s
theme
is:
Promoting
post
harvest
technologies: "Improving the quality, safety
and marketability of
farm
produce."
Preparations are underway with crop
demonstration in place: 5-series maize,
sorghum and fodder planted, sourcing for
sponsors and exhibitors on-going. This year
we are targeting 100 exhibitors and over
10,000 farmers and general public to attend
the event.
Annual report 2013
The collation of the EAGC annual report for the year ended December 2013 has been completed.
The report reflects significant achievements across all the EAGC objectives. Key highlights
include: 7 new warehouses certified and offering Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) services;
estimated 10,000 MT of grain deposited in WRS; loans amounting to US$ 104,436 issued against
WRS receipts; Over 45,000 stakeholders access market information through RATIN and EAGC
SMS facility; 3,000 stakeholders majority being smallholder farmers receive capacity building
on various aspects of grain handling and trade and; the Eastern Africa Grain Institute (EAGI)
operationalised to offer capacity building to grain sector stakehooders. In terms of policy
environment influencing EAGC prides in having spearheaded the harmonization of the EAC
regional standards that were ratified and gazetted in November 2013; hosting of the highly
successful 5th Africa Grain Trade Summit attended by over 150 delegates and; coordination of
the Agricultural Trade Policy Advisory Forum (ATPAF ESA) as platform for policy dialogues.
In regard to institutional strengthening component, the Secretariat realized over 93% of the
annual budget through various resource mobilization efforts inspite of two of her key projects
coming to an end. EAGC membership grew by over 16 % in 2013 compared to the previous
year to reach 125 members by end of the year.
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EAGC Grain Newsletter
The January to February 2014 EAGC grain newsletter can be accessed through:
http://eagc.org/documents/EAGC_eNewsletter_19.03.2014.pdf
To receive daily updates from EAGC, subscribe to our Newsletter on www.eagc.org
EAGC COUNTRY UPDATES
Uganda
East Africa Exchange Meeting
East Africa Exchange (EAX) in partnership with
Eastern Africa Grain Council organized and
hosted a Building trade workshop on 28th March
2014 at the Metropole Hotel. The major aim of the
workshop was for EAX to demonstrate the
feasibility of regional commodity trading using
electronic trading tools and certified contracts.
Traders will benefit from being better facilitated to
undertake regional grains trading and East Africa.
The forum was attended by 38 participants 13 of
whom were traders and three representatives from the banking institutions.
Key areas addressed during the workshop included;
 How to conduct electronic trading using world class
tools such as EAX‟s commissioned NASDAQ OMX XStream platform
 Trading contracts and approaches: Auctions, Spot
Trading
 How to become a member of the exchange
 Storage Management and Trade Financing including
electronic warehouse receipts, collateral & warehouse
management services
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EAGC Uganda Agribusiness Expo 2014
The 2014 Agribusiness Expo in Uganda is scheduled to take place at the Luhonge Agricultural
Centre Mbale District under the theme; Improve Quality:” Adopt best practices; Embrace
technology; Increase Market competitiveness” on the 27th and 28th June 2014.
Luhonge Agricultural Centre was selected due to its:
 Strategic location in the centre of Eastern and it is 10km from Mbale town.
 The structures on the proposed venue are asset, for accommodation of some of the
equipments and exhibitors who may wish to stay at the venue.
 Existence of land about 20 acres gazetted for demo plots.
 The already existing demos setup for farmers to see new varieties of coffee and bananas.
 The area is endowed with enough space to host exhibition booth.
 Availability of social amenities like electricity, buildings, security and water reservoir and
irrigation facilities.
In addition, the district agreed to change the Farmers Day to June 2014 to combine with the
Agribusiness Expo as the Expo gives more value in terms of showcasing actual technology,
demo plots which is key to the farmers.
Regional training on Structured Trading Systems
The Eastern Africa Grain Institute (EAGI) together with Eastern Africa Farmers Federation
under USAID funded, Farm-trade project organised a regional training for Farmer Group
Leaders at Imperial Royale Hotel-Kampala, Uganda from 24th to 27th March 2014.
31 Farmer Group leaders from 3
countries
(Kenya,
Uganda
and
Tanzania) took part in the 4-day training
on Structured Trading Systems. The
training was based on a profiling report
that was conducted by EAGC in the
three countries to understand the level
of knowledge on the various aspects of
Structured Trade. The theory and
practical sessions were used to facilitate
high level of understanding in addition
to
high
level
interactions
and
discussions within the sessions.
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EAGC New Members
Kabarak University
Kabarak University is a private Chartered institution of
higher learning that provides holistic Christian-based
quality education, training research and outreach activities
for the service of God and humanity. It was established in
October 2002 by the second President of Kenya, His
Excellency Daniel Arap Moi, who is also the Chancellor.
This was as a result of his visionary idea of setting up a
Christian University that would meet the demand for higher
education in Kenya and offer quality education based on
strong moral principles. Kabarak University is located
20kms north of Nakuru town, along the Nakuru-Eldama
Ravine highway. The University has over 1000 students
pursuing various courses in Science, Engineering,
Technology, Business, Theology and Education.
SAVE THE DATES!!!!!
Uganda:
Venue: Luhonge Agricultural Centre, Mbale District from 27th to 28th June 2014.
Theme: Improve Quality:” Adopt best practices; Embrace technology; Increase Market competitiveness”.
Kenya:
Venue: Kabarak University from 14th to 15th August 2014
Theme: Promoting post harvest technologies: "Improving the quality, safety and marketability of
farm produce."
To receive RATIN prices through SMS send a text to the following numbers:




Tanzania: +255 757 100 992
Kenya: +254 705 606 666
Rwanda: +250 784 599 980
Uganda: +256 777 014 800
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT THE EAGC SECRETARIAT
Follow EAGC at:
@EA_Grain_C
Eastern Africa Grain Council –Eagc
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EAGC REGIONAL HEAD OFFICE
Janet Ngombalu
Regional Manager, MIS & Communication
Email: [email protected] or
[email protected]
Tel: +254203745840/+254733444035
EAGC KENYA COUNTRY OFFICE
Jane Wanza
Team Leader, Kenya
Email: [email protected]
EAGC RWANDA COUNTRY OFFICE
Marie Claire
Country Representative
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +250787177032
EAGC BURUNDI COUNTRY OFFICE
Yves Batungwanayo
Country Representative
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +257 71 48 09 83 or + 257 75 48 09 83
EAGC UGANDA COUNTRY OFFICE
Lillian Bazaale
Country Manager
Email: [email protected]
Tel: +256 312 112854
EAGC ETHIOPIA
Hadia Mohammed
EAGC Director
Tel: +251911502157
EAGC TANZANIA COUNTRY OFFICE
Glory Mtui
Membership & Communication Officer
Email: [email protected] Tel: +255222865516
EAGC SOUTH SUDAN
John Chuol
EAGC Director
Tel: +2119563700
BOOKS FOR SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!
The cook book is on sale at
USD. 15 per copy
The Maize Handbook is available for
members at a cost of USD. 20 per copy
The Data Collection
Methodology for
Informal Cross Border
Trader Manual is on
sale at USD. 10 per
copy
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