Interactive Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture and Development in Africa: Lessons learned from COVID-19 for Building Back Better

 

 

Interactive Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture and Development in Africa: Lessons learned from COVID-19 for Building Back Better

Abebe Haile Gabriel, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

 

H.E. Martha Ama A. Pobee, Permanent Representative of Ghana to the United Nations,
 
H.E. Mariangela Zappia, Permanent Représentative of Italy to the United Nations, 

Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, Assistant Secretary-General, Special Advisor to the Administrator, United Nations Development Programme,

Mr. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General, Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),
 
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, 

On behalf of the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, I wish to congratulate the Permanent Missions of Ghana and that of Italy to the United Nations for organizing this important Dialogue and thank them for inviting FAO to share our thoughts on the theme. 

I must also acknowledge the happy coincidence that Italy and Ghana respectively host FAO’s Headquarters in Rome and its Regional Office for Africa, in Accra. I am based in the beautiful city of Accra, Ghana, where the FAO Regional Office for Africa is located. In fact, I used to be the FAO Representative to Ghana before my current assignment as Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Africa, and I believe this vantage point affords me the unique opportunity to closely witness Ghana’s strong commitment and leadership in championing the agenda of Sustainable Development in Africa of which agricultural transformation is a component.
 
We also note that Ghana is the host of the AfCFTA Secretariat – it is a pleasure to know that the Secretary General, Mr. Wamkele Mene, has joined us today. 

1. Agriculture is the dominant but also a strategic sector in Africa - over 60 percent of population in Africa is living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture and food systems. The battle for sustainable development in Africa must be fought and won in agriculture and rural sectors. 

2. Africa exhibits a harmonious relationship among people, agriculture, natural resources and the environment – this harmony must be capitalized on and sustained. For this reason, agricultural transformation should be guided by sustainable management of natural resources and the environment. 

3. There exist deliberate effort to pursue Africa’s sustainable development – Africa is the most organized when it comes to articulating its vision and collective agenda – Agenda 2063 which is aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; the Continental frameworks such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme  with its ambitious Malabo goals of ending hunger and malnutrition by 2025, African common positions on climate change,are among the few to mention. 

4. Most importantly several countries have been making encouraging progress towards achieving these goals – including mechanisms for regular reporting and mutual accountability. 

5. However, there are significant challenges that African countries face. For the sake of brevity, we can look at the challenges from two inter-related dimensions. These are:
· First, the high exposure and vulnerability of Africa’s economies and livelihood systems to various kinds of exogenous shocks – related to international trade, climate (drought, floods), transboundary pests and diseases – such as desert locust, and proliferation of conflicts, among others 
· Secondly, that vulnerable groups and systems are not adequately protected against these shocks. Social protection and safety net programmes remain weak, as a result there exist few mechanisms to mitigate the impacts. 

6. What would make the situation in Africa unique is that these shocks do overlap and come as waves, with cumulative negative impacts. COVID-19 is an addition to these waves of shocks. 

7. Other challenges include biodiversity loss, deforestation, desertification and depleting natural resources. 

8. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, about 239 million people are food insecure, 65 million people are in acute food insecurity and 413 million people live in poverty. 

9. COVID-19 uniquely strikes right at the center of this high vulnerability! COVID-19 pandemic led to disruptions in food supply chains, due to the containment measures introduced, which compromised the ability of vulnerable groups to access food, thus exposing the inadequacies of existing social protection and safety net programs across the continent. 

10. Agriculture in Africa is season-sensitive preoccupation, much of it is dependent on weather conditions and patterns. Timely availability of farm inputs and operation of activities determine the level of food production. Disruptions in inputs supply chains such as seeds, fertilizer, animal feed or mobility of labor will destabilize the production system with consequences in the medium and longer term. Anticipated global economic recession have a dampening growth prospect for the agri-food sector. Outlooks on Africa’s economies are not very encouraging. 

11. FAO is committed to attaining Zero Hunger and improving the livelihoods of people through better production, better nutrition, better environment, and a better life. In the context of COVID-19, FAO and its partners are supporting the efforts of Member Countries to: 
(i) Keep agricultural supply chains alive while protecting the safety and wellbeing of everyone working along the food chain, through: 
· Keeping the domestic food supply value chains functioning; including sustained flow of agriculture inputs such as seeds and planting materials, animal feed to farmers, livestock herders, fisher-folk. And doing these while taking all necessary health precautions. 
· Recognizing agricultural workers as essential service providers during the crises, including seasonal, migrant and casual workers – and therefore facilitate their safe movements! 
o Keeping trade open and take measures that protect the food supply chains. 
(ii) Address the needs of the most vulnerable, and scale up social protection programmes including social safety nets. 
(iii) Strengthen multi-sectoral approaches and mobilizing strategic partnerships and international cooperation. We have been able to mobilize partnerships supporting ministries of agriculture on agreed upon priorities. A tripartite ministers meeting involving agriculture, trade and finance is being planned for July. 
We should seize the opportunities for transformation through adoption and scaling up promising innovations to reach millions of people – such as digital agriculture. Already there are good examples in member states, such as:
· The UjuziKilimo, a platform in Kenya, digitizes farming records and data to analyse and advise rural farmers on the inputs to use, when and how to plant. The platform eliminates the need for mandatory field visits, as data can be collected and shared digitally. 
· The Foodlocker, a Nigerian platform gives smallholders direct market access, a benefit even more valuable in a time of social distancing and market shutdowns. They can sell directly to consumers on the platform, and the company goes further to provide smallholders with production advice. 

12. In conclusion, COVID-19 is an extraordinary situation. It requires an extraordinary response –by everybody. 
The pandemic offers an opportunity, a wake-up call for accelerating a holistic implementation of both Agendas 2030 and 2063. It requires comprehensive approaches. 
The reponses to COVID-19 need to go beyond the short term. The sustainable solution in the long term resides in building resilience of production and livelihoods systems, including investing in large-scale landscape restoration initiatives. This will enable systems to absorb the shocks, to build back better and to deal with risks of exposure to a future shock. 
International collaboration and partnership is key –this is a global challenge, which requires global solidarity. FAO facilitates building of partnerships and mobilization of the necessary technical and financial resources to support the efforts of Member Countries as they respond to this challenge, focusing action in four key areas: enabling policy, innovation, investment, and capacity development. 
Knowledge-sharing is key. I take this opportunity to announce here that FAO is launching this week, an e-learning Academy which offers over 350 multilingual e-learning courses free of charge, as a global public good. This the result of a collaborative effort which involves over 200 partners throughout the world. 

I wish to once again thank the organizers for the opportunity and reiterate that FAO remains committed to continue working with you, and the global and African community to ensure a sustainable, just, better, and healthier future for Sustainable development in Africa. 

I thank you very much for your attention.