MED-Amin network

A slight decline in Egypt’s total wheat cultivations to 2,754 million feddans is the result of floods and heavy rainfall that hit a number of provinces over the past few months, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
 
The decline is insignificant if the current cultivations are compared to last year’s, according to an official report by the ministry. Flood-hit areas would be cultivated, which prompted experts to predict the planted area to approach last year’s, according to the report.
 
However, official sources within the ministry said the government will not reach last season’s areas that stood at 3.5 million, accusing it of “complacency with importers to increase wheat imports under the pretext of falling international rates.”
The government, according to official sources, is carrying out “a scheme to dump the domestic market with imported wheat”, adding that this would cause international prices to soar in case local cultivations are not expanded. The sources said such a situation would also deplete foreign currency reserves in the importing process.

 
Egypt is the world’s biggest wheat importer, purchasing nearly 10 billion tons annually, and sometimes mixing imports with local production to produce subsidized bread.
 

Les négociations internationales sur le climat se déroulent à Paris du 30 novembre au 11 décembre. Contrairement aux précédentes conférences, l’agriculture tient cette fois-ci une place de choix. Une journée « agriculture » a d’ailleurs été programmée le 1er décembre avec pour résultat l’adoption de programmes agricoles ou agroalimentaires.

Dans le cadre des négociations, la FAO, dans un communiqué de presse que nous reproduisons ci-après1, rappelle les liens mutuels qui unissent agriculture et climat. Le changement climatique n’est ainsi pas qu’une question d’ordre environnemental, mais concerne également la sécurité alimentaire de bientôt 9 milliards d’individus. Parmi ces 9 milliards d’individus, les agriculteurs sont les premiers touchés par le changement climatique.

Les aléas exogènes auxquels sont soumis les Agriculteurs, et surtout les petits exploitants agricoles, représentent en effet un réel défi pour les décideurs des pays industrialisés, des PED et des PMA. Les effets destructeurs du changement climatique sont par ailleurs amplifiés par les risques endogènes, c’est-à-dire les défaillances intrinsèques et structurelles des marchés agricoles.

Plus que jamais, et ainsi que le formule la FAO, l’agriculture nécéssite des politiques de soutien adaptées à l’ensemble des défis qui sont les siens.

The climate accord reached Saturday in Paris provides one more avenue to keep international pressure on global food security. It also likely increases scrutiny over greenhouse-gas emissions from food production.

The Paris Agreement involving representatives from 195 countries marks the first time a climate agreement has acknowledged the importance of food security as a priority. The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization pointed that out in a statement on the deal.

"This is a game changer for the 800 million people still suffering from chronic hunger, and for 80% of the world's poor who live in rural areas and earn income - and feed their families - from agriculture sectors," said FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva. "By including food security, the international community fully acknowledges that urgent attention is needed to preserve the well-being and future of those who are on the front line of climate change threats."

The agreement specifically points to food security as one of several major areas countries need to take into account when dealing with greenhouse gas emissions and/or climate change. By signing the Paris deal, countries are "Recognizing the fundamental priority of safeguarding food security and ending hunger, and the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems to the adverse impacts of climate change."

The climate deal does not mention "agriculture" or "farmers," but that statement highlights the importance countries should place on protecting the food supply.

Food is mentioned one other time in the 16,575-word Paris Agreement. In dealing with the long-term goal of keeping any temperature increase at manageable levels, the agreement stated that one key objective for a country would be:

"Increasing the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that does not threaten food production," the Paris Agreement states.

In other words, the agreement tells countries that they need to be careful not to screw up food production when considering how to reduce emissions or develop adaptation strategies.

While different groups and countries may have been looking for language regarding climate-smart agriculture or agroecology, such language was not included in the official text. The lack of further language on agriculture reflects the different chasms that remain around the world when it comes to how food is grown and eaten.

Tim Grooser, New Zealand's climate minister, indicated in a Huffington Post article that the inclusion of food security will lead to a bigger role for agriculture in future climate talks.

"After many years of banging my head on a brick wall, trying to get attention for agriculture in UNFCCC, we are finally being heard," Grooser said. http://dld.bz/…;

The pact seekds to manage the level of long-term temperature increases. The agreement adds another kicker for countries to try to achieve. Beyond keeping under a 2 C (3.6 F) temperature increase, countries should work harder for a goal to limit temperature increases to 1.5 C (2.7 F) through the end of the century. Doing so would significantly reduce the risks and impacts.

