Geography
Monsanto is a well-established entity in countries North of the Limpopo for many years. We have regional offices in

• Senegal for West Africa
• Kenya [with an attached office in Uganda] for East Africa, and
• Malawi for East and Central Africa.

From those countries we operate throughout sub-Sahara Africa including the Indian Ocean Islands Community via a network of well-established distributors.

Product range (Agrochemicals)
Within Monsanto's agrochemical product range its range of non-selective, systemic glyphosate based products dominate. The flagship product is Roundup^®, the leading non-selective herbicide brand in Africa and worldwide. Monsanto is striving for continued excellence and development of its glyphosate based products to meet customers' needs, such as:

• Roundup^® Turbo, an innovative high-load liquid formulation also based on TranSorb technology for superior performance targeted at all segments
• Roundup^® Biosec / Roundup^® Max, a innovative high-load granular formulation based on TranSorb technology for superior performance targeting specific needs in the industrial and arable crop segments

Monsanto's selective herbicides are based on alachlor and acetochlor (in Southern Africa) as active ingredients. Both molecules give excellent grass and certain broad leaf weed control.

The alachlor flagship brand is Lasso^® GD MT¸ a formulation based on Alachlor and Atrazine, with its wide weed spectrum and its superior micro-encapsulation technology. The new formulation has replaced the older technology Lasso^® GD, a non-encapsulated formulation.

Lasso^® MicroTech^™ , the straight Alachlor formulation with its wide crop use range and its superior micro-encapsulation technology, completes the Alachlor portfolio.

In Southern Africa, Acetochlor based formulation predominate in our acetanilide portfolio. The products range from Harness^® and Har-i-Cane^® (straight Acetochlor formulations) to Bullet^®, a safened acetochlor formulation containing atrazine and terbuthylazine for enlarged weed spectrum in maize.

Product range (Seeds)
During the past few years, Monsanto has managed to develop into the market leader as an integrated input supplier with its agrochemical and seed portfolio. As technology and solutions provider we strive to increase yields and returns for smallholder farmers by improving farming practices to save on costs and time. Our seed portfolio for Africa North of the Limpopo focuses on maize and sunflower hybrid seeds plays an integral part of our package.

Marketed since 2002 under the brand name DEKALB^®, the maize seed product range with its flagship products DK8031 and DK8071 has acquired a strong market position in East and Southern Africa.

Monsanto constantly adapts to new challenges in the agricultural sector and try to stay competitive through innovative ideas, tailor made strategies and the development of new technologies and high performance products by supporting a specific Africa North of the Limpopo maize breeding program and by ensuring that our seeds are produced to high standards by making use of our seed processing facility in Malawi.

Smallholder Program
In the early 1990s, Monsanto adopted a vision of "abundant Food and a Healthy Environment", which had a goal to help increase food production in developing countries. It was then that Monsanto initiated its Smallholder Program to facilitate the sharing and transfer of technologies needed by resource poor smallholder farmers in Africa.

The program, which has assisted hundreds of thousands of small holders families in Africa over the past decade, collaborates with a variety of partners, including local communities, government entities, public and private sector institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as Sasakawa Global 2000 and Winrock International. Together, Monsanto and its partners work to understand the full range of needs that smallholder farmers have in order to provide enough food for their families.

The solutions provided to small holders are often a package of existing commercial technologies, including improved seeds, biotechnology traits where approved and applicable, conservation tillage practices, crop protection products and other input, as well as training and technical assistance. Monsanto and its partners also often provide for self help group formation, support for the creation of other income generating activities, access to micro credit, as well as linkages to grain traders and processors who purchase surplus crops, produced as a result of the improved technology package.

Smallholder families participating in these programs have experienced an increase in social, economic, and environmental benefits, including an increase in food security and income. In 2003, the Monsanto Small older program is participating in 26 projects in 17 countries, reaching more than 2.3 million smallholder farming families. These include countries such as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Angola, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.