Agriculture sector players in Africa converged in Lusaka this week with a call to allow private sector active participation in agriculture driven by harmonised policies and legislations to reverse sector losses spurred by climate change and other headwinds.
During the launch of the African Fertiliser and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP)-Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA)-regional Public-Public-Private Dialogue series on the future of the fertilizer and Agro Inputs in Africa, the players also demand the actualization of the Malabo declaration of 2014 demanding all countries to allocate 10% budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector and ensure food security.
In 2014-African leaders during the Malabo meeting under the African Union committed to provide effective leadership for the attainment of specific goals by the year 2025.
These included ending hunger, tripling intra-African trade in agricultural goods and services, enhancing resilience of the sector from external shocks.
It was further noted that hunger and malnutrition be overcome as they remain major causes of poverty and underdevelopment in Africa by causing poor health, low levels of energy, and mental impairment.
All these factors, the meeting noted, led to low productivity and low educational attainment all of which can in turn lead to even greater hunger and malnutrition which need to be resolved through sustained policies and legislations, among other resolutions.
Speaking on the sidelines of the dialogue meeting in Lusaka, themed: “The future of fertilizer and agro inputs in Africa” Richard Mkandawire, Director, Africa Secretariat Alliance for African Partnership (AAP) challenged the leadership not to renege on the pledge made in 2014.
There is a clarion call to ensure food security was sustained through the 10% budget resource provisions and avert food insecurity.
Regretting the oversight in most countries in the aftermath-with allocations averaging 3-7 %, Professor Mkandawire warned against the ‘deliberate oversight’ as it threatened Africa’s food security.
There is an urgent need to initiate deliberate policies and bankable projects to promote fertilizer and availability of other inputs, seed included to ensure sector emancipation through the private sector.
“Our leaders should show commitment towards ensuring the pledged 10% budgetary allocation was fulfilled, it should not be an afterthought, the commitment must be actualized,” he said.
Somalia is one of Africa’s worst hit areas and is experiencing the worst drought in 40 years with 7.8 million people experiencing acute food insecurity with the UN reporting that, between January and June 2022, at least 200 children have already died as a result of malnutrition.
The World Bank, notes with concern, how the impacts of climate change continue to intensify and global shocks upend business as usual leaving Sub-Saharan Africa to feel the brunt.
The catastrophe, coined “the perfect storm” – a food, fuel, and fertilizer crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, debt, the scarring effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring inflation, rising debt, and extreme weather have heightened Africa’s vulnerability.
It estimates that at least one in five Africans goes to bed hungry and an estimated 140 million people in Africa face acute food insecurity, it reports, citing the 2022 Global Report on Food Crises 2022 Mid-Year Update.
Professor Mkandawire proposes the setting of a Multi-Donor-Africa Trust Fund- a resource pool-supported and co-financed by African leaders to help reverse the losses in the agriculture sector.
He called for sustainable policies and legislations that support the involvement of the private sector in driving agricultural growth while cost sharing the revival of the sector marred by high costs in inputs that has dwarfed teh sector.
“Ultimately, we need to join hands with donors and must be fully supported by our heads of states to promote the agriculture sector, and this will help us promote the African voice in all policies and decisions we make in promoting the sector’s growth”
ACTESA managing director Dr. John Mukuka has attributed the rising prices of fertilisers to over 150% to the surging Russia-Ukraine war-forcing most African farmers to face challenges in accessing affordable inputs.
Accessibility, availability and affordability of fertilizer in the 21-Comesa member states remains a paltry 15% which has affected the production of most foods, chiefly maize. Cereal yields in the Comesa region have slumped to an average 1.5 metric tons per hectare against global cereal of five metric tons per hectare.
There is urgent need for legislation to harmonise cross-border trade among member states in Comesa noting that various Non-Tariff Barriers have contributed to the low uptake of the inputs, with a call for the promotion of smart agriculture to bolster production and reduce Post Harvest Losses.
Comesa director for Industry and agriculture division, Providence Muvubi called for sustained investment in agriculture and in social and economic infrastructure to enhance a vibrant and sustainable agricultural and rural development in the region and help improve the sector.
“There is a need to improve agricultural production and productivity through mechanization by availing the required inputs including improved seed and fertiliser,” she said.
She regretted the low availability of the fertiliser inputs averaging 22/5% per hectare in Sub Saharan Africa as compared to the rest of the world-citing Europe that uses 157 kilograms per hectare of land, spurred by the high cost, low supply and the lack of production infrastructure.
AFAP, founded in 2012 traces its roots as an organization to the 2006 African Fertiliser summit held in Abuja. It has since evolved into a dynamic and marketing leading social enterprise and service provider to an array of clients and from partners.
It primarily focuses on the design and implementation of sustainable developmental projects that support policy and regulatory reform and capacity development.
The AFAP Regional Public Private dialogue series will be convened in four regions (Sub-Saharan, East, West, and Northern Africa) between December 2022 and March 2023.
The AFAP PPDs, arguably seek to identify and resolve policy and regulatory constraints to the commercial supply of fertilizer in African countries.
