Windhoek
Minister of Agriculture, Water and Forestry John Motorwa will take centre stage today with the continent’s agricultural leaders during the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) biennial regional conference, which takes place in Abidjan, Ivory Coast this week.
The conference, which starts today and will run till Friday, is being held under the theme ”Transforming African agri-food systems for inclusive growth and shared prosperity.”
Mutorwa will be assisted by Deputy Permanent Secretary Sophia Kasheeta. Namibia is regarded as one of the frontrunners in achieving goals in line with Vision 2030 and the international community’s adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
Both agendas have positioned the food and agriculture sector as a catalyst for achieving inclusive global growth and eradicating poverty and hunger.
Director-General of the FAO José Graziano da Silva says Africa is well placed to attain the universal set of goals. African heads of state and government have courageously agreed to eradicate hunger by the year 2025. “This is a great challenge – as Africa has aimed higher – but also a great opportunity. The next few years will thus be crucial for Africa if we are to go down in history as the Zero Hunger Generation,” he said.
“First, it draws on the momentum created by the 2014 Malabo Declaration through which African leaders called for a fundamental shift in the continent’s agricultural and rural development, in line with the aspirations of Africa’s Agenda 2063, which emphasises unity, self-reliance, integration and solidarity. Second, FAO’s regional conference also comes hard on the heels of the recent COP 21 climate change agreement, which presents Africa with numerous opportunities to develop its climate adaptation and mitigation responses,” he further observed yesterday.
Namibia is feeling the impacts of climate change, including an increase in the severity and frequency of droughts, floods and other extreme weather events. A clear example of this is the current El Niño with its devastating effects on the livelihoods of farmers and agro-pastoralists in eastern and southern Africa. Climate change will also increase the risk of transboundary plant and animal pests and diseases, which will need control and adequate responses. Last year Namibia experienced an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the northern communal areas.
It is expected that more than half of the projected global population growth between now and 2050 will occur in Africa – adding 1.3 billion people to the continent’s population.
Da Silva says African agriculture markets are projected to surpass US$1 trillion (some N$16 trillion) over the next thirty years. These demographic and economic trends represent both a huge opportunity and a challenge for African agriculture and the agri-food system.
FAO says by investing in African food systems “on the way we produce, collect, store, transport, process, package and distribute foods, we can produce the food Africans eat and create a dynamic sector that generates jobs and livelihoods for our youth”.
According to Da Silva, African governments will need to re-engage in the systematic implementation of sound rural development policies and programmes that maximise opportunities for young people and family farmers, strengthen their capacities and facilitate access to sustainable technologies and productive resources needed to drive broad-based growth in the agricultural sector and rural economy.
Africa currently imports US$50 billion in food. Persistent food import dependency remains a serious problem for many African countries, especially as high food import bills take money away from other important development agendas without resolving food insecurity.
Da Silva says Africa has the potential to be not only self-sufficient but also a major food exporter to the rest of the world.
“To feed itself, Africa needs to build on its regional integration potential. There is significant scope for expanding intra-regional trade of strategic food commodities. Strong sub-regional institutions and consistent, predictable trade policies and regulations are critical elements for increased movement of goods between countries.
“Thanks to the impetus provided by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, it is now widely agreed that enhancing intra-African trade holds the key in overcoming Africa’s food import dependency and food insecurity problems.”
Da Silva says actions taken by African leaders are essential, and so are actions by the rest of the world. Sustained political commitment at the highest level is necessary so that any growth recorded on the continent reaches the poorest and the most vulnerable.
“South-South Cooperation provides an important way through which developing countries can help each other to bridge the technological gap that exists in food production, agriculture and the rural economy in general.
“Eradicating hunger by the year 2025, and achieving the SDGs and Namibia’s Vision 2030 by 2030, require targeted and innovative interventions, including food, health and sanitation assistance, social protection, education and training and improved infrastructure – all with a special focus on the most vulnerable.”
This will create the “virtuous cycle” of local development, leading to food security and improved nutrition.
This can happen only if women in Africa are empowered and put at the front line of development efforts – then Africa can be freed from hunger and also obtain better nutrition.