Africa's failure to transform its agriculture sector as rapidly as the rest of the developing world has left an abiding legacy of poverty and hunger. A huge increase in the number of people living in absolute poverty underscores the need for urgent attention to measures that could promote agricultural growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Smallholders and pastoralists practicing traditional agriculture comprise 80 percent of all farm holdings in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) is declining, agriculture remains an important economic sector in Africa, contributing around 25 per cent of GDP, compared with the world average of less than seven per cent.
The sector provides jobs for 70 percent of the labour force as well as a livelihood for more than 65 per cent of the population. Apart from which, it is a major source of raw materials as well as a market for finished products.
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The population of the sub-Saharan Africa region is projected to grow from some 770 million in 2005 to about two billion in 2050. Despite urban migration, the absolute number of rural dwellers will continue to grow.
Producing more food for a growing population while at the same time combating poverty and hunger are the main challenges facing African agriculture in the coming decades. The risks that come with climate change make this task even more daunting.
The dominance of smallholder agriculture on the continent means that short- and medium-term agricultural growth and poverty reduction prospects will be closely linked with successful transformation of this sector.
Given the urgent need to transform African agriculture, the sluggish performance of the sector over the past few decades is disconcerting.
Growth rates in the sector across sub-Saharan Africa have been a modest 3.3 percent a year since 2000. Only a handful of countries Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and The Gambia have surpassed the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) threshold of 6 percent agricultural growth in recent years.
Crop output has been increasing, but this is largely driven by the expansion of cultivated land rather than productivity gains. For instance, between 1990 and 2006 the area under cultivation increased by more than 10 percent annually while cereal yields over the same period were largely stagnant, averaging around 1.2 tonnes per hectare in the region, compared to 3 tonnes per hectare in the developing world as a whole.
Foremost amongst the factors that undermine smallholder agriculture is the gross undercapitalization of the sector. Investment in key areas such as research, infrastructure development, mechanization, irrigation, value chain development and human capital development lags behind that in other developing regions and has actually declined over the past decade.
For instance public spending on agricultural research and development in the region between 1981 and 2000 grew at only 0.6 percent a year on average, and actually fell during the 1990s. At the same time, donor support for agricultural research declined from U.S. $6 billion in 1980 to $3 billion in 2006 and World Bank lending to agriculture in general decreased from $8 billion in 1980 to $2 billion in 2004.
Governments have had to rely more on domestic sources – Botswana, Burundi, Ethiopia, Gabon, Malawi and the Sudan already fund more than 60 per cent of agricultural research from domestic sources. But the private sector contributes only two per cent of total agricultural research funding in Africa, ranging from 1.6 per cent in East Africa to about 4.3 per cent in South Africa.
We urgently need to see an increase in government spending to promote agricultural growth and poverty reduction. Expenditure on agricultural research as a percentage of agricultural GDP worldwide is more than 2.5 per cent in developed countries but only 0.6 per cent in developing countries and 0.7 per cent in Africa.
The lack of adequate investment in agriculture has persisted despite numerous continent-wide and regional protocols by African governments and their development partners.
For instance, at the Maputo Summit, African leaders agreed to devote at least 10 per cent of their public expenditure to agriculture, with the aim of attaining agricultural growth rates of about six percent annually. But according to NEPAD, only 19 per cent of African countries have reached the target.
While Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Mali have surpassed the 10 percent threshold of budgetary spending on agriculture in recent years, nearly of African countries reduced their spending on the sector. As a percentage of agricultural gross domestic product, African agricultural spending was only half that of Asia in 2005.
The benefits of agricultural investments have been well documented. They can have significant positive effects on growth and poverty reduction, given the sector's strong linkages with other sectors.
In many cases government agricultural spending has contributed substantially to agricultural productivity and rural household income, household consumption and poverty reduction. For instance, for each unit of local currency spent on the agricultural sector, on average 10 local currency units are earned by increased agricultural productivity or income, according to studies conducted in several African countries.
In countries such as India and Thailand, public investments in agriculture have substantially reduced rural poverty by stimulating agricultural growth and reducing food prices. Investments in other key facets of the rural economy such as road infrastructure and education have also been shown to have large positive outcomes. These findings suggest that the "how" of agricultural spending can be as important as the "how much".
