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Ministerial Conference on Harnessing Science and Technology to Increase Agricultural Productivity in Africa:  West African Perspectives
 Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
June 21 – 23, 2004  

• Thank you. I want to welcome everyone here.

• I am pleased to see many members of the press covering this conference. We are glad to have you with us.

• All the workshop sessions throughout the conference are open to the press, as is the closing plenary session on Wednesday. We also have a media availability scheduled at the end of the conference on Wednesday, so we hope to see you there.

• With me is Dr. Mpoko Bokanga of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), based in Nairobi, Kenya. First, I want to congratulate Dr. Bokanga on his selection as AATF’s first Executive Director, a position he assumed just a week ago. We look forward to working with him.

• Dr. Bokanga and I are here this afternoon to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the AATF. After our remarks and the signing, we will be happy to take questions from the press.

• The MOU we are signing will broaden cooperative research programs and technology exchanges, and foster the commercialization of new crop varieties in Sub-Saharan Africa. The goal is to make appropriate technologies available to help increase farm productivity, improve food security, reduce poverty, and expand production and marketing opportunities for African farmers.

• Scientists in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service have access to a broad range of research, technologies, and other tools that may be useful in African agriculture.

• Under the MOU, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the AATF will work together to identify and transfer technologies developed by USDA scientists that can be beneficial to farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially small-holder, resource-poor farmers.

• AATF will then develop partnerships to adapt, test, and distribute the information and technologies to African farmers to increase their production and income.

• Some of the areas where we see particular promise include technologies related to dryland farming, salinity tolerance, plant and animal disease resistance, and integrated pest management.

• The relationship may also include bringing African scientists to Agricultural Research Service laboratories in the United States to learn specific technologies, and sending U.S. Department of Agriculture scientists to African nations to collaborate with researchers here.

• This new MOU supports the goals of this week’s science and technology conference and the strong U.S. commitment to Africa’s success. It will be effective immediately and may eventually involve other agencies in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

• I want to recognize Dr. Michael Ruff, who is here today representing the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service. Dr. Ruff has been working closely with AATF for some time to make this MOU possible.

• I also want to recognize the Rockefeller Foundation, the Meridian Institute, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, among others, for their role in getting AATF started.

• Although still in its infancy, AATF promises to make an important contribution to the future of Sub-Saharan Africa. This African-led umbrella organization presents a model of how public-private partnerships and a regional approach to problems can create linkages to strengthen production systems, address technological and economic challenges, and provide new opportunities for African farmers.

• I would now like to invite Dr. Bokanga to make some remarks, and then we will both sign the MOU.

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