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From: hous <[log in to unmask]>
To: GAMBIA-L <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sat, Nov 10, 2012 12:50 am
Subject: AFRICA CAN FEED THE WORLD

How Africa could feed the world


By Olusegun Obasanjo, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Olusegun Obasanjo is a former president of Nigeria and a
member of the Africa Progress Panel, chaired by Kofi Annan. The views
expressed are the author’s own.

Images of starving children, epitomised in news coverage from Ethiopia
in the 1980s, have given Africa a reputation for famine that does an
injustice to the continent’s potential.

It’s true that a recent report by three U.N. agencies said nearly 239
million in Africa are hungry, a figure some 20 million higher than four
years ago. And recent crises in the Horn of Africa and Sahel certainly
highlight the desperate uncertainties of food supply for millions –
malnutrition still cuts deep scars into progress on health and
education.

But the Africa Progress Panel and many others believe that Africa has
the potential not only to feed itself, but also to become a major food
supplier for the rest of the world

Consider, for example, Africa’s agricultural land. According to an
influential recent analysis, Africa has around 600 million hectares of
uncultivated arable land, roughly 60 percent of the global total.

And on the land that is being used, outdated technologies and
techniques mean productivity is low. African cereal yields, for
example, are just over one-third of the developing world average and
have barely increased in 30 years. One major issue is that as much as
80 percent of Africa’s agriculture still depends on rain not irrigation.

So what should be done to increase agricultural productivity in Africa?

First, African and donor agricultural policies must focus on the
smallholder farmers. Some African governments see the efficiencies of
large scale commercial farming as a means to increase productivity. But
Africa cannot increase its food production, create jobs and reduce
poverty on the scale required without unlocking the potential of
smallholder agriculture.

In addition, Africa’s rapidly growing youth population makes job
creation an urgent matter for many of the continent’s governments.
Already, nearly two out of three Africans depend on agriculture for
their livelihoods.

And in countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya, agriculture is key to
reducing poverty. In these countries, agricultural growth has been
shown to reduce poverty twice as fast as any other sector.

Governments must invest in infrastructure that gives these smallholders
better access to markets, including storage facilities to keep produce
in good quality, and new and better roads. Governments must also invest
in research and development to help smallholder farmers access new
techniques and technologies such as drought resistant seeds. They
should encourage innovations in information and communication
technologies, which may also help to involve young Africans in the
sector.

Second, African government s must deal with the land grab issue, as
mentioned in an earlier article for this series by my fellow Panel
member Michel Camdessus.

Population growth, a burgeoning global middle class, and the search for
low-carbon energy sources mean that demand for food and biofuels has
shot through the roof. Spotting profit opportunity, foreign investors
are scrambling for a piece of the action. They rent land, use the
latest agricultural methods (plus precious water from nearby sources),
export the food, and make a fortune.

Africa has been at the epicentre of global land deals. Between 2000 and
2011, for example, Africa saw an estimated 948 land deals, covering 124
million hectares – an area larger than France, Germany, and the United
Kingdom combined. Many of these transactions involve countries along
the Nile and Niger rivers, whose water will be used to irrigate thirsty
agricultural schemes. Typically, foreign investors win concessions at
low rent and with extensive tax exemptions.

Contracts are often negotiated behind closed doors without consulting
affected communities. Indeed, many of these schemes have seen local
communities forcibly removed from their land.

Some deals have been complicated for investors, too. In Ethiopia, an
armed group ambushed workers from a Saudi-owned agribusiness project,
killing five. Analysts say the ambush in April 2012 was linked to the
project’s plan to use large amounts of precious water from the nearby
Alwero River, upon which thousands of people depend for their survival.

At the Africa Progress Panel, we support the combination of foreign
expertise with local knowledge to increase production, generate jobs,
and transfer technical know-how. But what Africa does not need, and
cannot afford, is the use of African land and water by foreign
investors who use Africa’s scarce resources to supply food and biofuels
to other countries. And for Africans, the benefits of large-scale land
acquisitions have been questionable.

Africa’s smallholder farmers need protection in such deals. The African
Union should develop a framework for managing foreign investment in
agriculture, and governments should assess large-scale land deals and
consider a moratorium pending legislation to protect smallholder
farmers.

Third, governments and others must help smallholder farmers manage risk
more effectively. Crises in the Horn of Africa and Sahel have
highlighted the risks faced by smallholder farmers, who are barely able
to feed themselves and their families as it is.

Governments and donors should provide cash or food that enables rural
producers to get through the difficult periods of drought, for example,
without compromising long-term productivity or withdrawing their
children from school. Governments and donors should help household
enterprises reduce their dependence on agriculture.

Fourth, we want to see the international community devote more money
and more effort to improving food security and nutrition in Africa, an
issue that goes to the heart of so many other development challenges.
By weakening a child’s resistance to disease, malnutrition is a major
contributor to child mortality. A global study in 2008 found that an
average one third of all child deaths were related to malnutrition.

The Panel welcome this year’s Camp David G-8 commitments to launch a
New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. This New Alliance aims to
lift 50 million people out of poverty over the next decade. And we will
be watching eagerly when the United Kingdom assumes presidency of the
G-8 next year.

Fifth, and finally, the international community should step up their
support for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Higher temperatures, increased water evaporation, less predictable
rainfall, increased water stress and an expansion of drought zones is
likely undermine production. Cassava and maize yields could fall by 15
percent and 30 percent respectively by 2050, for example. And research
by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) suggests
that climate change effects alone will push an additional 1 million
children into malnutrition by 2030.

At the Africa Progress Panel, we hope these risks and the enormous
opportunities of a growing global market will lead African governments
to invest in agriculture and raise productivity. We fear that such
risks could lead to a dramatic worsening of poverty and malnutrition
among vulnerable communities.

But while rich countries have been spending billions of dollars on
climate change adaptation, such as flood defenses, Africa has been
receiving peanuts.

One recent study for Tanzania concluded that an annual investment of
$100 million in adaptation for smallholders – encompassing support for
small-scale irrigation, terracing, rural roads and research – would
prevent annual losses of several hundreds of millions of dollars.

Consider that while the U.K. spends $1.2 billion annually on flood
defenses, African nations receive just $100 million to $200 million for
climate adaptation through the specialized multilateral funds created
for this purpose. This amounts to what Desmond Tutu has aptly described
as “adaptation apartheid.”

African leaders and their partners must all do more to shape the
continent’s mighty farming potential. One day Africa could feed the
world. But first it must feed itself.

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