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In Africa, New Roads Lead To Trade
By Kim Hoffstrom
Poor transportation and inconsistent agricultural standards can make exporting goods to Africa a mission impassible. The ATRIP training program gives Africans a chance for change.
Dale Darling, African representative for World Wide Sires, a U.S. cattle semen exporter, had made a sale. Now, all he had to do was get his product to the customer: no simple matter.
"We had to air-freight eight large liquid nitrogen storage tanks into Entebbe, Uganda at a high cost," he explains. "Ideally, we would have shipped by sea to Mombassa, Kenya, then by truck to Kampala, Uganda. Knowing about their poor port and road management, however, we couldn’t take chances. We opted for air freight."
Darling’s company is pleased to play a role in helping African farmers improve their cattle herds, which will help make protein-rich milk accessible to more people in the region.
But ultimately, World Wide Sires can remain in Africa only if it stays profitable. Nothing scares Darling more than a loss of cold-chain storage. Like any frozen product, nobody wants bull semen that’s been exposed to the noonday African sun.
Darling is not alone in his concerns about goods distribution. Many U.S. companies aspire to the African market, but shipping hassles often scare them off. Others weigh the costs of shipping against their prospective customers’ wealth and decide to wait for things to get better in Africa.
The Foreign Agricultural Service sin’t among those waiting around. A new program, funded with $600,000 from the U.S. Agency for International Development will train people in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania to improve their roads and unify their agricultural shipping standards. The education effort will allow these African nations to throw open their doors to the world market and enhance their own agricultural capabilities.
It’s called the Africa Trade and Investment Program–or ATRIP for short.
ATRIP is part of the U.S. inter-agency Partnership for Economic Growth and Opportunity in Africa announced in June 1997, following President Clinton’s historic African visit in March 1997.
Markets With a Future
ATRIP is managed through USAID’s Africa Bureau. The principle objective guiding ATRIP is to assist African businesses and governments to build their countries’ international trade and investment opportunities.
The Trials of Transportation
When it comes to shipping, transportation troubles and inconsistent agricultural standards both work against trade.
"The cost to move a ton of wheat through Kenya by rail to Uganda currently exceeds $100. By comparison, the same distance by truck in Turkey costs under $20 per metric ton. As a result, U.S. sales are constrained," says Dick Prior, regional director for Middle East and East Africa, U.S. Wheat Associates.
"In addition, the current transportation conditions are so poorly managed that the wheat deteriorates dramatically in transit. This often results in quality disputes between buyer and seller, and leaves a poor image of U.S. wheat."
The Problem Hurts Africa, Too
Roads can be an African farmer’s
direct line of supply, or they can represent a solid barrier.
"Several of Kenya’s largest animal feed manufacturers and vegetable oil processors are interested in importing U.S. soybeans to improve animal feeds for poultry," said Henry Schmick, FAS’ former agricultural attache in Nairobi. "One of the major constraints that these companies must address is the unnecessarily high cost of transportation."
A stronger poultry industry would be good news for all, as it would add another source of protein to the African diet. And poultry farms require relatively less land and money than other forms of farming, a powerful incentive in countries where many potential farmers are poor.
Setting the Standards for Growth
There is another factor besides transportation contributing to East Africa’s shipping stress. Variations in commodity standards between nations can stop food from crossing the border–whether it comes from neighboring Uganda or as far away as the United States.
A U.S. white corn exporter experienced some of these headaches
when a shipment was refused entry at a Mombassa port. It turned
out that the U.S. standard for moisture content in corn differs
from the one held by Kenya. 
These moisture standards are intended to guard against corn spoilage from the fungus A. flavus, which produces aflatoxin, a contaminant of nuts, cotton and grains.
After much discussion, the Kenyan government did an on-site test for aflatoxin, the product passed, and the shipment went on its way. But time, too, adds costs.
Going Inland Ups The Ante
Cost to ship a 30-ton container of U.S. agricultural goods worth $10,000 from the African port Dar-Es Salaam to:
How the New Program Helps
Several workshops will be conducted, both in the United States and in Africa, on transportation and standards.
First, 12 standards officials from East Africa will come to the United States for training. They will visit successful shipping centers along the U.S. gulf and a border crossing station between the United States and Mexico.
The transportation managers will meet their counterparts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Transportation.
The Africans also will visit North American transportation facilities, including rail, road and air cargo sites.
After the U.S. training, there will be 9 in-country workshops
in Africa, designed to build on the information provided in
earlier North American sessions. Technical issues will also be
addressed. The workshops will be conducted by U.S. and local
experts. 
A two-day workshop in Nairobi is planned for both standard and transportation officials as well as political leaders to tie all the programs’ facets together–and make local leaders aware of the advantages that changes could bring.
The concept for the program was designed by Joe Carvalho of USAID and Brian D’Silva of FAS on a work detail with USAID, and Henry Schmick of FAS, who was at the time stationed in Nairobi. They were trying to find ways to enhance the agricultural sector in Africa.
"The project was initially designed by two groups those representing East Africa and U.S. exporters," said Henry Schmick. "Trade has the power to build development, so this project meets both groups’ interests."
"Currently transportation delays and bureaucratic snafues greatly delay and increase the cost of marketing in all three countries. A better coordinated transportation system is in the interests of U.S. ag exporters and East African consumers," D’Silva said. "The work that’s gone into planning by FAS really shows."
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Kim Hoffstrom is an international programs specialist with
the Professional Development Program. PDP is under FAS Food
Industries Division, USDA, Washington, D.C. Tel.: (202) 690-0707;
Fax: (202) 690-3982;
e-mail: hoffstrom@fas.usda.gov
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