Curtailing Africa’s Hunger

Story By Felix Dela Klutse

Africa has the singular and tragic distinction of being the only place in the world where overall food security and livelihoods are deteriorating.

According to statistics from Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the number of Africans living below the poverty line ($1 per day) has increased by 50 per cent, over the last 15 years.

It is estimated that one-third of the continent’s population suffers from hunger and in the past five years alone, the number of underweight children in Africa has risen by about 12 per cent, AGRA added.

A root cause of this entrenched and deepening poverty is the fact that millions of small-scale farmers, majority of them who are women, cannot grow enough food to sustain their families, their communities, or their countries.

The challenges confronting Africa’s small-scale farmers start in the field and extend across the entire agricultural value chain. Most African farmers can neither access nor afford basic farm inputs.

High quality seeds, organic and mineral fertilisers needed to replenish depleted soils, and simple water management systems that allow farmers to deal with erratic rains are largely beyond their reach.
Furthermore, good roads are scarce, while strong market and finance systems are lacking.

Research from AGRA shows that since the early 1960s, Africa has gone from being a net food exporter to a net importer of food. Per capita food production has declined as the population growth rate of three per cent a year has outstripped the two per cent annual increase in food production.

In most modern economies, no lasting success has been achieved without first building a strong agricultural foundation.

Many global and national leaders have recognized the critical importance of agriculture to Africa’s development.
In his tenure as Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan called for a new “uniquely African Green Revolution that will help the continent in its quest for dignity and peace.”

Due to the afore-mentioned challenges, African leaders are calling for a revolution in agriculture that will enable the continent’s small-scale farmers to prosper. It is believed that through dramatic improvements to agriculture, prosperity can replace poverty in Africa.
To break the cycles of hunger and poverty in Africa, AGRA is responding to the cry of African leaders by building African-led partnerships that draw upon the knowledge of Africa’s farmers, apply the lessons of modern agriculture, and work across the agricultural value chain, while rigorously monitoring the impact in terms of equity and environmental sustainability.

Most importantly, AGRA believes strongly that small-scale farmers in Africa needed the support of government policies that promote sustainable and productive African agriculture and that ensure access to markets.

The African Union’s commitment to supporting its farmers by providing them not just with soil nutrients, but also with better transport, credit, seeds, irrigation facilities, extension services, and market information is also expected to boost agricultural production on the continent.

Today, ending the poverty and hunger of hundreds of millions of Africans requires a clear focus on improving the lives of small-scale farmers.

E-mail: felixklutse@yahoo.com
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