'Smallholder farmers hold key to food security in Africa'

African leaders have been urged to focus agriculture development efforts on smallholder farmers since they have the potential of ensuring food security on the continent.

President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr Kanayo F. Nwanze who made the admonishing at the 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week in Accra, noted that small farms accounted for eighty per cent of all farms in sub-Saharan Africa and contributed about ninety per cent of agricultural produce.

He said successful small farms could create vibrant rural economies with a range of non-farm enterprises, providing a variety of jobs, decent income and food security on the continent.

The 6th Africa Agriculture Science Week is intended to create an open space for networking and exchange of information and knowledge on agricultural innovations and on topical issues with a bearing on agricultural research and development.

The one week event is on the theme “Africa feeding Africa through Agricultural Science and Innovation”.

The event, organized by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), brought together representatives of FARA’s constituents including African and non-African institutions involved in African agricultural research and development.

Delivering the keynote address, Dr Nwanze recalled the early sixties and seventies when Africa was the leading producer and exporter of major foods and cash crops as a result of governments’ allocation of about 20 per cent of its national budgets to agriculture.

“These were the years when India was described as a hopeless case; when people in China died of famine; Brazil was dependent on food aid and massive food imports and South Korea received assistance from some African countries,” he recounted.

“It felt like Africa was on the cusp of eliminating poverty and hunger, and taking its place in the world of research and development,” he added.

He, however, decried the stagnation that the continent was facing currently in the agricultural sector, noting that, “Today, it seems that while much of the world has moved forward, Africa has moved backward.”

He attributed the sudden decline to the years of under-investment, the ill-advised structural adjustments in the sector, lack of funding to agriculture, to universities and to research centres which were engaged in agricultural development on the continent.

With over 35 years in focusing on poverty reduction through agriculture, rural development and research, Dr Nwanze challenged African leaders to take the many opportunities that modern day agriculture presented to the continent.

He noted that Africa has the largest share of the world’s uncultivated land with rain-fed crop potential, adding that the interest of foreign investors to capitalize on the untapped potential of the continent’s fertile lands needed to be a source of worry to nations.

“Unlike many other parts of the world, in Africa there is room for agriculture to expand. Demand exists and is growing, not only for raw, primary produce but also higher-end food products…Many African countries are doing well economically with GDP growth rates above five per cent; new oil finds across the continent; and an abundance of mineral wealth. So indeed, we do not lack the resources to support agriculture and agricultural research,” he said.

“But in order for agriculture to yield the greatest returns for Africa, development efforts must focus on the smallholder farming sector,” Dr Nwanze noted.

He said by simply providing smallholders with fertilizers, improved seed and access to irrigation was not enough to ensure food and nutrition security, rather, the development of right policies, investment in rural infrastructure and access to land and local, national regional markets, governments would experience the profound impact that the sector had on eradicating poverty and hunger.

“Farmers need processing and safe storage facilities so they are not forced to watch their harvested crops be eaten by pests or spoil in uninsulated sheds. Farmers need roads that are not only paved but able to withstand more frequent and extreme weather. They need access to rural financial services so they too can invest in their agricultural businesses. And they need reliable access to electricity and clean water, as well as links to markets and information” he urged.

Dr Nwanze also admonished governments to focus agriculture research and development efforts to respond to the reality of the ground.

“We must reposition research and development so that it is research for development. This means measuring our results not by higher yields alone but by reduced poverty, improved nutrition, cohesive societies and healthy ecosystems. In short, it must be inclusive,” he said.

Notwithstanding the challenges, Dr Nwaze commended some of the developments that have been made; such as NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) which promises to strengthen food production and security.

Opening the event, Vice President of Ghana, Paa Kwesi Amissah-Arthur commended FARA for providing the forum for networking information exchange among African agricultural scientists and researcher.

He noted that the vast portions of land, a young and energetic population and an increasing awareness of the potential of agriculture among policy makers were an attestation that Africa had the potential to ensure food security and enhance economic growth.

He therefore, emphasized the need for scientific research and the application of scientific methods and sustainable technologies, innovation and policies in the agriculture sector.

Mr Amissah-Arthur, therefore, welcomed the forum by FARA to discuss the challenges facing Africa in the agriculture sector while proposing solutions by providing innovative mechanisms for sustaining the sector.

Click the link to read the full statement by Dr Kanayo Nwaze

Jasmine Arku/Graphic.com.gh/Ghana