Can Africa feed its people
Stes de
Necker
Africa frequently experiences food shortages, although its 900 million
farmers could feed the continent, as well as supplying other parts of the
world.
But for this to happen they need the support of politicians.
1. The good news first
African governments, donors and the United Nations have
rediscovered Africa’s agricultural sector. For almost two decades they
concentrated on urban industrialization. Agriculture was insignificant.
Politicians only woke up following fluctuations on raw
materials markets, coupled with a severe food crisis that began in 2008 and
subsequent famine-driven rebellions. As a result the German Development Aid
Ministry drew up strategy papers outlining a development policy that put the
spotlight on agriculture.
In Africa some 900
million people, that’s 90 percent of the total population, work in the
agricultural sector. It may not be a perfect comparison but who in Germany
What can Africa ’s
agricultural sector achieve?
Agriculture means life. Every year one in eight people
of the world’s population doesn’t have enough to eat. Most of those going
hungry live in South Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa. These figures are
alarming.
Can
Africa feed itself, and then at some point in the future even provide food for
a rapidly growing world?
More specifically, can Africa
in the medium-term feed itself and then become a food exporter? This is only possible
if local politicians and foreign donors work together.
2. But here comes the bad
news.
In many African countries, commitment to farming is no
more than lip-service. Conditions are lacking for farmers which would make it
possible for them not only to fulfil their own needs but also to produce a
surplus. Take Ethiopia Ethiopia
a. Leasing land
Even land leases are uncertain.
There is little incentive for farmers to invest in small
plots of land to act as erosion protection. Instead they use expensive packets
of seeds along with pesticides and herbicides, which in turn leach into the
soil, trapping them in a vicious cycle of poverty when harvests are lost and
debts increase.
b. Commerical African banks do
not give loans to farmers.
They cannot simply replace old wooden ploughs with
modern equipment that would in-turn increase income manyfold. Even in the 21st
Century many farmers are denied adequate access to markets, roads to the
nearest marketplace are impassable in the rainy season. Studies show that up to
50-percent of African farmers fresh produce rots on the way to market – an
unacceptable figure. And so the list goes on.
c. Industrialization in
Africa, not possible without agriculture
It won’t take much to increase the productivity of
farmers and in turn crop yields, says the DW report. Drip irrigation, crop
rotation, seed finishing and organic cultivation are just keywords.
In an attempt to avoid any misunderstandings, it’s not
about playing industrialization off against agriculture. But rather, one cannot
exist without the other.
Industrialization in Africa must be vigorously promoted
to ensure Ivorian cocoa beans are processed in Abidjan rather than Hamburg. At
the same time African countries and their donors must meet to agree on a
partnership for Africa ’s food productivity.
The chances for such are good. After the uprising in Tunisia in 2011, that first ousted politicians
then swept the winds of change across North Africa and the Arab world, Africa ’s decision makers have been warned.
Hunger has become a political tool of the masses.
Europe’s politician’s have seen what desperation in
Lampedusa and Malta’s refugee camps can trigger. The time has come for a new
deal for African agriculture.
