*EPF308 06/16/2004
Transcript: New Agricultural Technologies Gaining Acceptance, USDA's Penn Says
(Technologies to be focus of June 21-23 ministerial in Burkina Faso) (5150)

U.S. officials are seeing "much more acceptance" of new agricultural technologies on the part of developing countries, U.S. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services J.B. Penn says.

Briefing reporters June 15 at the State Department's Foreign Press Center in Washington, Penn said an upcoming agricultural science and technology ministerial conference focusing on West Africa will examine the use of "appropriate technologies," including biotechnology, to raise the productivity of staple food and high-productivity crops with the goal of strengthening food security, reducing hunger and improving nutrition.

At the meeting the United States will sign a memorandum of understanding with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, a group founded by a coalition of foundations including the Rockefeller Foundation and several companies to help disseminate technologies in Africa, Penn said.

Penn will lead the U.S. delegation to the conference.

U.S. sponsors of the conference, which is expected to attract 300-400 participants from 16 West African countries and the United States, are the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Other cosponsors are the government of Burkina Faso, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the West African Economic and Monetary Union and the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel.

Pamela Bridgewater, deputy assistant secretary of state for African affairs, who will also represent the United States at the conference, participated in the briefing.

Following is the transcript of the briefing:

(begin transcript)

STATE DEPARTMENT FOREIGN PRESS CENTER BRIEFING

SUBJECT: MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO

BRIEFERS: J.B. PENN, UNDERSECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE FOR FARM AND FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL SERVICES AND U.S. DELEGATION HEAD;
AND PAMELA BRIDGEWATER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE BUREAU OF AFRICAN AFFAIRS

THE FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, WASHINGTON, D.C.

TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2004

MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Foreign Press Center.

We're very pleased to have with us today Dr. J.B. Penn, who's the undersecretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services and U.S. delegation head. Also Ambassador Pamela Bridgewater, who's a deputy assistant secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs.

And they're here this afternoon to talk to us about the upcoming Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology, which is a conference scheduled for later on this month in Burkina Faso. This conference is being co-hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the government of Burkina Faso.

Both our briefers have opening statements, and then following that we'll be glad to take your questions. Thank you.

PENN: Thank you, Colonel.

Let me first say thanks to all of you for coming this afternoon. We're very pleased to be here and to have an opportunity to talk with you about our ministerial conference on harnessing science and technology to increase agricultural productivity in Africa. And as he noted, this will be held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, June 21 through 23.

Also the conference is being sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture along with our interagency colleague, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development. And we're joined by the Burkina Faso Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Fisheries Resources. Also the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, and the West African Economic and Monetary Union, WAEMU, and the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel are providing advisory support as well.

The theme of this conference is how science and technology in a supportive policy environment can increase agricultural productivity, spur economic growth, and help alleviate world hunger and poverty. The conference will examine the use of appropriate technologies to raise the productivity of staple food and high-value crops in West Africa with a focus in four particular areas.

The first is enhancing water conservation, water use efficiency and water management technologies in West Africa. The second is crop biotechnology and biosafety to improve productivity, combat plant disease and enhance drought tolerance. A third is policies, regulatory frameworks and institutional capacity building to increase agricultural productivity, technology transfer and economic growth. And the fourth is partnerships to enhance the production, processing and marketing of staple foods and high-value crops in Africa.

Now this event is a follow on to the Ministerial Conference and Expo on Agricultural Science and Technology that was held in Sacramento, California in June of last year. At that conference we had a very successful attendance, with some 120 ministerial-level delegates from 117 countries. At this conference in West Africa we're expecting some 300 to 400 participants, and we think that 16 West African countries will participate along with the United States.

Now this conference presents a unique opportunity to senior-level policymakers from West Africa to focus on what science and technology, again, in a supportive policy environment, can do for their farmers, consumers and their economies. It will allow participants to learn about the latest agricultural technologies, as well as innovative uses of conventional technologies.

It will help determine how these technologies are relevant to this particular region and what some of the priorities might be. It will offer ideas on how to develop policies to help transfer and attract investment in agricultural technologies.

Now the ministerial will feature more than 45 speakers and panelists from around the world. These people were selected by an interagency task force. They include leaders and technical experts from developing and developed country governments, international organizations, research institutes and university foundations, and of course private industry.