In United Nations vernacular, the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) -- effectively what each country is agreeing to do under the Paris talks -- only achieves about 25% of the emission reductions needed to remain under that 3.6 F increase in temperature. To remain under the 2.7 F threshold demands far greater emission reductions.

AFCAS brings together senior statistics officials from FAO member countries of the African continent, who are responsible for the development of agricultural statistics in their respective countries.

They review and exchange ideas on the state of food and agricultural statistics in the continent and advise member countries on the development of their agricultural statistical systems within FAO's programme of Work and Budget for Africa.

RAF/AFCAS/15-1

Agenda

RAF/AFCAS/15-3a

Overview of FAO activities in food and agriculture statistics relevant to African Countries since the 23rd AFCAS Session

RAF/AFCAS/15-5d

Implementing the Global Strategy at country level: Pilot experience of sample countries (Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania)

RAF/AFCAS/15-6b

Harmonized and synchronized censuses of agriculture in member countries of Regional Economic Community (example of UEMOA)

RAF/AFCAS/15-6c

Main features and changes of the WCA 2020, Volume 1

RAF/AFCAS/15-6d

Outline of the WCA 2020, Volume 2: Operational Guidelines on implementing Census of Agriculture

RAF/AFCAS/15-7a

Gender statistics in agriculture and food security: Updates on recent initiatives

RAF/AFCAS/15-7b

Livestock data and statistics for evidence-based policies: lessons from country experiences

RAF/AFCAS/15-9c

Investment financing statistics (government expenditures, credit to agriculture, ODA, Foreign Direct Investment and Country Investment Profiles)

RAF/AFCAS/15-9d

Macro-economic Statistics for Agriculture – New FAO databases on agricultural capital stock and agro-industry measurement 

RAF/AFCAS/15-10a

Overview of global food security: the State of Food Insecurity in the World 2015 report

RAF/AFCAS/15-10c

Food security statistics in the transition from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals

You can tell an Egyptian grain store by the birds circling overhead.
As much as half of the wheat the state buys from its farmers is lost each year to pigeons, rodents and thieves scavenging national stockpiles that are often just stacked in rough jute bags open to the elements, said David Blumberg, whose U.S. company is working with the government to modernize and build the Middle East’s largest grain-storage network.
“If you ever passed by a landfill and saw all the birds circling above, that’s kind of the situation,” said Blumberg, chief executive officer of Blumberg Grain, Middle East & Africa, referring to the facilities he’s working on replacing. “There is no protective covering.”
Wasted grain is a big problem for Egypt, where rising food prices intensified unrest that led to the overthrow of the government during Arab Spring protests in 2011. The country is the world’s biggest wheat importer and spends billions of dollars on grain each year for a subsidized bread program to ensure its people can afford food.
The government buys about 40 percent of the country’s wheat production each year, but waste isn’t limited to the domestic crop. Poor infrastructure, port backlogs and aging storage sites mean a third of imported supply is also lost, said Gilles Mettetal, director of agribusiness at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Climate change is likely to impede progress on reducing undernourishment around the world in the decades ahead, according to a major scientific assessment released on Dec. 2 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on global food security and its implications for the U.S. The report, entitled Climate Change, Global Food Security and the U.S. Food System, identifies the risks that climate change poses to global food security and the challenges facing farmers and consumers in adapting to changing climate conditions. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released the report during the COP-21 Paris Climate Conference.

In the absence of response measures, climate change is likely to diminish continued progress on global food security through production disruption that lead to constraints on local availability and price increases, interrupted transport conduits, and diminished food safety, among other causes. The risks are greatest for the global poor and in tropical regions.

U.S. President Obama has pledged to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in the range of 26%-28% below 2005 levels by 2025. U.S. agriculture is helping meet this goal, and American farmers, ranchers and foresters have demonstrated their leadership in recognition that their contributions send a strong message to the rest of the world.

Egypt’s wheat output will be little changed this season from last, Supplies Minister Khaled Hanafy said, not long after a subsidy reduction raised questions about whether farmers would continue to plant the crop.
The world’s largest importer of wheat will grow around 3.3 million feddans (3.43 million acres) in the next season, Hanafy told Reuters in an interview.
“I don’t expect this season to be less than this amount, and it might even be more,” Hanafy said.
This month Egypt said it would no longer pay a fixed, and highly subsidised, price to procure local wheat. It would instead pay farmers a small direct subsidy based on the size of their field.
The new subsidy infuriated some farmers who said they will no longer profit from growing wheat. Last year farmers sold their wheat to the government for as much as $200 per tonne over the global price as world wheat prices plummeted.
This price anomaly led to traders passing off cheap imported wheat as local when selling it to the government, traders and experts have said.
Traders said the new subsidy system is intended to end corruption.
“The new system will not benefit large investment companies, or intermediaries…because the procurement price is going to be the global price itself, unlike in the past,” said Hanafy, adding that the new system will instead help small farmers.
Hanafy said he expected wheat imports too to remain largely unchanged. Egypt imported roughly 11 million tonnes of wheat last year.

