African agricultures (original) (raw)
Related papers
Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, 2011
CAADP is an exciting change process of the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) to shape African agricultural policy making and development from within the continent. CAADP covers a wide range of issues from natural resource management through agricultural production and value chains to food security. Its goals, increasing government budgets, donor and private funding, and improving the quality and the outcome of agricultural policies in all African countries, point in the right direction and come at the right time. However, it has to be noted that CAADP has not yet led to a systematic improvement of agricultural policy making-the older CAADP design was not convincing in terms of participation, ownership and use of evidence, and the new, improved design is about to be implemented. Some important elements of the existing CAADP design are still rudimentary, such as peer review or interventions of the pillar network. The overall targets-agricultural growth and poverty alleviation-are still far away from being a reality. Nevertheless, CAADP has shown that it is a learning system, and it has developed into a comprehensive concept. It must now demonstrate that it can implement its agenda. It must develop and institutionalise convincing quality control mechanisms, monitoring and evaluation, and it must coordinate the many tools and actors that it has put into motion. In case CAADP fails, there is a risk that the entire agricultural sector will once again be classified as "too complex to be managed". Donors are therefore well advised to support it wisely, but the main impetus must come from the African agricultural community, state and non-state actors.
Food is considered as one of the fundamental human rights that should not be denied any human being; and food is also different from other commodities because of its inevitability for survival and existence. The importance of food is recognized by the United Nations Organization (UNO), and this accounts for the reason why one of the millennium development goals is to eradicate poverty and hunger in the world. Other regions and continents such as Europe, America, South East Asia, and others have consistently eradicated hunger and minimized poverty by making food available at all time and making it affordable to their people. However, Africa seems to be lagging behind in its quest to achieving food security for its people. The continental Africa had developed excellent programmes in the past on how to achieve food security in Africa through agricultural revolutionary methodology; yet, poverty and hunger pervert the continent. Having transformed the Organization for African Unity (OAU) to African Union (AU), the African leaders adopted the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) as their principal development framework for the continent; and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), became an instrument under NEPAD for agricultural transformation, wealth creation and food security for the continent. The aim of this study is to investigate and evaluate the extent CAADP has gone in making Africa food sufficient 22 years after its emergence. Basically, the study is qualitative, utilizing mostly secondary source of data in its analysis. The findings of the study reveal that although CAADP has recorded appreciable presence in almost all African nations, it is far from realizing its potentials. The study, thus, concludes by recommending among other things that CAADP should avoid building parallel structures, rather, it should robustly work with other sub-regional and national agricultural based policy bodies by making sure that African countries key into CAADP's vision through quality assurance monitoring.
The future of agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa
2020
Population growth, rapid urbanisation, and a young population are major trends shaping the future of African agriculture. They underlie profound changes in the evolution of food demand and contribute to the structuring of food markets. African agriculture must take on these issues, while facing the challenges of climate change and land degradation. If no adequate measures are taken, the future ability of agriculture to produce enough food could be jeopardised. It is imperative to establish an integrated land management strategy by increasing organic matter, retaining moisture, and increasing the use of inorganic fertilisers. Governments must invest in technical and professional agricultural education and training systems and strengthen the skills of young people and women to seize the entrepreneurship opportunities offered by agriculture and agri-food systems. Policies must clearly support family farming and the facilitation of private sector intervention via inclusive business models.
The Future of Agriculture in Africa
other invited authors. Papers in this series explore current and future challenges by anticipating the pathways to human progress, human development, and human well-being. This series includes papers on a wide range of topics, with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary perspectives and a development orientation.
From Potentials to Reality: Transforming Africa's Food Production
2021
and proposed investment and policy actions I) Systemic actions and investments for sustainable agricultural development II) Specific production-enhancing actions and investments III) Institutional frameworks: Governance, market access, trade and continental and international cooperation Ten Top priorities that boost agricultural growth and meet food systems needs 4 Sustainable expansion and intensification of agricultural production 4.1 Crop-related innovations 4.1.1 Production inputs 4.1.2 Mechanization along the value chain 4.1.3 Irrigation 4.1.4 Reducing food losses 4.1.5 Land use change, sustainable land management and climate resilience 4.2 Animal husbandry 4.2.1 Production systems 4.2.2 Production and consumption trends 4.2.3 Improving productivity of animal husbandry practices in Africa 4.3 Capture fisheries and aquaculture 4.3.1 Ocean and inland fisheries 4.3.2 Aquaculture 4.4 (Agro-)Forestry 4.4.1 Challenges to the African forest sector 4.4.2 Towards enhancing the contribution of African forests to food security 4.4.3 Agroforestry: The best of two worlds? 4.4.4 Barriers to agroforestry adoption 4.4.5 Priority areas for action to expand agroforestry 5 Systemic investments for sustainability 5.1 Skill development and agricultural extension 5.1.1 Skills development for value chain actors in African agriculture 5.1.2 Agricultural extension provision for agri-food value chain actors 5.2 Youth engagement 5.3 Digitalization 5.4 Research investments in partnership 4 PARI-Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation 5.4.1 Research and development investments 5.4.2 The case for collaboration and partnership 5.4.3 Pre-existing research partnerships 5.5 Rural and agricultural finance 5.5.1 The current status of rural and agricultural finance in Africa 5.5.2 Innovations and emerging trends 5.5.3 Priority areas for action to improve access to rural and agricultural finance 5.6 Energy 5.7 Inclusive markets 5.7.1 The benefits and challenges of agricultural commercialization 5.7.2 Linking smallholders with markets through collective action 5.7.3 Linking smallholders with markets and processing 5.7.4 Innovations for small businesses in rural areas 5.7.5 The role of expanding food-retailing in Africa 6 Investments in governance 6.1 Agricultural and food security policies 6.2 Farmers' organisations 6.2.1 The role of farmers' organisations in Africa 6.2.2 The state of farmers' organisations in Africa 6.2.3 Governance challenges of farmers' organizations 6.3 Land and water rights 6.4 Gender Equality 6.4.1 The agricultural gender gap 6.4.2 Gender equality and food security 7 Development assistance, investment and international cooperation 7.1 Development Assistance for agriculture 7.2 Domestic and foreign private sector investment in the food and agriculture sector 7.2.1 Under-capitalized African Agriculture 7.2.2 Foreign direct investment 7.3 Regional and international trade 7.3.1 The gains from trade for Africa 7.3.2 Africa's current trade position and international competitiveness 7.3.3 Intra-African trade and food security, including AfCTA 7.3.4 Africa's international trade 7.4 Policy processes and initiatives in Africa and at the international level 7.4.1 Ongoing initiatives in Africa 7.4.2 Some significant international processes 7.4.3 Towards effective development partnerships in agriculture 8 References 7