Changing the face of African agriculture will require a change in mindset, not only on the part of political leadership but also among farmers and civil society in general.
Most African governments have clearly not prioritised agricultural transformation and continue to treat smallholder agriculture as just a way of life for a peasant population, with little to contribute towards economic growth and poverty alleviation. The farmers have also remained poorly organised, and fail to lobby for an adequate share of public resources.
Purposeful and sustained engagement of these stakeholders is required to unlock the potential of smallholder agriculture as the best option for transforming the lives of large numbers of poor households in rural communities across Africa.
Manyewu Mutamba and Leslie Nyagah work with the Economic Governance Programme of the Institute for Democracy in Africa, based in South Africa.
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INDEPENDENT FARMERS UNION IDEA
I'm an entrepreneurial sort of person and I got an idea along those lines that I believe many of us who are grassroots thinkers have been overlooking.
So here goes my idea :
a) We have all kinds of Farmers and Farms that are struggling to make a profit. I believe that they are struggling because they are farming under a kind of Third World system that advantages the persons who convert what farmers produce.
b) In most Third World countries , the First & Second World countries will only build enough infrastructure to allow shipment of RAW MATERIALS from their source(s) to the modes of shipping transportation used to transport the RAW MATERIALS to those First & Second World countries that will turn the RAW MATERIALS into processed goods.
* For example - They will build a railroad line of tracks from some Third World country's gold and diamond mines ( e.g. Zaire ) to the Giant Ships docked and waiting to carry them to processors and sellers such as De Beers, Coca-Cola , Cadbury's etc..
c) What kinds of RAW MATERIALS do Farmers produce and/or have access to :
* Gold - Rice , Cocoa ,Mangos, etc
d) Major Problems stopping small farmers from taking advantage of the possibility of turning your products into a profitable business : LACK OF TIME
e) Solution - My Idea : Form an Independent Union Of Farmers . Having a Coop is great, but its only a way of further enriching the processors of our RAW MATERIALS.
* How would this work ?
1) Each Region would represent a chapter of this Independent Farmers Union
2) Generally speaking, each farmer would retain all of their rights ; just as they had before they joined the Independent Farmers Union .
3) The Independent Farmers Union would be finance collectively by individual members paying dues.
4) These dues which would be used to set-up business ventures in each Independent Farmers Union's Region.
Some Examples Of Businesses That could be set up
* Chicken Processing Plant, and restaurants that would sell the chickens could be supplied right their in each Independent Farmers Union's Region.
* Produce Markets
* Dairies
* Ice Cream Parlors (using fresh milk)
* Fast Food and/or Restaurants - featuring meat from various farm animals
* Supermarkets
* Chocolate Processors instead of giving your cocoa to companies like Cadburys. What do companies like DeBeers, Coca Cola,Cadburys and others have that entitles them to get rich off of our Natural wealth ? NOTHING.. We empower them by our economic laziness !!!
5) The Independent Farmers Union's would need persons with expertise in areas concerning the setting up and running of these businesses on behalf of the Independent Farmers Union's.
WE ARE MAKING HUNDREDS WHILE GIVING AWAY BILLIONS TO OUR ECONOMIC SLAVE MASTERS !!!
THERE IS NO REASON WHY WE CAN'T TAKE CONTROL OF OUR OWN COUNTRY !
- FEED YOURSELVES SUGGESTION -
NEIGHBORHOOD COOP GREENHOUSES
ANOTHER SUGGESTION IS FOR THOSE LIVING IN THE CITY TO POOL
THEIR RESOURCES TOGETHER AND MAKE NEIGHBORHOOD COOP
GREENHOUSES . HERE YOU CAN GROW SOME KIND OF FOODS AND NOT
BE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GROCERY STORES.
HERES SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT BLACK AFRICANS HAVE DONE :
BLACK AFRICAN INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS
The type of Invention is capitalized (e.g. TRAFFIC SIGNAL, MOTOR, etc..)
We Black Africans Can Be Self-Sufficient . Here are some major Black Africans who have had an impact on the world With their initiative These are INVENTORS .
This Listing includes The Inventors Name, Their Invention and in some cases the date the invention was recognized and the inventions U.S. patent number.
