Agriculture is business, not a way of life

ABSALOM SHIGWEDHA THE president of the Abidjan based African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, says agriculture in Africa should not be a way of life but a business that should work for both large and small farmers.

He said Africa must not be at the bottom of production but should process and add value to its agricultural produce in order to be competitive in the global market.

Adenisa made these remarks at a panel of African leaders entitled Grow Africa Investment Forum, which was held as part of the World Economic Forum Africa, in Kigali, Rwanda from the 11 13 May.

The forum underscored the importance of agriculture and agri business in Africa in unlocking shared prosperity for the continent.

To achieve this, Adesina said, investment in agriculture and related value chains is critical.

“We have to sort out infrastructure – irrigation as only 3% of arable land in Africa is irrigated, ” he told the gathering.

Rwanda’s finance minister Claver Gatete, said public partnerships with the private sector are needed to transform agriculture and agri business in Africa.

“Government financing alone will not be sufficient. Agriculture has an impact in industry, manufacturing, the private service sector and many others and therefore, the need for all to pull together, ” he said.

Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyata said there was need for policies and regulations which guard against systems and processes that deny farmers the opportunity to reap maximum benefits for their produce.

He gave an example of coffee producers in Kenya who sell their produce through middlemen and in the end earning poorly for their crops.

“We need to remove the middlemen linkages to enable the farmer to access the final buyer and determine prices for their crops, ” said Kenyata.

The African Development Bank has announced that it would help finance women in agriculture under its new Affirmative Finance Action for Women Initiative.

The US$3 billion programme seeks to support women in agriculture and agri business.

The notion that the only way Africa can deliver tangible results from agriculture is to mobilise its own human and financial resources and invest more in agricultural activities, has been gaining momentum in recent years.

This has led to the establishment of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Partnership (CAADP), an agricultural programe under Nepad, which is a programe for the African Union.

CAADP’s goal is to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture. It was established by the AU Assembly in 2003.

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