1. Opportunities for strengthening
UniBRAIN through GABI
NIABI 2112 Roundtable on Strengthening GABI, 2012
1130-1300 hrs February 7, 2012, New Delhi, India
Ralph von Kaufmann
UniBRAIN Facility Coordinator
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
AgBIT - Zambia CAF - Mali CURAD - Uganda CCLEARr - Ghana IDPA - Uganda SVCDC - Kenya

2. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
CONTENT
Rationale: UniBRAIN is an emerging network
UniBRAIN Strengths: could GABI benefit from them?
UniBRAIN Weaknesses: could GABI strengthen them?
UniBRAIN Opportunities: could GABI help realise them?
UniBRAIN Threats: could GABI help mitigate them?
Take home messages

3. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
Strength from strong partnership:
Overall coordination
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
Facilitating university
participation
African Network for
Agriculture,
Facilitating agricultural Agroforestry and
research participation Natural Resources
Sub Regional Organisations Education
Facilitating private
Funding sector participation
agency PanAfrican
Royal Agribusiness and
Danish Agroindustry
Ministry of Consortium
Affairs
Agribusiness Incubator Programme of
the International Crops Research Institute
for the Semi Arid Tropics

4. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
AN EMERGING AFRICAN AGRIBUSINES INCUBATOR NETWORK
UniBRAIN agribusiness incubators
 The Consortium for enhancing University Responsiveness to Agribusiness
Development (UniBRAIN-CURAD) focusing on plantation cash crops
Specific value chain: Coffee
 The Incubation and Diversification of Banana Products for Agribusiness
(UniBRAIN-ABP or Afri Banana) focusing on staple food and cash crops
Specific value chain: Banana
 The Sorghum Value Chain Development Consortium (UniBRAIN-SVCDC) focusing
on smallholder dry land food grains
Specific value chain: Sorghum
 The Creating Competitive Livestock-bias Entrepreneurs in Agribusiness
(UniBRAIN-CCLEAr) focusing on Smallholder livestock
Specific value chain: Livestock
 The Innovative Centre for Agro-forestry (UniBRAIN-CAF) focusing on agro-
forestry products
Specific value chains: non-timber forestry products, cereals and fruits
 The Agri-Business Incubation Trust (UniBRAIN-AgBIT) focusing on tropical fruit
Specific value chain: Mango

5. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
Strength from geographic spread
of action on continental value chains
UniBRAIN CAF
UniBRAIN CCLEAr
UniBRAIN is not exclusively
Danida funded
Collaboration developing with
UniBRAIN AgBIT infoDev and others could
expand the network

6. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
Strength from geographic spread
of action on continental value chains
UniBRAIN is not exclusively
Danida funded Collaboration
developing with infoDev and
others

7. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
UniBRAIN strengths: could GABI benefit from them
African agriculture is on the move
Figure 1. The usually quoted data Figure 2. less quoted data
Changes in per capita net agricultural Changes in net agricultural production (1961-
production (1961-2007) 2007)
Through FARA UniBRAIN linked to African Union
250 500
Commission
Asia Asia
South America South America
Investors are interested in Africa (including sovereign
Food production (1961=100)
Per capita food production (1961=100)
200 World Africa
400
wealth)
Africa World
North America
150
Agribusiness incubators working on value chains with high 300 Europe
potential for scaling up
100 200
Partners mandates
50
FARA, ANAFE & PanAAC have continental mandates 100
SROs have subregional mandates
0 0
1960
All linked to national and local farmers and institutions
1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

8. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
UniBRAIN strengths: could GABI benefit from them
African agriculture is on the move
Through FARA UniBRAIN linked to African Union
Commission
Investors are interested in Africa (including sovereign
wealth)
Agribusiness incubators working on value chains with high
potential for scaling up
Partners mandates
FARA, ANAFE & PanAAC have continental mandates
SROs have subregional mandates
All linked to national and local farmers and institutions

9. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
UniBRAIN Weaknesses: could GABI strengthen them
Inexperience because the incubators are just being
established
Systems not yet developed e.g., for selecting incubatees
Weak infrastructure
Small community of agribusiness incubators
Uncritical audience

10. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
UniBRAIN Opportunities: could GABI help UniBRAIN realise them
Widens sources of ideas
Expands pool of human and institutional experience and
expertise
Opens trading opportunities both ways
Strengthens voice of emerging and developing
economies in agribusiness (and general business)
negotiations with WTO and other global conventions

11. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
UniBRAIN Threats: could GABI help UniBRAIN mitigate them?
Weak competitive position in globalising markets
Limited capacity in developing legal instruments such
as intellectual property rights, patenting, commercial
confidentiality
Limited capacity for due diligence globally
Competition for specialised talent

12. Opportunities for strengthening UniBRAIN through GABI
Take home messages
NIABI and UniBRAIN could catalyse formation of GABI
For UniBRAIN members this would:
‘S’ Enable agribusinesses in Africa to exploit their
strengths
‘W’ Widen pools of expertise and innovations available
to Africa and improve cross fertilisation
‘O’ Strengthen African agribusiness competitiveness
‘T’ Widen opportunities for African agriculture in global
markets and strengthen the negotiating position of
agribusiness in emerging and developing markets
These are all equally applicable to agribusinesses in
other GABI members e.g., NIABI, Marditec

13. For more information visit:
www.fara-africa.org/our projects/unibrain
THANK YOU

14. UniBRAIN a new gateway into African agribusiness
ORGANISATION: The UniBRAIN Facility
Legend
FARA Secretariate
UniBRAIN Facility
Formal/contractual
responsibilities
UniBRAIN
Steering Networking/
Committee technical relations
Work programming
1. Executive Director UniBRAIN
2. Deputy Executive Executive
Director Committee
3. Director Finance
4. Director Capacity
Strengthening UniBRAIN UniBRAIN
(NSF4 Budget Holder) Facility Partnership
Coordinator*) Committee
UniBRAIN UniBRAIN UniBRAIN
*) Line responsibilities and
conditions of service to be handled
Programme Accountant*) Community
within FARA’s human resource and Officer*) (Incubator Support) Manager*)
administrative framework
UniBRAIN Partners
UniBRAIN Incubators
ANAFE SROs
Board Board Board Board Board Board
PanAAC ABI-
CURAD IDBPA SVCDC CCLEAr CAF AgBIT ICRISAT