* Sarah Boone - IRONING BOARD - April 26, 1892
* John A. Burr - LAWN MOWER
* Marie V. Brittan Brown - HOME SECURITY SYSTEM - Dec 2, 1969
* Buridge & Marshman - TYPEWRITER
* George Carruthers - X-RAY MACHINE
* George Washington Carver - PEANUT BUTTER - PAINTS PAINT STAINS ETC
* John Clark - TRACK ATHLETE TRAINER
* W.A. Dietz - SHOE
* Joseph Dickinson - PLAYER PIANO - ARM FOR RECORD PLAYER
* P.B. Downing - POSTAL LETTER BOX
* Charles R. Drew - BLOOD PLASMA STORAGE SYSTEM
* T. Elkins - TOILET (COMMODE)
* Robert Flemming Jr. - GUITAR
* Cathleen McCoy Garrett SIREN - HORN LIGHT INDICATOR
* George F. Grant - GOLF TEE
* J. Gregory - MOTOR
* Joanna Hardin - KEYBOARD STAND - Feb 23, 1993
* Michael Harney - LANTERN
* Solomon Harper - THERMO(HEATED) HAIR CURLERS
* Augustus Jackson - ICE CREAM
* B.F. Jackson - GAS BURNER
* H.A. Jackson - KITCHEN TABLE
* Ruane Jeter - DIGITAL TOASTER - April 14, 1987
* Isaac R. Johnson - BICYCLE FRAME
* John A. Johnson - WRENCH
* Lonnie Johnson - SUPER SOAKER WATERGUN
* P. Johnson - EYE PROTECTOR (GOGGLES)
* W. Johnson - EGG BEATER
* Frederick M. Jones - DEFROSTER - REFRIGERATION CONTROLS AIR CONDITIONER
* Jones & Long - BOTTLE CAPS
* John H. Jordan - CLOTHES DRESSER
* Mary B. Kenner - SANITARY BELT (TAMPONS) - May 15, 1956
* Mary B. Kenner - SANITARY BELT (WATERPROOF) - April 14, 1959
* Mary B. Kenner - BATHROOM TISSUE HOLDER - Nov 19, 1982
* Mary B. Kenner - BACKWASHER ( BATHTUB OR SHOWER MOUNTED) - July 29,1987
* Lewis Latimer & Nichols - ELECTIC LAMP
* W.A. Lavalette - PRINTING PRESS
* F.W. Leslie - ENVELOPE SEAL
* Maurice W. Lee PRESSURE COOKER
* A.L. Lewis - WINDOW CLEANER
* John L. Love - PENCIL SHARPENER
* Tony J. Marshall - FIRE EXTINGUISHER
* Alexander Miles - ELEVATOR
* Jan E. Matzeliger - SHOE LASTING MACHINE
* W.A. Martin - LOCK
* Garrett A. Morgan - GAS MASK - Traffic Signal
* Lydia Newman - HAIR BRUSH - Nov 15, 1898
* Alice H. Parker - HEATING FURNACE - Dec 23, 1919
* J.F. Pickering - AIR SHIP (BLIMP)
* Purdy & Sadgwar - FOLDING CHAIR
* W.B. Purvis - FOUNTAIN PEN
* L.P. Ray - DUST PAN
* W.H. Richardson - BABY BUGGY
* Walter Sammons - PRESSING COMB
* G.T. Sampson - CLOTHES DRYER
* Dewey Sanderson - URINALYSIS MACHINE
* Ralph Sanderson - HYDRAULIC SHOCK ABSORBER
* S.R. Scottron - CURTAIN ROD
* Adolph Shamms - MULTI -STAGE ROCKET
* .W. Smith - LAWN SPRINKLER
* Richard B. Spikes - AUTOMATIC GEAR SHIFT
* J. Standard - REFRIGERATOR
* T.W. Stewart - MOP
* Maxine Snowden - RAIN HAT - 1983
* Theora Stephens - PRESSING & CURLING IRON
* Rufus J. Weaver - STAIR -CLIMBING WHEELCHAIR
* Paul E. Williams - HELICOPTER
* J.B. Winters - FIRE ESCAPE LADDER
* Granville T. Woods - Telephone System Apparatus Oct 11, 1887 Patent # 371, 241
* Granville T. Woods - Roller Coaster
* Granville T. Woods - Auto Air Brake - June 10, 1902 - Patent # 701, 98
* Granville T. Woods - Telegraph Transmission Devices - Dec 2, 1884 Patents # - 308, 816 (7)
* Thanks to The Black Inventors Museum *
* Address : P.O. Box 76128 - Los Angeles , Calif. (90076)
* Phone (310) 859-4602)
* Director : Ghanaian Mr. Hamza Salifa
* Major Contributor of Information : SEESTAH Imahkus Nzinga Okofo
WHO BROUGHT THE SLAVES TO AMERICA ? [ http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/42787621/Who+brought+the+slaves+to+ameri ca?tab=summary] for full length video
FRITZ SPRINGMEIER A Bold Christian Truthseeker The Top 13 Illuminati Bloodlines [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k73Q2_f4vKU ]
WAKE UP !!! STAY UP !!!
