Africa’s
fight against poverty, hunger and unemployment will be won or lost in rural
areas, according to the NEPAD Agency of the African Union.
Director of Programme Implementation and
Coordination Directorate, Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong, says Africa’s high
economic growth rates have not translated into high levels of employment and
reductions in poverty for the youth and those in the rural areas of the continent.
“Africa’s
fight against poverty will be won or lost in rural areas, because this is home
to about 63% of the population; 73% of the poor live in rural areas.
Agriculture and agroprocessing account for 30-60 percent of GDP, and an even
larger share of employment,” she said.
Mrs. Lisinge-Fotabong was addressing the 2nd Africa Rural Development Forum holding in Yaoundé, Cameroon, with the objective to raise awareness
of the magnitude of the challenges that Africa is facing in coming decades.
Under the theme “Transforming Africa’s Rural Area
through Skills Development, Job Creation and Youth Economic Empowerment”, the meeting is exploring the need for transformational development
strategies based on multi-sectoral, place-based and participatory approaches,
for job creation.
The NEPAD Agency believes Africa is highly unlikely to escape
the poverty trap by giving public expenditure priority to urban-based economic solutions
such as import substitution industrialization, export-oriented
industrialization and ‘open- economy’ industrialization.
Rather, rural transformation succeeds only when driven by entire economy, meaning
there is need to: expand the domestic market; create backward and forward
linkages within and between rural and urban sector; and pursue a multi-sector
approach to rural transformation.
CEO of the NEPAD Agency, Dr. Ibrahim Assane
Mayaki, noted that attaining Arica’s Agenda 2063 aspirations and goals,
to a large extent depends on the change or transformation in Africa’s rural areas
– both in location and people terms.
“Advancing rural transformation is not pity or charity
to the rural populations. It is critical and integral success factor for Africa’s
sustainable economic growth and inclusive development agenda,” he stated.
The AU/NEPAD Rural Futures strategy and agenda for Africa is
about driving every nation on the continent towards full employment in both
rural and urban areas.
The Africa Rural Development Forum provides a
platform for exchange and peer learning on experiences and insights in
catalyzing and fostering job creation and skills development in rural based
agri- and non-agri-systems as key components to advance rural development.
Thematic areas of discussion include sectoral
policies and conditions for job creation including ICT in rural areas of Africa;
Rural Finance and Youth Empowerment; Skills, training, empowerment in formal
and informal sector for youth economic empowerment; and Green Economy and job
creation in advancing Rural Development in Africa.
The Forum is being attended by Ministers of
states, experts, civil society including youth and private sector, development
partners and local authorities.
By Kofi Adu Domfeh, in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
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