Now we recognize that technology is not an end in and of itself. It's developed to serve people and their needs. And this conference is a response to the needs of hundreds of millions of people who simply don't have enough food. It's a response to farmers who are struggling to grow enough food, first to feed themselves and then enough to earn income to feed their families. It's a response to a world where all our aspirations for a strong global economy, growing trade and global peace and security can be undermined by widespread hunger, poverty, economic stagnation and lost human potential.

One of the most important steps that can be taken to reduce global hunger is to raise agricultural productivity, and we believe science and technology offer some of the most effective tools to do that. It may be better seed varieties, better planting practices, better processing techniques or better ways of irrigating crops. Whatever the technology, it needs to be affordable, appropriate and accessible.

Now in addition, while our delegation is in Ouagadougou, we will sign a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation. And through this memorandum of understanding, we will develop cooperative research programs and encourage the transfer of USDA technology to reduce hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.

Technology has the potential to help farmers around the globe produce more with less while protecting the environment for future generations. It has the potential to help feed the hungry, improve nutrition and elevate living standards. So our goal for this conference is to provide a path for more people in West Africa and beyond to share in the benefits of this potential.

So with that, I will turn to Ambassador Bridgewater.

BRIDGEWATER: Thank you, Undersecretary Penn.

And good evening, members of the press.

Let me just join Undersecretary Penn in thanking you for being here today and say that we in the Department of State are delighted to highlight what we consider a very important conference on agricultural science and technology.

We at State are very grateful to the government of Burkina Faso for agreeing to co-host this very important regional meeting. Burkina Faso has a very positive record, we think, of management and commitment to development issues. It has enjoyed very good relations with the international financial institutions and with other international partners. It is a country, as I'm sure you know, that is highly dependent on agriculture, but also challenged by the realities of its geographic location, its climate, and its limited natural resources. Burkina Faso also deserves recognition, we think, for what it has been able to achieve in improving the economic prospects of its population.

When we look at West Africa as a region, we see diversity. We see pockets of important, rich natural resources; we see economic potential; and we see that there is a lot of potential for dynamic growth. But we also see a region that has conflicts alongside with several flourishing democracies. These debilitating internal conflicts have, I think, put a very big dent in efforts to deal with issues such as poverty, resource management; and poor governance and corruption has exacerbated this problem.

We believe that economic growth, capacity-building, good governance, and regional security are vital to these countries realizing their full potential. Many West Africa nations have made significant progress in these key areas of development. For example, I'm sure you're all familiar with the fact that 16 of the countries worldwide that have been deemed eligible to develop compacts with the Millennium Challenge Corporation, eight are African countries, and five of these, I'm happy to say, are from West Africa -- Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mali and Senegal. These countries will be attending this conference.

Sponsoring this very important conference is just one component of a broad-based U.S. engagement in West Africa to promote these ideals. In a region still dependent on agriculture for the livelihood of the vast majority of its citizens, this ministerial conference on agricultural science and technology we think is a perfect opportunity to advance these objectives even further.

We look forward to the day when Africa can move under its own power to solve its internal conflicts peacefully through negotiation rather than war; when Africa can feed its people, when it can fuel its own economic growth and educate its population. The United States is a committed partner in this endeavor.

Thank you.

MODERATOR: Okay, as a reminder before asking any question, please remember to wait for the microphone and identify yourself and news organization. And we'll start with the front row.

QUESTION: Adu-Otu, AfricaNewscast.com. I have two questions. The first one is, could you give us an evaluation of what has transpired out of last year's ministerial conference? And number two, just like the question I asked last year, the problem with West African agriculture primarily is -- has not been technology, it's been access to points of production: that is, roads. Is there a contingent, a segment in the conference where this will be discussed?

PENN: Well, let me respond to the first part of your question.

As I indicated, we had this conference in Sacramento in June of last year. And it was, as far as I know, the largest conference of its kind that's ever been held. It had broad representation from both the developed and developing world, and it generated a lot of discussion and a lot of enthusiasm. And as a result of that, a lot of the delegates said that we've developed some momentum here, that we have some attention now being given, being concentrated upon a very serious problem, so we need to somehow keep the momentum going. And so, what we have tried to do in the ensuing year is to try to harness some of that momentum and see if we couldn't get some other things under way that all contribute to this objective of making more technology available in the parts of the world where it's needed to help reduce hunger and malnutrition.

