Africa can farm its way out of poverty and hunger – if donors and governments keep their promises to invest more in the women farmers who grow most of its food, anti-poverty agency Action Aid said on Monday.
“With one in three Africans chronically hungry, food aid is not a solution. Investing in smallholder agriculture would end hunger for good and boost economic growth, yet unbelievably, even after the 2008 food crisis, donors and governments are still dragging their heels,” said Anne Jellema, ActionAid’s international policy director.
Action Aid said in a statement as part of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program, rich countries pledged half of the $251 billion total investment needed to revitalize farming on the continent would come through aid or private investment, amounting to $8.9 billion a year.
Although aid to African agriculture doubled from $1.05 billion in 2002 to $2.15 billion in 2007, this is still four times less than is needed.
Despite meeting its own financial commitments under CAADP and raising agricultural productivity to 15 percent of GDP, Rwanda is still short $300 million of the $800 million needed to underwrite its 2020 agricultural investment plan.
“The 1994 genocide left about 50% of children malnourished but in the past five years, Rwanda has made huge strides to achieving food security by supporting smallholders,” said Theresa Karugwiza, country director for ActionAid Rwanda.
“However, unless donors close the $300 million financing gap, they may not be able to stay the course,” added Jellema, calling on the donors to make their commitments clear before the end of the conference.
ActionAid also slated governments for failing to keep their promises to farmers. Only seven out of Africa’s 53 countries (including Rwanda) had spent 10 per cent of national budgets on agriculture by 2008, according to ActionAid’s assessment report, “Five out of ten ?” looking at progress towards the CAADP and African Union 10% target for agriculture.
“If donors send a clear signal that will fully back countries like Rwanda that are serious about fighting hunger, then we believe more governments will follow Rwanda’s lead in increasing agricultural spend to 10 per cent of national budgets,” said Bibiane Mbaye, ActionAid’s Policy Coordinator as the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) meeting that opened on Monday.
Mbaye also warned that both governments and donors need to shift attention to low-input, climate-resilient farming methods and tackling huge inequities in access to land, particularly for women.
Funding for home-grown agricultural research, geared towards improving productivity of smallholder farming in Africa through sustainable means, is an urgent and neglected need.
Source African Press Agency
How People Arrived Here:
- africa map clear, actionaid map africa, africa map clean, clear map of europe and africa, map of africa clear