Grain prices may see 'spike' - but long-term outlook flat
Grain prices are at risk of a short-term "spike" but look poised for declines over the next few years, with rapeseed values to drop too despite extra need for oilseed meals.

The European Commission, in annual report on long-term crop forecasts, said that while world cereals markets were, mostly, characterised by "ample supply and comfortable stocks-to-use ratios", that did not rule out the potential for a jump in prices from current levels.

"The fact that the price did not drop even further, despite the abundant supply, seems to suggest that demand for cereals remains strong," the commission said.

"An upward price spike after a bad harvest in one of the key exporting countries seems possible," it said, noting the "strong" El Nino weather pattern, which has a history of causing production upsets, although this time has "not had a huge impact on production".

En Algérie, l’autosuffisance en produits agricoles n’est pas une chimère. C’est en tout cas l’idée défendue par Sid Ahmed Ferroukhi, ministre de l’agriculture du pays qui a indiqué que cet objectif devrait être atteindre à l’horizon 2019. A ce moment, indique-t-il, la superficie irriguée passera de 1,2 million d’hectares à 2 millions d’hectares permettant ainsi la couverture de tous les besoins de l’Algérie dans le domaine agricole.

Le pays, qui tire actuellement 50% de sa production agricole de ces superficies irriguées (qui ne représente que 14% des superficies arables totales), veut aller plus loin en modernisant les systèmes d’irrigation actuellement employés.

Pour l’Algérie, l’enjeu réside également dans la création d’emplois car avec les 800 000 hectares supplémentaires ce sont quelques 3 000 000 de personnes qui seront employées directement ou indirectement.

Si l’objectif du gouvernement était atteint, le pays aurait réussi l’exploit de multiplier ses superficies irriguées par cinq en l’espace de 20 ans.

A peine élu en remplacement de Cristina Kirchner, le nouveau président argentin Mauricio Macri a annoncé une baisse de 23% des taxes sur les exportations de blé et de 20% sur les exportations de maïs. En France, les céréaliers redoutent une baisse sensible du prix de la tonne de blé et de maïs sur un marché mondial où l’offre est actuellement supérieure à la demande.
Dans le monde capitaliste tel qu’il fonctionne aujourd’hui, l’élection d’un nouveau président dans un pays lointain peut avoir des conséquences fâcheuses pour de vastes secteurs de notre économie et pour les revenus des gens qui en vivent. Ces dernières années, l’Argentine taxait fortement ses exportations de blé et de maïs afin de contenir l’inflation sur son marché intérieur. Sitôt élu, Mauricio Macri a annoncé qu’il allait réduire de 23% la taxation de chaque tonne de blé exportée et de 20% la taxation du maïs.
 
 Cette décision pourrait entrer en vigueur dès ce mois de décembre et les pays importateurs de ces deux céréales parient sur une baisse des cours mondiaux déjà bien déprimés. «Les marchés des grains se préparent donc à un afflux de blé et de maïs en provenance d’Argentine, à des prix particulièrement compétitifs. Les exportateurs (argentins, ndlr) ont déjà en leur possession des volumes importants acquis à faible prix, à placer sur le marché mondial. Les producteurs (argentins), de leur côté, sont sur le point de bénéficier de prix d’achat qui ne seront plus minorés de la valeur de la taxe ; ils devraient, par conséquent, se montrer plus enclins à se séparer de leur récolte. Il y a donc là un possible choc d’offre, dont les producteurs et les exportateurs du reste du monde se seraient bien passés », écrit FranceAgrimer dans sa note de conjoncture de décembre.
 

The Big Data and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development meeting will be held on 14 – 15 December 2015 at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok. Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030) puts forward 17 goals and 169 targets. Innovative and sophisticated tools to complement existing evidence-based policy making methodologies are required to deliver on this transformative agenda. Advances in technological capabilities and exponential increases in the availability of real-time and varied data offer previously impossible access to information and knowledge, bringing with it opportunities as well as challenges for policy making.

