BY MENGESHA AMARE
African countries have these days been determined to bring about real change in economic, social, cultural and even political arenas via transformation. They have also been highly endeavoring to renovate the agriculture sector in their respective territories thereby being triumphant over poverty, backwardness, conflict-oriented and other manifestations of under civilization from which they are suffering still.
Without a shadow of doubt, Africa is a rural continent and agriculture is extremely important as the majority of its population has highly depended on this soil-oriented means of economic achievement. African leaders convened in Addis Ababa, the seat of their commission and discussed a range of issues revolving around African Affairs. Of the myriads of concerns the leaders deliberated on is the issue of agriculture, the mainstay of continent’s economy.
One of the mechanisms on which the leaders have focused is Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP), a policy framework for agricultural transformation, wealth creation, and food security, among others. Ending hunger on the continent and tripling inter-Africa trade regarding agricultural goods have been fueled by catalyzing and facilitating the coordination of regional and crosscutting platforms of regional nature. Yes, Africa’s own firm commitment to boost agriculture needs to be taken as a weapon to make the background of re-emerging international recognition stating that funding agriculture is vital for sustainable development. No. Africa’s being aid dependent as opposed to its endowment with untapped resources has to be reined somewhere and sometime in short.
Cognizant of the fact that Africa is now in a position to create wealth tantamount to its unexploited natural resources and capable human labor, this writer asked Solomon Mola, an agricultural expert gradated in Agricultural Economics to seek professional detail regarding the issue under discussion. He said, “Agricultural transformation has to be prioritized and provided with coordination of regional packages and has to be adopted as a regional coordination and harmonization framework to accelerate achievement of CAADP goals as the latter serves as a central instrument to assemble financial, institutional and technical support required to drive agricultural transformation.
As to Solomon, CAADP is instrumental in inspiring African agricultural research institutions, farmers, and the private sector whose contribution is great in terms of bringing about remarkable change in agricultural development. It is also about boosting investment to stimulate growth in agriculture. “The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) is an agenda 2063 continental initiative aiming at helping African countries to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty by raising economic growth through agriculture-led development,” he added.
He said African governments agreed to allocate at least 10% of national budgets to agriculture and rural development, and to achieve agricultural growth rates of at least 6% per annum through CAADP. Underlying these investment commitments are targets for reducing poverty and malnutrition, increasing productivity and farm incomes, and improving the sustainability of agricultural production and use of natural resources. He further said that CAADP also supports countries to enhance resilience to climate variability through development of disaster preparedness policies and strategies, early warning response systems and social safety nets.
According to Solomon, CAADP has four priority areas: encompassing areas under sustainable land management and reliable water control systems, improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for market access, increasing food supply, reducing hunger, and improving responses to food emergency crises as well as enlightening agriculture research, technology dissemination and adoption. He further elucidated that adaptation to climate change in agricultural development in Africa and environment in the eyes of homegrown facets is highly focused as it would be instrumental in reinvigorating Africa’s agricultural development.
As to him, the CAADP has been serving as the framework for action for agricultural transformation across Africa since 2003.As an African Union initiative, the framework supports member states in increasing investment and productivity in the agricultural sector, and its agenda for adaptation to climate change is successfully implemented. According to the expert, adaptation to climate change would help secure a productive and climate-resilient agricultural sector in Africa.
Needless to state, a programme on agriculture must remain living and open to continuing improvement and also be open to interpretation for each of Africa’s sub-regions in order to best address that continent’s diversity. “The fundamental mutually reinforcing pillars on which Africa’s agriculture, such as food security and trade balance, need to be prioritized as snowballing food supply and reducing hunger is the call of the era,” he said.
It is well recognized that Africa has so far lagged behind all other regions in terms of farm productivity levels with depressed crop and livestock yields, and limited use of irrigation and other inputs. However, it is now high time for accessing improved technology and transforming agriculture since Africa can well exploit its agricultural potential and infrastructure capacity thereby coming up with remarkable achievements regarding the sector. According to Solomon, the continent has to capitalize on rehabilitating and retaining of soil moisture via keeping farmlands and other surrounding ecology green as it is of significantly important in ensuring economically viable agricultural production and productivity.
Here the very important thing that has to be taken into serious account, he said, is every activity carried out on the agriculture sector has to be compatible with the requirements for an agricultural production process respecting natural conditions and the environment. This move would be of paramount importance in optimizing agricultural production. Buttressing agricultural production and enhancing environmental protection and biodiversity, conserving energy, promoting more efficient use of resources as well as protecting soil health and resilience are quite inseparable trajectories with a view to bringing about the desired outcome at all.
“CAADP also would be of instrumental in providing the foundation on which a healthy, consumer based agriculture and food production system can be developed for the entire continent and beyond,” he underlined. The environmental advantages of CAADP, including soil and water conservation, landscape protection, mitigation of flooding, reduced pollution of waterways from sediments and particular bound phosphorus, and improved drought proofing, will be increasingly important in the future, he applauded.
He said, “Taking the variation in African natural features, climates, ecology, cultures, and traditions, and the push-pull effects of African Union policy and programs into account, the future of the platform needs to be well nurtured and put into practice. Truly speaking, yield performance and stability, operating costs, environmental policies and programs, and climate change will likely be the major driving forces defining the direction and for the extension of CAADP in Africa.”
He also said that the platform represents an invaluable shift toward development that is fully owned and led by African governments. It reflects African governments’ recognition of agriculture as central for the alleviation of poverty and hunger and hence for reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In a nutshell, a framework rather than a roadmap, CAADP is composed of a set of key principles and targets for achieving the desired goals set by African countries. It is at once flexible enough to accommodate the need for approaches toward poverty and hunger alleviation to be tailored to regional and national contexts, and broad enough to address policy and capacity issues across the entire agricultural sector and across the entire African continent.
It is also high time for Africa to firmly emancipate itself from aid dependent and fund-oriented livelihood. The continent must exploit its untapped resource, virgin land, inexpensive human power and doable homegrown economic trajectory. Not only is Africa expected to capitalize on agriculture and environment but it needs to embark on investment, technology, infrastructure development and regional integration to seize the ladder of success it has long been aspiring to attain.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2023
