Africa’s salvation lies in small-scale farmers

While in Ghana recently, US President Barack Obama highlighted the importance of good governance in building strong societies, and underscored the need for agricultural development to trigger economic growth.

His words ring true across the continent, where the agriculture sector has languished for decades, despite its critical role in food security and the economy.

Seven out of every 10 Africans gain their livelihoods through farming. They are smallholders, and they produce the majority of Africa’s food, but with minimal resources and little support.

Agriculture receives, on average, just four to five per cent of national budgets. And the yields of our smallholder farmers are one-quarter the global average.

The main problem is not lack of technology. It is that national governments have not invested enough in basic programs that will turn smallholder farming into a viable economic enterprise.

In Africa, government accountability means nothing without the provision of comprehensive support to smallholder farmers, most of whom are women.

This includes a wide range of government investments — building grain storage and roads; improving extension services to train farmers; investing in agricultural research; supporting farmers so they can access basic inputs and creating the conditions for new agricultural businesses and markets to grow and trade to flourish.

Why has all this not been done before? One reason is we have not been able to communicate well enough with policy makers, or to hold them to the consequences of their decisions or inaction. However, now there is momentum to do both in Africa, with support from our global partners.

We have seen major successes in Africa recently. First, there is Malawi, which doubled its spending on agriculture, and transformed itself from a net food importer to a net food exporter.

This change was spurred by a number of government programs, including ‘smart subsidies’ targeted at the poorest farmers, and investments in roads, grain storage, and irrigation.

And then there is Tanzania. The Minister for Agriculture, Steven Wasira, recently reported that smallholder farmers in the Southern Highlands have produced a record maize harvest in 2008/2009. This was critical to ensuring food security in a year of serious drought in a large part of the country.

The Minister attributed this success in part to its partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), whose integrated programs are increasing the availability of good seeds and fertilizers, unlocking affordable credit for farming, and opening new markets for smallholder farmers.

Inspired by such advances, including seven per cent annual national economic growth in Malawi, other African countries are following suit.

They are guided by Africa’s ambitious Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). But while political will by Africa’s leaders must be at the heart of our continent’s agricultural transformation, Africa cannot, and need not, go it alone.

At the G8 summit in Italy recently, the world’s wealthiest countries committed to mobilizing at least $20 billion over the next three years for sustainable agriculture development. The Obama administration, which pushed the proposal, is ready to spend $3.5 billion over several years.