Africa can feed the world – Kofi Annan

Agriculture still remains the mainstay of the African economy and has higher potential of feeding the world to reduce hunger, says Kofi Annan, Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

In a keynote address to the 34th session of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Governing Council in Rome, Italy, on February 19, 2011, the former UN Chief, said Africa can help achieve the needs of the hungry across the world.

“I want to set out a vision that is optimistic but achievable: where Africa can feed not only its own citizens but help meet the needs of the hungry across the world.”

Mr Annan added “It is a vision which requires us to transform agriculture on the continent by building on the progress already underway”.

If this is achieved, Kofi Annan said it will help transform the prospects for Africa.

Mr Annan said even though Africa has a long way to achieve this ambition, progress has being made across Africa in the last few years and that gives hope for the future.

He attributed some of this progress to creative thinking, effective partnerships, leadership from governments and the efforts of small-holder farmers who are helping drive the development of Africa’s agriculture.

“Partnering with the financial sector including IFAD, AGRA, for instance, has helped leverage $160 million in affordable loans to agriculture from commercial banks in Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Ghana and Tanzania”.

He however highlighted some of the challenges facing the agric sector in Africa citing lack of accessible credit and other financial services including crop insurance as a major setback.

According to Mr Annan, Africa must give priority to food crops and not cash crops adding “The market within Africa for staple food crops is estimated at $150 billion a year which far exceeds the revenue African countries receive for internationally traded cash crops like coffee, cocoa, tea, and cut-flowers”.

He urged the international community to “provide effective, efficient and equitable market access policies so that African countries can compete on a level playing field”.

Already the World Bank says rising food prices have driven an estimated 44 million people in developing countries into poverty.

“Since June 2010, global food prices have risen to dangerous 2008 levels and threaten tens of millions of poor people around the world” Robert Zoellick, World Bank President said in a release issued Tuesday February 15, 2011 and copied to ghanabusinessnews.com.

In order to curb this threat, Ghana’s Food and Agriculture Minister, Mr Kwesi Ahwoi in an interview with TV Africa, said the government has established the Buffer Stock Company that offers farmers the minimum guaranteed price at which it will take the farmer’s produce if the market refuses to buy at the normal reasonable market price.

This, he said, has contributed to the output of grain production by 6% with rice production up by 28.9 per cent, sorghum by 8 percent as well as 10 per cent increase of production in maize which has gone a long way to reduce higher food prices in Ghana.

Currently, Ghana is preparing a Bill ready to submit to parliament for approval which will set up the Agricultural Development Fund this year that can help farmers get loans to help the agri-business industry.

By Ekow Quandzie
ghanabusinessnews.com