Ensuring sustainable food security in Africa: Smallholder support, investments crucial – Dr Mensah
African countries need to promote substantial investments in agriculture and provide the needed support to smallholder farmers to ensure sustainable food security for their people.
Dr Christian Sewordor Mensah, Executive Director of the African Center for Business Incubation, who stated this, said there was the need for African leaders to work to address poor implementation of policies, inadequate investments, as well as limited support for smallholder farmers to ensure sustainable food production to feed the growing population in Africa.
In an article made available to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi, Dr Mensah, observed that, though significant progress had been made over the years to address food insecurity in Africa, the Africa Union’s (AU) journey towards achieving its objectives were still ongoing.
He said the AU’s policies, strategic frameworks, and collaboration initiatives had undoubtedly contributed to improved agricultural productivity, resilience to climate change, and increased trade in agricultural goods.
The attention now lies on the slow implementation of policies and frameworks at the national levels due to limited institutional capacity and political will.
Additionally, insufficient investment in agriculture, particularly in the context of climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as inadequate attention to the needs and constraints faced by women and marginalized groups within the agricultural sector, are significant factors.
Again, insufficient access to finance and markets for smallholder farmers, limiting their ability to participate in value chains and earn sustainable incomes as well as limited awareness and understanding of the importance of food security among the general population, impede efforts to mobilize support and resources.
Dr. Mensah assessing the AU’s achievement of food security objectives, said food security had been an enduring challenge for many African countries due to a variety of factors such as climate change, limited access to modern agricultural technologies, inadequate infrastructure, and political instability.
Recognizing the urgency to addressing this issue, the African Union, he said had established food security objectives to promote sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agricultural systems.
The AU has developed several policies and frameworks to tackle food security, notably the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the Malabo Declaration.
The aim of the CAADP is to improve agricultural productivity and promote food security, while the Malabo Declaration sets targets to be achieved by 2025, including doubling productivity, halving post-harvest losses, and tripling intra-African trade in agricultural goods.
Again, the AU launched the African Agriculture Fund, supported by the African Development Bank, to finance agricultural projects in member states.
Furthermore, the creation of the Africa Food Security Initiative (AFSI) has attracted significant investments from both internal and external sources, which have contributed to boosting agricultural productivity.
Dr. Mensah said recognizing that food security issues were beyond national borders, the AU had placed emphasis on strengthening collaboration and regional integration.
Efforts such as the Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) aimed to remove trade barriers and promote agricultural trade among member countries are in place.
Other policies such as resilience to climate change, promotion of sustainable agricultural practices, agroforestry, and the development of climate-smart agriculture.
Source: GNA