The two days meeting will bring together practitioners at the forefront of Big Data research and practice to 1) develop a shared understanding on the challenges, opportunities and current state-of-play of Big Data for sustainable development policy; 2) determine areas of mutual interest as relates to Big Data and the Agenda 2030; and 3) identify creative solutions and strategic directions for actions using Big Data to support implementation, follow-up and review of the Agenda 2030.

The meeting will bring together experts working to initiate, pilot or promote the use of ‘Big Data’ for sustainable development policy development, implementation and assessment in the Asia and the Pacific region from government, civil society, private sector, academic or other entities. Main participants will include policy oriented experts with knowledge of data science, or data technology oriented experts with knowledge of sustainable development policy.

For more information please visit the dedicated page on the UNESCAP website where the tentative agenda and information for participants is available.

Entre 2003 et 2013, un peu plus de quatre millions d’exploitations ont disparu dans l’UE, soit une réduction de 27,5 %, tandis que la superficie totale utilisée pour l’agriculture est restée quasiment stable. Cela signifie que la concentration agricole s'est accrue, la superficie moyenne par exploitation ayant augmenté de 38% pour passer de 11,7 hectares en 2003 à 16,1 hectares en 2013. La France et l’Espagne totalisent à elles seules près de 30% des terres agricoles exploitées dans l’Union européenne avec respectivement 15,9% et 13,4% des terres mises en production en 2013.

Par ailleurs, sur les 10,8 millions d’exploitations agricoles recensées dans l’UE en 2013, près de 3,5 millions (31,1%) étaient gérées par des personnes âgées de 65 ans ou plus et 2,6 millions (24,7%) par des gestionnaires âgés entre 55 et 64 ans, tandis que les moins de 35 ans géraient 6 % de l'ensemble des exploitations agricoles.

Ces statistiques publiées par Eurostat dans le cadre d’une enquête sur la structure des exploitations agricoles révèlent deux points cruciaux :
L’augmentation de la surface moyenne des exploitations européennes, malgré de fortes disparités d’un Etat-membre à l’autre voire même d’une région à l’autre, traduit l’inéluctable baisse du nombre d’agriculteurs qui s’explique tant par l’adaptation de la structure agraire des nouveaux entrants d’Europe de l’Est que par la pression d’un contexte économique contraint qui rend l’activité agricole de moins en moins attractive et les reprises d’exploitations de plus en plus risquées. Mais jusqu’où ira donc cette baisse ?
Si l’augmentation de la superficie moyenne des exploitations agricoles en Europe permet aux agriculteurs de réaliser des économies d’échelle, celles-ci sont limitées et ne participent que dans une certaine mesure à l’amélioration de la productivité des exploitations. Elles seront par ailleurs insuffisantes à les rendre plus compétitives face à des géants agricoles comme les Etats-Unis ou encore le Brésil.
Dans ce contexte anxiogène, l’agriculture européenne ne peut faire l’impasse d’une politique agricole adaptée aux enjeux qui sont les siens. En effet, un « laissez-faire » économique pourrait aboutir à une concentration à l’extrême des exploitations avec des incidences sociales et environnementales potentiellement néfastes. Ainsi, malgré une situation variée d’un Etat membre à l’autre, tous les pays de l’Union européenne ont besoin d’outils de gestion de marchés agricoles efficaces, à l’instar du modèle américain, notamment pour stabiliser leurs revenus agricoles à des niveaux rémunérateurs. Ce cadre n’est pourtant pas assuré par la PAC actuelle qui présente des carences en termes d'exigences économiques.

Momagri plaide ainsi pour une autre PAC qui permette, sans dépenser plus, d'améliorer la compétitivité de l'agriculture européenne et l'équilibre économique des exploitations, notamment par le biais de nouveaux mécanismes de régulation des marchés.

Backed by several developing countries, India will strongly pitch for finding a permanent solution to the food security issue and a mechanism to protect poor farmers from surge in imports at the WTO meeting of 160 trade ministers', beginning here tomorrow.

During the four-day meet, India wants the multi-lateral body to deliberate on pending issues of the Doha Round and deliverables of the Bali package, including issues of the least developed countries.

"Focus of the deliberations will include issues relating to continuance of the Doha negotiating mandate; finding a permanent solution to the issue of public stock holding for food security; special safeguard measures," an official said.

The negotiations, launched at the Qatari capital in 2001 and known as the Doha Round, has missed several deadlines for conclusion due to wide differences over the issue of giving protection to poor farmers and the extent to open the markets for industrial goods.

India has reiterated that members have spent over a decade on the Doha Round and it should not be kept hanging.

"I am going with an open mind and positive approach. If everybody has agreed on something in Bali, it should be our duty to deliver on that. And permanent solution was part of that Bali package," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said.