[ www.libradio.net ]
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx]
[gcnlive.com]
Life Is A Game. Have Fun . Luke 18:17 - Isaiah 11:6
HeyNow Afrikan Family !
On Afrikans Investing In Technology , Afrikans abroad & In Afrika
Should Invest In The Technologies around the world And Have It
Shipped To Afrika With The Know-How To Do It Ourselves.. We
SHOULD NOT just allow countries to come into our countries and build
and settle on our lands. If you will allow a stranger to run your country,
Then you will allow then to run your state. If you will allow a stranger to run your state,
then you will allow them to run your city, your neighborhood, your home, your family,
yourself.. We Black Afrikans will be free , when we stop selling ourselves !!!!!!!
America (The Whore Of Babylon) Is Trying To Re-vive it'as dying
soul via other ASIANS & CAUC - ASIANS , But Prophecy Is
Pronounced :
And in those times there shall many stand up against the king of
the south(AMERICA / BABYLON ): ALSO the ROBBERS OF OUR
PEOPLE shall exalt themselves to establish the vision; BUT
THEY SHALL FALL ! [Daniel 11:14 ]
ATTENTION AFRIKA , you have 300 million citizens spread
abroad that need your help getting back to our roots. While you
are looking to countries like America & China to uplift Afrika, Many
of us Black Afrikans spread abroad are proficient in a lot of useful
technologies. Here is a brief synopsis of some of the inventions
that Black Americans have produced. So please help us to get
home.
BLACK AFRICAN INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS
* Sarah Boone - IRONING BOARD - April 26, 1892
* John A. Burr - LAWN MOWER
* Marie V. Brittan Brown - HOME SECURITY SYSTEM - Dec 2, 1969
* Buridge & Marshman - TYPEWRITER
* George Carruthers - X-RAY MACHINE
* George Washington Carver - PEANUT BUTTER - PAINTS PAINT STAINS ETC
* W.A. Dietz - SHOE
* P.B. Downing - POSTAL LETTER BOX
* Charles R. Drew - BLOOD PLASMA STORAGE SYSTEM
* T. Elkins - TOILET (COMMODE)
* Robert Flemming Jr. - GUITAR
* George F. Grant - GOLF TEE
* J. Gregory - MOTOR
* Michael Harney - LANTERN
* Augustus Jackson - ICE CREAM
* B.F. Jackson - GAS BURNER
* H.A. Jackson - KITCHEN TABLE
* Ruane Jeter - DIGITAL TOASTER - April 14, 1987
* Isaac R. Johnson - BICYCLE FRAME
* John A. Johnson - WRENCH
* P. Johnson - EYE PROTECTOR (GOGGLES)
* W. Johnson - EGG BEATER
* Frederick M. Jones - DEFROSTER - REFRIGERATION CONTROLS AIR CONDITIONER
* Jones & Long - BOTTLE CAPS
* John H. Jordan - CLOTHES DRESSER
* Mary B. Kenner - SANITARY BELT (TAMPONS) - May 15, 1956
* Mary B. Kenner - BATHROOM TISSUE HOLDER - Nov 19, 1982
* Mary B. Kenner - BACKWASHER ( BATHTUB OR SHOWER MOUNTED) - July 29,1987
* Lewis Latimer & Nichols - ELECTIC LAMP
* W.A. Lavalette - PRINTING PRESS
* Maurice W. Lee PRESSURE COOKER
* A.L. Lewis - WINDOW CLEANER
* John L. Love - PENCIL SHARPENER
* Tony J. Marshall - FIRE EXTINGUISHER
* Alexander Miles - ELEVATOR
* Jan E. Matzeliger - SHOE LASTING MACHINE
* W.A. Martin - LOCK
* Garrett A. Morgan - GAS MASK - Traffic Signal
* Lydia Newman - HAIR BRUSH - Nov 15, 1898
* Alice H. Parker - HEATING FURNACE - Dec 23, 1919
* J.F. Pickering - AIR SHIP (BLIMP)
