Joseph Coomson
4 August 2008
Kofi A. Annan, Chairman of the Board of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), on Friday concluded three days of meetings and field visits with farmers, crop scientists, and other key partners in Ghana. Former UN Secretary-General Annan heard first-hand some of the challenges facing many of the regions' farmers, as well as progress being made towards boosting production for West Africa's smallholder farmers.
Per capita food production has declined in Africa for the past 30 years, and farm productivity is just one-quarter the global average.
]Ghana, with a population of 21 million people, is among the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa, to reach and even surpass the 1996 World Food Summit goal, to reduce by half the number of undernourished people by 2015. However, the current global food crisis and the rising costs of fertilizer and fuel, raised concerns for Annan. Increasing prices, exacerbated by floods and droughts, pose an additional challenge for farmers in Ghana, and throughout West Africa.
"The high costs of food have made everyone aware of the fact that agriculture has been ignored by governments, and donors for far too long," said Annan. "It's good to see that this trend is reversing, but these new investments must yield results. We are encouraging everyone to work in partnership, and to be as creative as possible in finding solutions."
AGRA is a partnership-based organization, which strives to help millions of small-scale farmers across Africa, to rapidly and sustainably increase their productivity, and lift them out of poverty. More than 200 million people in Africa are chronically hungry, and 33 million children under age five malnourished. With offices in Nairobi and Accra, AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the agricultural value chain-from seeds, soil health, and water to markets and agricultural education in Africa.
Annan noted that West Africa was highly dependent on food imports. "We eat what we don't produce, and we produce what we don't eat," he said.
Annan visited three sites in Ghana, each highlighting innovative partnerships that could hold the key to unlocking the potential of African agriculture, by linking smallholder farmers to local and regional markets, and training African scientists in crop breeding. Some of the projects are already beginning to make an impact, and AGRA believes that hastening and scaling up existing efforts, as well as funding new ones, is critical to making Africa more self-sufficient and food secure.
In Nsawam, Mr. Annan met with members of the Afumkrom Vegetable Growers Association, a 28-member farmer organization started in 2005. Its members grow onions, pepper, okra and garden eggs, in addition to maize and cassava, on one to two acre plots.
In a field meeting, several members of the farmer organization told Annan that poor access to credit, and low water availability, were major limitations to their farm production and income.
One association member, Mary Kabijie, grows onions on one acre of land, just outside Nsawam. By adding fertilizer, in the form of chicken manure, as well as chemical fertilizer when her soil is weak, she is able to harvest and sell 10 bags of onions, that sell wholesale for GH¢60 (USD $57) each, during the harvest season. The bags sell for a slightly higher price during the lean season in November.
In Accra, Annan met with a group of PhD candidates, who are part of an ambitious AGRA-funded program, which aims to train 40 crop scientists at the University of Ghana-Legon, over the next five years.
Launched in March 2008, students, at the university's West African Center for Crop Improvement (WACCI), are working on improving and adapting indigenous crops like cowpea, rice, millet and sorghum, as well as other key food staples, like cassava and maize.
"We need immediate solutions for today's crisis, but we must act within the context of a long-term concerted effort, to transform smallholder agriculture, and bring about food security for the most vulnerable. Africa needs a Green Revolution," said Annan.
AGRA is a dynamic partnership working across the African continent to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families lift themselves out of poverty and hunger. AGRA programs develop practical solutions that significantly boost farm productivity and incomes for the poor while safeguarding the environment. AGRA advocates for policies that support its work across all key aspects of the African agricultural value chain-from seeds, soil health, and water to markets and agricultural education.
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