Now, for our part in the U.S. government, we have had an interagency group that has followed up the activities of that conference and have worked on trying to harness the momentum, as I said. The first -- not the first, but one of the results of that was another regional conference which was held last month in Costa Rica for 10 countries in the Central American/Caribbean area. And the folks -- that conference is much like this one in West Africa. It's going to be on the common problems for that particular region, the technologies that are appropriate to that region. And one of the key things that came out of the Costa Rican conference is that the 10 countries came together, and for once it was very evident that they were thinking of problems with a regional focus. They were all working together with a regional perspective. Rather than each individual country saying, "We've got problems here of our own," they're saying, "How are our problems common, and what can we do collectively to begin to address these?" I thought that was very heartening.

At USDA, Ambassador Mattie Sharpless, who is with us this afternoon, has been coordinating other follow-up activities for us and working with our colleagues at the Department of State and in USAID.

We have, just to name a few -- I don't want to bore you with our whole long list of accomplishments -- but we have started a series of conversations, dialogues here in Washington with representatives from the various embassies. And we've talked about regional groupings, within regional groupings what could be done to try to focus more resources on the problems of hunger and malnutrition and how science and technology can help.

A very tangible thing that we've done is to create the Norman Borlaug Science and Technology Fellows Program. This is a brand-new program -- named after, of course, the famous Nobel laureate -- where some 100 young scientists from the developing world will be brought to the U.S. each year for further training and then will return to their home country. And we hope that in the process of that, that they will form partnerships and allegiances and alliances and contacts that will help them. And we're very pleased to be able to sponsor that program, and it's funded with resources form the agencies that I mentioned: AID [USAID], State and USDA. And we think that that's a program that's going to make a great contribution over the longer term. And there are several other activities like that, that are tangible follow-up steps to the conference in Sacramento.

Now with respect to the second part of your question, the focus of the conference, as I indicated, is on technology. And it's not just the new, gee-whiz technology. As we all know, there's a lot of existing technology that is available and can be applied rather quickly. The focus is on that, mostly, for the most part on how can technology help increase food output.

But at the same time, you also have to look at the bigger context, as you note, in which a lot of these countries operate. The policy environment is first and foremost. In my remarks, I mentioned twice, you know, within the context of good government you've got to have a business climate, an operating environment, a regulatory environment that is conducive to allowing people to apply science and technology and do what they can do best. And infrastructure is a big one, to have a way to get product to market, inputs to the remote areas where farmers operate.

All of these things are very crucial. But the focus of this conference is not so much on infrastructure as it is on the technology.

I mean, you can't address everything, and we're trying to focus on one area, and that is science and technology.

MODERATOR: Front row again.

Q: (Name inaudible) with the African Sun Times. Could you please tell us if there is any implication of the subsidies the United States of America pays its agriculture on those events in Ouagadougou? Because you know that Ouagadougou -- Burkina Faso, Mali have the finest quality of cotton, but because of the subsidies you pay to your agriculture, your farmers, they have trouble of selling those. So could they sell the cotton to buy more -- I don't know -- cereals, like millet, like rice? Otherwise, how can that conference help them to overcome that?

PENN: Well, I think you raise a very interesting point: that everything is interconnected to everything else. And we are focused here at this conference on science and technology. But again, there is the bigger operating environment that has to be taken into account.

Now trade is a big, big factor, as you just mentioned. And the cotton issue, as you noted, has become a big issue in the trade discussions.

And so we're very hopeful that in the WTO Doha development agenda, that we can address these problems. We have said repeatedly that we think that that's the place to address the question of domestic subsidies and supports that not only the United States but the European Union and Japan and other countries may provide for their farmers.

And we are guardedly optimistic, from what we have seen in the past few days, that maybe there is now some new momentum that is developing for the WTO [World Trade Organization] talks. There were meetings held in Brazil over the weekend. We understand those related to market access, the sticking point that has been most troublesome thus far. And so maybe there will be some new proposals put on the table next week in Geneva for market access that will help us move forward.

But we believe that the place to address the question of domestic supports and the disruptions that they bring to international marketing -- the best place to do that is in the WTO negotiations.

MODERATOR: We'll go to the Washington File.

Q: Kathryn McConnell with the Washington File. Could you describe a little bit the African Agricultural Technology Foundation and how that organization was selected for this agreement?

PENN: Well, let me just start, and then maybe Ambassador Bridgewater knows more about that than I. But the African Agricultural Technology Foundation is an organization that has been in the development for several years. I've known of the discussions for the past three or four years that have led to its formation, and the basic idea was, with all of this new technology and with lots of concerns about intellectual property rights and patenting how to make sure that new and emerging technology was made available to a lot of the developing countries, the places where it was most needed. And so the Rockefeller Foundation and lots of other organizations and the private sector companies have been involved in the formation of this foundation.

