Pressure Africa's leaders to keep their promises-Annan tells civil society

Civil society must hold political leaders and business to account measuring their actions against their promises, Kofi Annan, Chair of the Africa Progress Panel, told a meeting in Addis Ababa on Monday, adding that malnutrition on the continent represents political failure.

In June, African Union leaders at a meeting in Malabo renewed their 2003 commitment to allocate at least 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture.

“We are looking at our leaders. They made fresh promises and we will see where we go from here,” he told a mainly civil society meeting. Organised by the Africa Progress Panel to discuss this year’s Africa Progress Report, Grain, Fish, Money, the meeting took place on the eve of this year’s Africa Green Revolution Forum.

“The promises which count, we must remember, are those which are implemented, which are kept,” Mr Annan said.

With two thirds of Africans dependent on farming for their livelihoods, boosting Africa’s agriculture can create economic opportunities, reduce malnutrition and poverty, and generate faster, fairer growth.

African farmers need more investment, better access to financial services such as loans, and quality inputs such as seeds and fertilisers, Mr Annan told audience at an APP event to discuss this year’s Africa Progress Report, Grain, Fish, Money.

“You can just imagine the jobs that can be created if we went that route,” Mr Annan said, referring to the entire value chain from field to final consumer, including farmers, suppliers, transporters, processors, and a myriad of other operators.

“Unfortunately, the neglect of these sectors has allowed inequality on our continent to accelerate,” he said. “Malnutrition is a political failure. And as the saying goes, people who live in democracy and under democratic rule do not starve,” he said.

In addition to Mr Annan, the session’s speakers included Caroline Kende-Robb, APP Executive Director; Eleni Gabre-Madhin, Founder of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange; Michael O’Brien-Onyeka, Executive Director of Greenpeace Africa; Sipho Moyo, Executive Director of ONE Africa; and Strive Masiyiwa, Member of the Africa Progress Panel.

Mr Masiyiwa, who is also a telecoms entrepreneur and Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA),  said that he saw Africa’s agriculture as a business opportunity too. The involvement of African youth, especially its entrepreneurs, will be critical to seizing this opportunity, he said.

African currently imports food worth US$35 billion each year. But African farmers should be producing the food and earning this money. The continent could – and should – be feeding itself and other regions too.

Mr Masiyiwa compared Africa’s agriculture with changes in the telecommunications sector, describing these changes as “possibly the greatest modern revolution this continent has seen”.

“Less than two decades ago, 70 percent of the African population had never heard a telephone ringing; today 70 percent have a telephone,” he said.

How can we use this inspiration to boost our food and nutrition security and the prosperity of this continent, he asked.