Annan Leads Initiative To Boost Agricultural Productivity in Africa
The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Monday pledged to increase agricultural productivity of the continents small farmers and lift tens of millions of people out of extreme poverty in the near future.
In Nairobi, AGRA chairman Kofi Annan said the organization has invested 150 million US dollar to support the development of new seed systems better equipped to cope with the harsh African climate.
– Africa is the only region where overall food security and livelihoods are deteriorating. We will reverse this trend by working to create an environmentally sustainable, uniquely African Green Revolution. When our poorest farmers finally prosper, all of Africa will benefit, Annan said.
The former UN Secretary General who has been on a fact finding mission in Western Kenya called on African leaders to chart a new path for prosperity by spurring the continents agricultural development and also to seek help to reverse decades of relative neglect in funding for agricultural development for Africa.
Annan said the Nairobi-based group hoped to replicate farm changes that boosted agricultural productivity in countries like India in the 1970s. He said the group would focus on helping Africas millions of small-scale farmers fight poverty and boost productivity by providing stronger and more resistant seed varieties, and improving access to farm inputs and markets.
Annan, who avoided the controversial debate of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), said AGRA would stick to the conventional methods of improving seed resistance.
Annan said African scientists who had developed hybrid crops suitable for various ecological zones should be supported in their efforts to increase agricultural yields in the continent.
To enable the organization succeed in its quest, Annan urged governments to improve infrastructure and formulate appropriate agricultural policies to benefit millions of small-scale farmers who make up a large chunk of the continent’s rural population.
Kilde: www.worldbank.org