USDA has been aware of that development. And of course, USDA creates a lot of new agricultural technology. And we are not in the business of patenting as much of our technology as private sector companies these days, so we're always looking for ways in which we can disseminate that technology.

Now this foundation we see as a device that will help us facilitate the dissemination of the technology. We can deal with the foundation; the foundation, in turn, can deal with all of the member countries that it represents. And so we see this as a vehicle, and these discussions have been under way for some time to create this memorandum of understanding. And we're very pleased that Ambassador Bridgewater and I, representing the U.S. government, are going to be able to sign this agreement on behalf of the government in Burkina Faso.

Do you have anything --

BRIDGEWATER: No, I think you covered it sufficiently.

Q: (Off mike.)

MODERATOR: Where's the microphone? We'll go back here first. We'll get you.

Q: Elbashir from Sudan. I have two short questions.

Are other parts of Africa covered with similar conferences now or maybe in the near future? Seem like you're focusing on West Africa. I'm sure you have good reasons. Maybe you could share that with us.

And the second question. I know that you are concerned with technology. Has the recent conference of the G8 given you any reasons for, you know, optimism that they will get into this financing kind of thing instead of politics and all that?

Thank you.

PENN: Well, let me respond to the first question, and that is at the California conference, as I said, there was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement generated, and we said we would like to keep the momentum going from that conference. And the minister of agriculture in Burkina Faso was one of the first persons to say, "I want host a conference. I would like to work with you to develop a conference to focus on the problems in the West African region."

And that's the main reason we're there, is that he was very instrumental in getting his government and neighboring governments to be involved in this activity and to work with USAID and the State Department and USDA.

As to conferences in other parts of Africa, that, I think, depends upon the interest and enthusiasm that's shown. We've had expressions of interest, and as resources permit and interest dictates, we'll try to do that if those would be helpful.

I think it's very interesting to note that at the G8 there were African leaders invited to participate in the conference. And Ambassador Bridgewater can speak to that far better than I. But I thought that was a very heartening sign. And there was a discussion of hunger, and there was a discussion of science and technology. And I think, again, when you have a focus on a major problem by the leaders of the developed and developing world, that it makes our jobs a lot easier; it helps us to be able to harness resources to focus on those problems, it helps us to bring attention to those problems. And so I thought that was a very, very favorable sign.

BRIDGEWATER: Well, in addition to what the undersecretary has said, we think that in addition to the enthusiasm that the minister of agriculture in Burkina had, we thought that it was a good opportunity to also signal our, I think -- our happiness that Burkina had been making some very important strides in its bilateral relations with its neighbors and in its role in the region. So we thought that this was an important signal and that we wanted to say that yes, we would like to work with you on this important endeavor.

And in terms of the dialogue that we were able to have with several African heads of state during the G8, again, it's important as we're looking at economic issues to get firsthand from African leaders, those who are seeking to find better ways to address economic development and sustainable development, to have them here for that dialogue with the G-8. And we were very pleased that this took place at Sea Island.

Q: Could you please tell us why the participant heads of state are limited to two or three -- Mali, Burkina Faso, Kufuor of Ghana? And do you think this conference will help, you particularly, Burkina Faso to be a member of AGOA?

MS. BRIDGEWATER: Well, first of all, I don't think that it was limited. I think that, as you are aware, heads of state are often very busy and have very competing requirements and responsibilities. So these -- the heads of state that are listed as attendees are those who were able to attend. We've also invited the U.S. ambassadors from all 16 ECOWAS countries to attend. Some are on leave and some are doing other things, but we do expect some of them -- we don't know exactly who will come, but we have invited them.

What was the second part of your question?

Q: If this could help Burkina Faso to enter AGOA [African Growth and Opportunity Act].

BRIDGEWATER: Well, let me just say that we are right now in the process of a six-month review. As you know, usually we review the AGOA after a year if a country is not eligible.

But we thought that Burkina was making significant strides, and we wanted to signal that we would give them a six-month review. So we are right now reviewing all the information and the data about Burkina, and we are hoping to have a review within the next few weeks for possible eligibilities for next year.

Thank you.

Q: Yeah, just a small -- Elbashir again from Sudan. You said that there are eight African countries that have shown interest. And you mentioned five of them from West Africa. What are the other three?

BRIDGEWATER: The eight countries that have been selected -- and I want to read them to make sure that I don't forget any of them. (Pause, searches document.) Let's find that here. (Continues search.) Well, you know that -- Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Senegal --

Q: Mali?

