African States Challenged to Commit USD 400 Bn for Financing Agriculture

African Countries have been challenged to mobilise at least $400 billion of public and private sector investment over the next five years in financing for agriculture.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta challenged his fellow African heads of state when he officially opened the five days 2016 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) at the United Nations Complex in Gigiri, in Nairobi.

The President noted that was an urgent need to financing agriculture to succeed coupled with proper monitoring mechanisms that would hold each state accountable.

“We pledged in Malabo to pursue a future of prosperity that is led by agriculture. We promised to double our 2014 agricultural productivity levels by the year 2025. We vowed to make agriculture a multi-trillion dollar industry. Together, we outlined a bold and daring vision for our Continent. Now, we must take bold actions to give effect to our shared dream,” said the President.

“Though we have made a good progress in the last five years we need to do more, agriculture needs to be seen more as a business, than assistance. It is 11 times more effective in reducing poverty,” the President explained.

During a high-level panel meeting attended by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Tanzania’s former President Jakaya Kikwete, former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo and African Union Commissioner Rhoda Peace, Uhuru proposed that collectively, all states need to agree to streamline national plans and strategies to clearly align to the Malabo commitments and push for accountability through a continental agriculture performance score card.

“There is need to create a continental scorecard, to measure and track our progress against all of the commitments we agree to here in Nairobi, and those previously made through the Malabo and such other forums,” he reiterated.

Kenya to invest Sh20bn in agriculture over five years

In making the proposals, said his government has set aside $200million to support agriculture in Kenya in the next five years.

The funds will enable 150,000 young farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs gain access to markets, finance and insurance, improving access to modern machinery and other agriculture technology, and increasing value addition and agro-processing in our country.

Mr Kagame called for the improvement of the whole agriculture value chain – from farmers and marketers to processors and consumers.

“Governments and private sector should work together to make sure that the resources, priorities should be mapped out and everyone plays his part. When we get good results, everyone will be happy. African countries ought to view the agriculture sector not only as a sector in their economies but as the backbone of their economies and agent for transformation,” said Mr. Kagame.

“Technology is important and practical when applied to assist with something. Technology has brought about awareness and also increased the value of the output. Modernisation of agriculture is key. We have to make it much more than subsistence. By learning from past trends in the sector and avoiding repetition of old cycles, agriculture can undergo a revolution, increasing its productivity and impact on the continent. Let’s stop talking a lot about things and just do them. Let’s do more action and fewer speeches” added the President.

“We know what needs to be done. Let us just go ahead and do it. We need to link agriculture to other priority sectors; this way we will be able to fight hunger and provide jobs for hundreds of thousands of people.”

In June 2014, African leaders met in Malabo where they, among other actions, adopted the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods. This Declaration is framed around a half dozen key commitments to transform agriculture across the continent over the next decade.

Subsequently, according to the newly launched AGRA’s 2016 African Agriculture Status Report (AASR), “Progress towards an Agriculture Transformation of Sub-Saharan Africa, early adopters of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) goals have seen productivity on existing farmlands rise by 5.9 to 6.7 percent per year. This boost in turn helped spur a 4.3 percent average annual increase in overall GDP. Those later to the game achieved anywhere from a 3 to 5.7 percent growth in farm productivity and a 2.4 to 3.5 percent increase in GDP.

Meanwhile, countries that sat on the sidelines saw farm productivity rise by less than 3 percent and GDP rise by only 2.2 percent.