Africa's farms could feed the world

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So says the latest Africa Progress Report (APR), a frank annual assessment compiled by the Africa Progress Panel (APP), an advocacy group chaired by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan

"[African farmers] are being told to box with their hands tied behind their backs," says Annan in his foreword to the report. "Few constituencies have received more bad advice from development partners and governments than African farmers. And few of the world's farmers are as poorly served by infrastructure, financial systems, scientific innovation or access to markets."

The results are reflected in low productivity levels: cereal yields are well under half the world average. The continent produced 8% of world agricultural exports 50 years ago. That has fallen to 2%. Africa now exports less food than Thailand and spends US35bn/year importing food.

The report says with global food demand expected to double by 2050, Africa - which has 60% of the world's uncultivated arable land and a youthful workforce - has a big growth opportunity, one it has yet to grasp.

Part of the problem is oil and gas finds in many African countries have led to them neglecting agriculture. Nigeria, for instance, swung from being a net food exporter to importing food worth $10bn/year over the past two decades before intervening.

"Nigeria's experience is a wake-up call for other African countries with new oil and gas discoveries," says APP executive director Caroline Kende Robb "They should be using these new resources to stimulate the growth of agriculture, not as an excuse to drop the focus on agriculture."

Though African countries have raised economic growth rates over the past 15 years APP doesn't feel this is cause for exuberance: "For the first time in a generation, poverty is falling but . far too slowly. The benefits of growth are trickling down to Africa's poor but at a desperately slow pace."

The best way to change this is to ignite "green" and "blue" revolutions in food and fishing respectively, directed by homegrown innovations and informed by lessons from other regions. This could have huge multiplier effects on employment but achieving it is going to be "an uphill battle".

The problem is not that African farmers are resistant to change, says Kende Robb; rather there's a lack of political will and technical competence in governments to implement the right reforms.

Making the most progress are Ethiopia and Rwanda. "In both cases there was a decision from the very top to focus government policies on raising agricultural productivity," says Kende Robb. "In both countries this led to a drop in poverty."

The APP believes it is possible to double Africa's agricultural productivity within five years but it would require governments to act on their pledge to spend at least 10% of budget resources on agriculture.

In addition, Africa needs to access scientific innovations in drought-resistant seeds, higher-yielding varieties and in water, fertiliser and pesticide usage that transformed agriculture elsewhere. But governments must create the right market conditions by cutting regional trade barriers, eliminating transport cartels and developing physical and marketing infrastructure.

Curbing the plunder of Africa's fishing and timber resources is also essential. The artisanal fishermen of West Africa have been pushed to the brink of destitution by illegal and unregulated fishing, which the report estimates costs West Africa $1,3bn in lost revenue a year. The same is true of illegal logging in the forests of West and Central Africa.

Last year's APR showed how illicit financial flows cost Africa more than it receives in either international aid or foreign investment. This year's report also stresses the obligations of the international community, noting many illegal fishing trawlers are flagged to China, Russia and the EU.

The 2013 report gave impetus to efforts to change mining codes in Kenya and Guinea. Kende Robb aims to build on that success to drive home this year's message: "Africa isn't a poor continent, it's a continent of huge resources. The challenge is to manage them wisely."

Source: Financial Mail