The world faces a huge challenge of achieving sustainable
food and nutrition security for a growing population with more diverse
consumption patterns in the face of increasingly scarce natural resources and climate
change. This challenge is most severe in developing countries where rates of
poverty remain high. Despite recent progress, FAO estimates that more than 800
million people worldwide are hungry –consuming less than the minimum number of
calories needed to sustain an active and healthy life and an estimated 160
million children are stunted, seriously impairing their future quality of life
and contribution to society.
By 2050, Africa will be home to one-fifth of the world’s
population. This rapid growth, present significant challenges for food
security, peace and stability – as well as economic opportunities in the region,
African countries haven’t seen an increase in farm productivity that Asia has
experienced in the past 30 years. The problem is that domestic expenditure on
agriculture has for the most part been ignored, leaving crop yield at the same
levels as the 1980’s. Africa’s population is on the rise, thus reducing
Africa’s dependence on imports. This is because dependence on imports will be
imperative, if Africa is to compete on a global scale.
Driven by population growth and growing land scarcity, most
African farm households are
witnessing the gradual sub-division of their land. Over time farms are
getting smaller and smaller. Today, over 80% of farms in relatively densely
populated countries – like Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi and Rwanda are smaller than
one hectare. Because they're so small, few can generate enough income to keep
farmers above the poverty line and most of them increasingly rely on off-farm
incomes.
Agriculture has for a long time been seen as an
underperforming sector in Africa but over the past 10 years been recognized as
the sector most capable of providing both sustained economic growth and social
inclusion on the African continent. The transformation of Africa’s agriculture
sector is now underway and there is great potential to produce more food
on less land, feeding more people.
For this to happen, the continent needs to improve its
infrastructure, allowing for a better functioning supply-chains and better
access to markets. Agronomic knowledge needs to be shared more widely and new
technologies must be applied. Access to financing and foreign investments is
also key to boost Africa’s agricultural sector, which requires the presence of
a predictable legal and regulatory framework.
Empowering rural farmers via effective and labor intensive
farming is a more permanent solution other than shipping in food from other better,
developed agricultural centers. Nearly 2/3 of Africans depend on agriculture
for their income, thus focusing on agriculture would set in place reinforcing
feedback loops.
Much has already been talked about the situation of the
smallholder farmer: that they produce 70 per cent of the world’s food, but are
most vulnerable to shocks due to climate change and market fluctuations.
Considering all the research that has been done in this sector, it is clear
that diversification of farm produce and training of farmers should be the key
priorities.
Diversification protects small farmers from economic risks
like a market collapse. It also prevents land degradation that happens from
mono-cropping. Such diversification has so far been difficult to achieve
because it is usually governments, seed companies and fertilizer companies who
impose their agenda on the farmer about what to grow, and often pushes the
farmer into mono-cropping. In the current scenario of climate change,
mono-cropping is all the more risky.
The result of all of these situations is that the farmers’
output is far below their potential. With better access to finance, better
seeds and fertile soil, reliable markets and secure access to land, their
output can be much higher. Part of this lies in the hands of Africa’s policy
makers, and will show positive effect if they extend supportive policies.
Improved market access, as well as the means and inputs to
improve yields can have a profound impact on global food security and help
achieve the UN Global Goal of reaching zero hunger by 2030, I believe in the
African food and agriculture sector and that the right investments will create
opportunities for inclusive, sustainable growth.
We now need a
collaborative approach to support African farmers on their journey to
prosperity and to work together to share and apply our knowledge and make
investments possible so that we can realize the potential of Agriculture and
agribusiness which could be a $1 billion sector in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030.
In conclusion, after years of neglect and disinvestment,
there has been renewed emphasis and new approaches to agriculture development
in Africa. Within the donor community, a revitalised and expanded role for
advisory and information services is seen as central to pro-poor agricultural
growth. Apart from their conventional role of providing and transferring
knowledge in order to increase productivity, new functions include linking
smallholder farmers to high value and export markets , promoting
environmental outcomes and coping with public health challenges such as
HIV/AIDS. #AgricultureDevelopment #Sustainability #FightingPoverty #Empowerment
#PromotingRuralFarmers
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