In our globalised world, with its instant communication and interconnected markets, no longer can the problems of people on one side of the world be ignored by those on the other side. Today’s world faces multiple challenges like these, ranging from food insecurity to increased natural and human-made disasters and the effects of climate change. In 2003, the United Nations made a call for placing agricultural development at the forefront of the fight against extreme hunger and poverty. Half a decade later, the world is still debating how best to bring agricultural development into Africa.
A number of initiatives and organisations, including New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and, more recently, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) are a response to African leaders' calls to chart a new path for prosperity by spurring Africa's agricultural development.
New dawn
The Asian Green Revolution is credited with saving a billion lives on the continent some four decades ago by revolutionising food production. Now, a new variety of drought and pest-resistant rice for Africa has been developed with double the yield of traditional rice, a growing season 30-50 days shorter than other varieties, a higher protein content, and it even tastes good. This is NERICA, the New Rice for Africa, which combines the high yield of Asian rice with the hardiness of African rice.
NERICA is a reality in the fields of 30,000 farmers in 20 countries. Yields have increased dramatically, families are taking advantage of the shorter growing season to plant an extra crop of vegetables or legumes, and women report that the wider leaf of the NERICA plant casts a shadow that inhibits weed growth.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is a specialised UN agency that invests in agriculture and rural development. IFAD provided funds to the Africa Rice Center (WARDA) where this rice variety was developed to promote the use of NERICA in the region, and it is now designing a series of grants that will support NERICA seed multiplication efforts in several countries.
The UN estimates that 1.7 million subsistence farmers in Africa could benefit from NERICA. At the macro level, this means that national economies of these countries will benefit from an increase in local rice production and, at the same time, reduce their need to use foreign currency to import rice.
IFDA has made some $ 4 billion in loans and grants, financing close to 345 programmes and projects in 51 African countries.
The hurdles ahead
If an African Green Revolution is going to be successful, it has to reach as many farmers as possible. Climate change affects their traditional production patterns and rural-urban migration has meant an increased presence of urban supermarkets and the loss of farmers' informal rural markets. In addition, the need for alternative energy sources will lead to the conversion of land from food crops to energy crops – all of which have serious implications for agriculture in general but small farmers in particular.
In its efforts to ensure that the needs of small-holder farmers are not overlooked by those who develop new policies, laws, and regulations for dealing with these challenges, IFAD makes investments in projects that involve the farmers themselves: projects meant to raise the capacity of grassroots farmers' organisations. By building stronger rural institutions, farmers are enabled to work together, to participate in developing their own strategies, and to have a voice in decision making. They become empowered.
An African Green Revolution must have the right blend of political commitment and support, conducive and adequate policies, improved infrastructure and market access, improved consideration of land issues, and overall leadership and vision within Africa to move an action-oriented agenda.Without a doubt, developments such as NERICA are exactly what is needed to move the African Green Revolution forward.
(The writer is Vice President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development.)