UNECA Executive Secretary calls for Agriculture Revolution in Africa

Carlos Lopes

THE Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) opened  the AU Executive Council’s 24th Ordinary Session held from 27-28th January with a call for an “African agricultural revolution.” In a statement to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs comprising the Council, Mr. Carlos Lopes said, “Over US 15 billion has been spent in agricultural aid in Africa over the last two decades and we still have not been able to deal with basic malnutrition.”
He noted that recent estimates by ECA and its partners show that African countries stand to lose between 2 to 16 per cent of GDP due to stunting of children as a result of malnutrition and stated that Africa’s agricultural transformation model “must capitalize on our strengths and resources whilst taking advantage of new advances in science and leapfrogging obsolete technology.”
“We are near the threshold of what is required to push poverty down. Predictions of 6% growth this year means we need one extra percent to attain the famous 7% that will turn our fortunes around,” urged Lopes.
He presented a number of proposals, urging the Ministers to re-emphasize strategies and policies for structural agricultural transformation, in particular, around agribusiness.
“Taking into account the integrated approach to the economic, social and environmental dimensions, we need to focus on food, land, water, forest security, bio energy resources, urban-rural as well as forward and backward linkages between agriculture and other evolving sectors of the African economies,” he stated.
The Executive Secretary told the Council that while recognizing Africa’s industrialization must be commodity-based, “we need to make the case that this is the way to redirect the planet’s climate change concerns,” and stressed that value addition should take place close to where the resources are, thereby reducing large carbon footprints that come with transporting commodities over wide distances for processing.  “African producers must become price makers and not price takers,” he added.
He proposed the need to redefine industrial policy to avoid a blueprint approach based on predefined interventions. “It must instead be embedded in the private sector and must generate processes and procedures that can understand and address to the ever-changing needs of industry.”
Calling on Ministers to learn from import substitution of Latin America and export-driven strategies in parts of Asia, he said, “Ours should be an industrialization that looks into our assets, commodities and African growing market, and maximize the links with the agricultural sector.”
He also noted the need to retain the opportunities presented to Africa for green growth as they offer an array of investment opportunities.
“With the largest reservoir of unused arable land, Africa is the natural leader in a food insufficient world,” he said and noted that not being locked to any technology preferences also allows the leapfrogging to a green and clean energy, boosted by the best potential in this area in the world.
Mr. Lopes urged the ministers to remain firm against unfair trade policies and protocols and cited agricultural subsidies in developed countries, which said, “continue to distort international commodity markets and lead to dumping, depressing prices and making it unprofitable for African small holder farmers.”
For her part, the Chairperson of the African Union Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission said that the AU Commission views agriculture as a critical tool in not only achieving food security, but also for driving the continent’s development and prosperity.
“While developing agriculture, the AUC will take special measures to ensure that women, who are the largest part of the agricultural work force and food producers, have access to training and capital, and are supported to form cooperatives, marketing structures and agribusinesses,” she said.
Also addressing the opening was Ato Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Ethiopian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Chairperson of the Executive Council of the African Union, who described the situation in South Sudan and the Central African Republic as “very alarming” and said there is no justification for the continuation of the crises in both places even for a day.
He congratulated the Government and the opposition in South Sudan for signing the agreements on the cessation of hostilities and the question of detainees.

By ROSE ATHUMANI