Africa should make the most of its fertile soils

Delegates attending a meeting organised by the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA) in Kigali this week pointed out that the majority of the countries on the continent were yet to make significant investments in the agriculture sector, contrary to the spirit and letter of the 2003 Maputo Declaration.Needless to say most of the African countries are endowed with fertile soils which, if well utilised, could help propel the continent to unprecedented levels of economic growth and sustainable development. Unfortunately, only a handful of countries commit 10 per cent of their budgets to the sector– as per the Maputo Declaration – effectively undermining their own efforts to eradicate famine and malnutrition among their populations, let alone winning the poverty war.The truth is that Africa can feed the whole world, but not until it has undertaken appropriate, decisive measures to not only increase production and to ensure food security, but also to maximise its agricultural potential by graduating from food importers to exporters.The excuse has always been that African governments have numerous competing priorities, which make it difficult to allocate significant resources to agriculture, even as the sector employs more than 80 per cent of the population in most of the countries.African governments have virtually left the sector in the hands of unskilled, subsistence farmers, thus condemning their people and nations to perpetual poverty and dependency.In recent years, most of the governments on the continent have made unfulfilled promises to support smallholder farmers and to transform the sector through application of modern technologies and increased funding. In truth, their actions on the ground have often come short of the professed intentions, thwarting a great opportunity in the process.If Africa is to leap out of poverty trap and realise its full potential, it must right the past wrongs and embrace a first-things-first approach to economic development. Agriculture is right up there among the top priorities.

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Africa should make the most of its fertile soils