YOKOHAMA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 29, 2008
Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, has pointed to
lack of infrastructure as one of the key problems facing Africa’s
farmers, preventing the kind of “green
revolution” that took place in Asia. Speaking
to African leaders in the plenary session on private public partnership
(29 May) at the Fourth Tokyo Conference on African Development (TICAD
IV), he said that “even if farmers increase
their harvest, there are no markets where they can sell their produce.
Or where markets exist, the farmers lack access to them.”
As a result, he said, “they cannot convert the
increased harvest into income, so their quality of life does not improve.”“The time has come to act. Together we can
form an alliance to end poverty in Africa.” He
stressed that The Nippon Foundation “stands
ready to play its part.”
Mr. Sasakawa, who is WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination,
said he had seen “how effective such an
alliance can be in the field of leprosy. In just over two decades, the
disease has gone from being a public health problem in 122 countries to
just two countries today.”
He concluded by highlighting the urgent problem of the soaring price of
fertilizer “which has serious consequences
for Africa’s farmers.”
He called for this issue to be taken up by the G8 Summit in Japan later
this year.
Over the past 22 years, The Nippon Foundation has funded the
Sasakawa-Global 2000 (SG2000) programme which has worked with
small-scale farmers in 14 African countries to increase and diversify
their food crops and improve rural livelihoods. The programme was
launched in 1986, in co-operation with former US President Jimmy Carter
and Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Norman Borlaug, father of the “green
revolution” in India and Pakistan.
To strengthen the capacity of agricultural extension services, The
Nippon Foundation has funded education programmes for mid-career
extensionists at 13 universities and colleges in nine African countries.
To date nearly 2,300 extensionists have graduated, or are currently
benefiting from the programme.
The Nippon Foundation has invested over US $180 million in these
programmes.
Keyword Tags:
africa, african leaders, Infrastructure, partnership, philanthropy,
poverty, poverty in africa, Sasakawa, sg 2000, ticad
CONTACT: The Nippon Foundation
Keiko Mori, +81-3-6229-5131
k_mori@ps.nippon-foundation.or.jp
or
Patrick Orr, +44-0207 630 9778
Patrick@raittorr.co.uk
Mr. Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, has pointed to
lack of infrastructure as one of the key problems facing Africa’s
farmers, preventing the kind of “green
revolution” that took place in Asia. Speaking
to African leaders in the plenary session on private public partnership
(29 May) at the Fourth Tokyo Conference on African Development (TICAD
IV), he said that “even if farmers increase
their harvest, there are no markets where they can sell their produce.
Or where markets exist, the farmers lack access to them.”
As a result, he said, “they cannot convert the
increased harvest into income, so their quality of life does not improve.”“The time has come to act. Together we can
form an alliance to end poverty in Africa.” He
stressed that The Nippon Foundation “stands
ready to play its part.”
Mr. Sasakawa, who is WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination,
said he had seen “how effective such an
alliance can be in the field of leprosy. In just over two decades, the
disease has gone from being a public health problem in 122 countries to
just two countries today.”
He concluded by highlighting the urgent problem of the soaring price of
fertilizer “which has serious consequences
for Africa’s farmers.”
He called for this issue to be taken up by the G8 Summit in Japan later
this year.
Over the past 22 years, The Nippon Foundation has funded the
Sasakawa-Global 2000 (SG2000) programme which has worked with
small-scale farmers in 14 African countries to increase and diversify
their food crops and improve rural livelihoods. The programme was
launched in 1986, in co-operation with former US President Jimmy Carter
and Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Norman Borlaug, father of the “green
revolution” in India and Pakistan.
To strengthen the capacity of agricultural extension services, The
Nippon Foundation has funded education programmes for mid-career
extensionists at 13 universities and colleges in nine African countries.
To date nearly 2,300 extensionists have graduated, or are currently
benefiting from the programme.
The Nippon Foundation has invested over US $180 million in these
programmes.
Keyword Tags:
africa, african leaders, Infrastructure, partnership, philanthropy,
poverty, poverty in africa, Sasakawa, sg 2000, ticad
CONTACT: The Nippon Foundation
Keiko Mori, +81-3-6229-5131
k_mori@ps.nippon-foundation.or.jp
or
Patrick Orr, +44-0207 630 9778
Patrick@raittorr.co.uk