BRIDGEWATER: We have Mali, we have Mozambique, we have -- let's see -- (searches document). No, no, no, it is not there.

Q: Benin?

BRIDGEWATER: Benin, yes. I thought I had said Benin. I guess I don't have all of them here.

Q: (Off mike.)

BRIDGEWATER: Algeria?

Q: Well, it's okay. Just --

BRIDGEWATER: We'll have to get that for you. I thought that was here in my briefing materials, but they aren't.

Q: Anyway, I'm just addressing the Sudan. It doesn't ring a bell, does it?

BRIDGEWATER: No.

Q: Okay. Thank you. (Laughter.)

BRIDGEWATER: No. I'm sure you would have known that. Sudan is not one of the MCC-selectees, for the reasons I think you understand. It hasn't met the criteria, but we hope it will. We hope it will.

MODERATOR: Anyone else? Front row.

Q: Adu-Otu. While we're talking about technology we must at the same time be talking about capital: that is, access to funding for these poor West African countries. Would that be on the agenda?

MR. PENN: Well, indirectly, and in a sense. Again, we have been stressing that there has to be a proper environment in which people can function. And if there is good government, if there is sound regulation, if there is (sic) good economic policies, then within that context you can apply technology, reap the benefits of that technology, and then commerce and economic expansion follows, and improvement in the quality of living, improvement in diet, all of these things follow.

And investment follows. Investment is only going to flow into places where there is some safety and security and good government, all of these things that I just mentioned.

So capital is attracted to places where the environment is right for business. So to that extent that we are also focusing on good government, proper economic policies and all of these things, then we are also talking about capital.

BRIDGEWATER: Could I comment on the security element that you mentioned?

PENN: Sure.

BRIDGEWATER: I think another reason that we perhaps looked at the West Africa region is that ECOWAS has taken a -- played a very important role in helping to bring peace and stability to some very war-torn areas, namely of course in Liberia, in La Cote d'Ivoire. So we think that enhancing the capacity of ECOWAS can help it refocus on the reasons it was founded, which is as an economic arm for development in the region. If there's peace and security, then they can look at economic development more. So this is another way to show our support for the things that are going on in terms of security in the West Africa region.

PENN: Back to the Washington File.

Q: In addition to the meetings, are there going to be other events such as bilateral meetings or maybe trips to actually have people observe some successful technologies?

BRIDGEWATER: Well, in terms of bilaterals, I certainly asked for bilaterals with all of the heads of state that will be attending. That is another reason that I am going, to make sure that we are able to engage with these leaders. And I believe I've seen in the program that there will be field trips to various agricultural programs in Burkina, and I will let the undersecretary comment on those.

PENN: Well, that's exactly true. We're going to have bilaterals with everybody who's there, I mean, with all of the participants, and we're going to have some multilateral sessions as well. So we want to take the opportunity for being there to talk about science and technology to also talk about other things that we have on our various agendas.

There are opportunities for some field trips, and lots of us who are going are going a long distance and want to take advantage of the opportunity of being there to visit some of the places that could be candidates for science and technology projects, and to see successful projects that are already under way.

Q: Since Ouagadougou is not far from Mali and (I'm a Dugan?), are you going to visit my land, the (Dugan ?) land? It's not far. And we are very good farmers.

PENN: Is that an invitation? (Laughter.)

Q: Yes. It's not far. Usually the people do that.

PENN: I'd love to. I don't think I've known of any plans to do that, but it sounds great.

MODERATOR: Anybody else? Any more?

Q: If you have time, I have.

MODERATOR: We have time.

Q: There are some countries in Africa that have shown some kind of resistance for the new crops for religious reasons, for one reason or another. Are you making any breakthrough there or still there are some taboos put by some governments that they are not going to get into technology and all that?

PENN: I think that's a good question. And you know, it's not our intent, I mean it's not our purpose to try to force our technology on anybody. I mean, the purpose of this conference is to discuss a wide range of technologies. Water, water technology, all of these things are going to be a big focal point, not just biotechnology. But I am seeing what is to me some very positive very signs that there is much more acceptance of a lot of the new technologies. There is indigenous research in biotech crops in some African countries. There are some crops that are beginning to be produced commercially. So I'm seeing that there is a growing acceptance of a lot of these new technologies, and so I think that's a very positive sign.

MODERATOR: Okay. Anyone else? (No response.) Then I'd like to thank our briefers for taking the time to be with us today, and also thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for also being here.

PENN: Thank you.

BRIDGEWATER: Thank you.

(end transcript)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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