* Purdy & Sadgwar - FOLDING CHAIR
* W.B. Purvis - FOUNTAIN PEN
* L.P. Ray - DUST PAN
* W.H. Richardson - BABY BUGGY
* G.T. Sampson - CLOTHES DRYER
* .W. Smith - LAWN SPRINKLER
* J. Standard - REFRIGERATOR
* T.W. Stewart - MOP
* Paul E. Williams - HELICOPTER
* Granville T. Woods - Roller Coaster
* Thanks to The Black Inventors Museum *
* Address : P.O. Box 76128 - Los Angeles , Calif. (90076)
* Phone (310) 859-4602)
* Director : Ghanaian Mr. Hamza Salifa
AND
ONE AFRICA TOURS & SPECIALTY SERVICES LTD.
* Major Contributor of Information : SEESTAH Imahkus Nzinga Ababio Okofo
[ http://www.oneafricaghana.com/ ]
P. O. Box CC 1251 - Cape Coast
Ghana - West Africa
What can you do to help us ?
Start with contacting Pan-Afrikanist organizations like BLACK
STAR MEDIA (Modelled after Marcus Garveys Vision For Afrika) : They are at
[ www.libradio.net ]. The CEO of BLACK STAR MEDIA is Keidi-Obi
Awadu. He has been on the frontline fighting for our freedom for
over 30 years.
It's Not A Question Of Other Learned Societies.
It's The INFERIORITY COMPLEX WE HAVE TO SHED
St. Paul In A Letter To The Christians In Rome Said :
" For I say, through the grace given to me, to every man that is
among you, NOT TO THINK OF HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY Than
He Ought To Think; but to think soberly, according AS GOD HAS
D EALT TO EVERY MAN THE MEASURE OF FAITH .
We All Should Think Highly Of Ourselves, Keeping In Our Mind
That God Gave Us Dominion Over The Earth
, NOT EACH OTHER. !!!!!!!!
So let's please help us to return to our Mama Afrika as Israel
under Moses escaped their exile !!!!!!!
[ Their will be an exodus of nations leaving America ; returning to their ancestral homes
e.g. Black Africans to nations like Ghana, Sierra Leone, etc ]
Jeremiah, chapter 50 : 16
Cut off the sower from Babylon ;and him that handles the sickle in the time of harvest
For fear of the oppressing sword they shall turn every one to his people, and
THEY SHALL FLEE EVERY ONE TO HIS OWN LAND .
MAMA AFRIKA YOUR CHILDREN WANT TO COME HOME !!!!!!!
[Check Out :
WHO BROUGHT THE SLAVES TO AMERICA ?
[ http://isohunt.com/torrent_details/42787621/Who+brought+the+slaves+to+ameri ca?tab=summary]
for full length video
FRITZ SPRINGMEIER A Bold Christian Truthseeker The Top 13 Illuminati Bloodlines
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k73Q2_f4vKU ]
WAKE UP ! STAY UP MY BROTHERS & SISTERS !
[ www.libradio.net ]
[ www.gcnlive.com]
- Life Is a Game. Have Fun. [ Luke 18:17 / Isaiah 11:6 ] :
to upliftdarace_144:
Oh my! How uninformed you are.
None of those things were ever invented by the Africans. Never do the Africans invent things. The examples you noted above are of people who hold some patents on items that White European people have invented. Interestingly enough, none of the people you cited has an African name...thats because the Africans cannot invent or built anything. But they are very skilled at breaking and destroying things. Look at the DRC or Zimbabwe. The Africans have an IQ 20% below of their Oriental counterparts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race,_Evolution,_and_Behavior. So give us a break and go back to your hut.