However, experts are a little apprehensive about the positive outcome from this meeting as the rich nations are keen to abandon old issues and negotiate new matters such as government procurement and investments.

"We will face tremendous pressure to hold our ground on the Doha issues including the special safeguard mechanism. But this is very important for livelihood of our poor farmers," Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said.

On the other hand, in a letter to WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has encouraged WTO members to show their political will and necessary flexibilities to deliver a successful outcome.

Azevedo too has urged WTO members to show the flexibility and political will for a successful Ministerial Conference.

Sitharaman is leading the high-level Indian delegation here. She was accompanied by senior officials of the ministry.

The G-33 group, which includes India and Indonesia, have been at the forefront in demanding the "special safeguard mechanism" which provided the right to deal with the sudden surge in imports.

Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia has said that as many as 100 countries including the G33, Africa Group, Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group of Countries have articulated their views to preserve the Doha Round.

The Doha Round of negotiations launched in 2001 have remained stalled since July 2008 due to differences between the rich and the developing nations mainly over the issue of subsidy being given to farmers.

India has clearly expressed that the Doha mandate should not be re-opened; nor should there be any cherry-picking of issues from the Doha Development Agenda or introduction of new issues that only served the commercial interests of a few developed countries.

For a permanent solution, India had proposed either amending the formula to calculate the food subsidy cap of 10 per cent, which is based on the reference price of 1986-88, or allowing such schemes outside the purview of subsidy caps.

If no solution is found by the agreed deadline of December 31 this year, the peace clause will continue till the time a solution is found.

Under the special safeguard mechanism (SSM), the developed countries want developing nations including India to agree to the SSM instrument when imports surge on a sustained basis by 40 per cent over the previous year, while India insisted that the mechanism can come into play if imports rise by about 10 per cent over the previous year.

The Nairobi Ministerial Conference will be the first WTO meet taking place in Africa since the world trade body was created.

Retrouvez ci-dessous les Bilans prévisionnels de décembre (Blé dur, Blé tendre, Orges et Maïs pour la campagne 2015 / 2016) - documents diffusés lors du conseil spécialisé de FranceAgriMer pour la filière céréalière du 9 décembre 2015, sous la présidence de Rémi Haquin.

Conférence internationale sur les statistiques agricoles – Moderniser les statistiques agricoles pour soutenir l’Agenda du Développement Durable / Rome, Italie (26-28 octobre 2016)

ICAS VII est organisée par l’Institut national italien des statistiques (ISTAT) en collaboration étroite avec l’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO).  

La Conférence est focalisée sur comment joindre recherche et bonnes pratiques dans le domaine des statistiques agricole, en réponse aux besoins changeants et aux opportunitées.

ICAS VII rassemble les experts statisticiens de l'agriculture du monde entier. La plupart d'entre eux représentent les bureaux nationaux des statistiques et les ministères de l'agriculture, cepedant, la Conférence est aussi ouverte aux producteurs, aux fournisseurs, aux formateurs et aux utilisateurs des statistiques agricoles comme les économistes, les statisticiens, les agronomes, les chercheurs, les analystes et les décideurs d'entités gouvernementales, ainsi que le monde universitaire, les partenaires du développement et les organisations internationales. 

Un ensemble de sessions parallèles sur "la Production Agricole et la Consommation Durables" est organisé. Dans ce cadre la FAO coordonne une session consacré sur le thème « Comment mesurer les pertes et les gaspillages alimentaires ». 

Les auteurs intéressés peuvent soumettre leurs papiers pertinents jusqu’au 30 septembre 2015. Plus d’informations disponibles ici.

This report presents the medium-term outlook for the major EU agricultural commodity markets and agricultural income to 2025, based on a set of coherent macroeconomic assumptions deemed most plausible at the time of the analysis. The projections assume a continuation of current agricultural and trade policies.

These assumptions imply relatively smooth market developments while in reality markets tend to be much more volatile. Therefore, the outlook is not a forecast. More precisely, the projections correspond to the average trend agricultural markets are expected to follow in a given macroeconomic environment were policies to remain unchange

The Ministry of Agriculture of Russia will not initiate possible imposition of any state limitations on grain supplies to Turkey, declared the First Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, Evgeny Gromyko on December 3.
According to him, Russia will not make such decision, unless the Turkish party offers such limiting steps. But the probability of imposition of such restrictions by Turkey is very low.
Nevertheless, to date the Ministry of Agriculture is preparing to look for alternative markets and alternative channels for grain exports, explained the First Deputy Minister.