Medium size is just right: ADB

AFRICAN Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka says medium-sized farms are the engine for agricultural growth in Africa and given their position and potential, they merit considerable investment. Agriculture campaigners say while they support such an approach, investors must not overlook small-scale farmers.

‘Those companies that are big enough can already raise their own money for agri-business, and very small farmers can turn to micro-credit,’ Kaberuka said at a press conference at last weekÕs AfDB annual meeting in Dakar, Senegal. ‘What we are missing are farmers in the middle, to really add value.’Early this year, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) launched the African Agriculture Fund, aiming to raise US$674 million to help medium-sized agricultural companies and co-operatives modernise, improve management and diversify agricultural production. Targeting small farmers with assistance would help them grow, he said. Experts are concerned, however, that foreign countries like China and Middle Eastern governments are leasing huge tracts of land in Africa to produce food, which they export back home to feed their own people.