In
the final communiqué from the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF2016),
delegates pledged over the next 16 months to focus on smallholder farmers to
achieve significant growth in agriculture productivity and profits in at least
20 countries.
This
will be achieved whilst unleashing US$200 billion in investments in the
agriculture sector. The action plan also commits countries to developing a
public “scorecard” that would track progress and hold them accountable.
Specific
commitments include unlocking 10 percent of public expenditures for agriculture,
as many countries agreed to do when they first joined the CAADP partnership.
Action steps also will involve launching innovative approaches to providing
finance for smallholder farmers and agribusinesses and working through
initiatives such as GROW Africa to bring in at least
$20 billion in private investment.
“This
has been the most productive AGRF since the call to launch the Green Revolution
in Africa was made ten years ago by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan,” said
Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
(AGRA), which serves as the secretariat for AGRF. “As an alliance, AGRA is
committed to working every day with our partners to ensure the ‘Seize the
Moment’ campaign has a tangible, meaningful impact in the lives of millions of
Africans.”
The
AGRF 2016 delivered a massive infusion of both financial, political and policy
commitments to African farmers and agriculture businesses on a continent eager
for new, more inclusive opportunities for economic growth.
“Seize
the Moment” was first launched in April at the Comprehensive African
Agriculture Development Plan (CAADP) Partnership Platform in Accra, Ghana. It
has quickly become a rallying point for accelerating work around the African
Union’s 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and the
United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A
key highlight from AGRF 2016 included the launch of the African Agriculture
Status Report (AASR) for 2016. The report detailed progress over the
last decade and identified key priorities for moving ahead.
The
head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Gayle
Smith, launched a global report entitled “A Food Secure 2030.”
She told delegates that as President Barack Obama’s administration comes to a
close, she was confident that the US would continue to be deeply engaged in
African agriculture for many years to come. She pointed to the overwhelming
support across the political spectrum for President Obama’s Global Food
Security Act and his Feed the Future initiative.
Other
promises include pledges by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the
Rockefeller Foundation to continue their generous support for African
agriculture and particularly for partnerships established by AGRA over the last
ten years.
Also,
Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the Rome-based International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD), was awarded the inaugural Africa Food Prize.
Regional
institutions led by the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s
Development (NEPAD) committed to driving the CAADP biennial review process and
implementing the scorecard for tracking progress in the “Seize the Moment”
campaign for agricultural transformation.
AGRF
2016 attracted more than 1,500 delegates from 40 countries, including African
Heads of State, global business leaders, government ministers, farmers,
agribusiness firms, financial institutions, NGOs, civil society groups and
scientists, as well as international development and technical partners.
They
pledged more than US
$30 billion dollars in investments over the next 10 years to
increase production, income and employment for smallholder farmers and local
African agriculture businesses.
The
AGRF partners concluded AGRF 2016 with an agreement that the 2017 AGRF will be
co-hosted by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, AfDB and AGRA in Abidjan, Côte
d’Ivoire.
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