Lack of market for farm produce impoverishing Africa, banker says

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame (left) and Africa Development Bank President Adesina Akinwumi at KICC in Nairobi on the second day of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) on August 28, 2016. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • At a session on agriculture in Nairobi, Dr Akiwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank said African farmers have been unable to feed the continent because they are not motivated to farm as a way of creating wealth.
  • Titled, contributing to social security and jobs through agriculture: 30 years of Sasakawa in Africa, organised by the African Sasakawa Association, the forum brought together political leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, economists and policy makers in Africa.

African countries can reverse the crisis of food shortage by creating markets for its farmers, a development banker has advised.

At a session on agriculture in Nairobi, Dr Akiwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank said African farmers have been unable to feed the continent because they are not motivated to farm as a way of creating wealth.

“Africa must win gold in agriculture…but before we do that, we must do the right things first,” he said equating to the potential of agriculture with an athlete preparing for the Olympics.

In Africa, the AfBD boss argued, farmers may grow crops and get good yields, but they fail to get markets earning losses despite growing a promising crop.

He spoke at a side symposium to the ongoing Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi.

Titled, contributing to social security and jobs through agriculture: 30 years of Sasakawa in Africa, organised by the African Sasakawa Association, the forum brought together political leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, economists and policy makers in Africa.

The leaders discussed ways of taming incessant food aid to Africa, and encourage the youth to see farming as an occupation.

“Food aid is a temporary solution. In the end, it is only a means of emergency support,” said Mr Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of the Nippon Foundation and son to Japanese philanthropist Ryoichi Sasakawa, referring to the infamous Ethiopian famine of 1984.

“I strongly feel that in order to improve food supply in Africa, it would be necessary to help small holder farmers with methods to increase food production,” he said.

Ryoichi Sasakawa’s contribution during the Ethiopian famine of the 1980s later led to the formation of the African Sasakawa Association currently chaired by Prof Ruth Oniang’o of Kenya.

The association says it has been contributing to modern agriculture in Africa by working with 24 universities, where 6,000 students have graduated since 1993.

AFFORDABLE LOANS

The Nippon Foundation claims to be Japan’s largest private philanthropic organisation created in in 1962 with a focus on the maritime and shipping fields. It has since expanded to supporting development in education, social welfare and public health.

During the symposium, participants agreed that governments must ensure affordable loans to farmers, and encourage markets by buying from local farmers.

Dr Adesina who became the continental development Bank’s chief called a phenomenon where farmers get good yield but face low prices due to a glut as the “greening of the economy.”

He argued that despite such glut, the African economies suffer because they cannot store the food and in turn import food from outside, spending $110 billion every year.

“African agriculture cannot get water out of a rock. Aligning Africa’s markets will unleash the potential of Africa’s agriculture. There is no need to produce 70 per cent of cocoa, but only get two per cent of the chocolates (made from cocoa),” he argued.