Dakar 2 summit: Optimism abounds as African leaders share experience of agricultural transformation. | African Development Bank

At last week’s Feed Africa Summit of the African Development Bank in Dakar, African heads of state pooled their knowledge on how they have succeeded in developing their country’s agricultural sector.

Thirty-four African heads of state attended the summit, where they stressed that investment is essential to ensure the food security of their citizens and create jobs for women and youth.

Ethiopia has provided a textbook example of how to transform the agricultural sector. The country has doubled its agricultural budget in the last four years and today the country has achieved food independence in wheat and now wants to export to the region.

According to the minister in charge of planning, Festa Masefa, Ethiopia has now irrigated one million hectares for the dry season and can now harvest wheat in 90 days. The country has invested in mechanization, securing land for farmers, and has pursued a policy of grouping producers into cooperatives.

While Ethiopia is leading the way, the leaders showed that several other African countries were making a big difference in transforming their agricultural sectors.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi said agriculture in his country has experienced a paradigm shift since 2019. The agricultural budget has doubled, allowing the DRC to invest heavily in cassava production. This now accounts for 10% of all bread baked in the country and saves the Central African nation about $10-20 million dollars in wheat imports.

He said Congo had identified eight sites where agro-industrial processing zones would be developed and concluded: “The Democratic Republic of Congo is on the move.”

The President of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, shared a similar success story.

“Guinea-Bissau is a small economy, but with the support of the international community, in particular the African Development Bank, we are building a more intensive agricultural policy. By 2025, we will succeed in increasing our rice yields, a staple food such as cassava and sweet potato.”

In Burundi, President Evariste Ndayishumiye is also optimistic that his country is on the right track:

“The fight against hunger and poverty,” he says, “is a noble battle that can easily be won if we are together and determined.”

He explained how the use of fertilizers, an important element in the transformation of agriculture, has increased by 70%, and a National Economic Development Bank for young farmers to support farmers who do not have bank guarantees.

Burundi still lacks processing, conservation and marketing capacity, but President Evariste Ndayishumiye remains optimistic that his country is on the right track.

That track towards agricultural transformation and food security is shared by the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin Archange Touadéra. His country provides free fertilizer to cotton producers, which contributes heavily to the country’s GDP:

“We believe that within a few years we will reach six million hectares of agricultural exploitation,” said Touadéra.

All this will require investment, as Morocco’s head of government Aziz Akhannouch revealed when he shared the results of his “Green Morocco Plan”, which had benefited from a $13 billion investment over the past decade. This has led to a 5% growth in the country’s agricultural sector. Now Morocco is launching a new program called “Green Generation” which will improve youth employability by giving them one million hectares to develop for agriculture:

“For us, investments are key,” said Mr. Akhannouch, “it includes seeds, mechanization, fertilizer, land, training, research. This is the most important thing if we want to have productivity and added value.”

In Gabon, President Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda aims to create a business-friendly climate to attract investors.

“An orientation law has been introduced that stipulates that 50% of agricultural products must be local in order to access the local market,” she told the summit. “The aim is to ensure that the contribution of the agricultural sector to the formation of GDP goes from 5% to 20% and that imports are reduced by 50%.”

In addition to food imports, inflation is another challenge for Comoros Prime Minister Bianrifi Tharmidhi. He told the summit that he was determined to implement different solutions to curb the inflation of food and cash crops: “We have mobilized more than 30 million euros to develop the agricultural sector.”

All the heads of state who shared their stories of agricultural transformation expressed their optimism that their countries were on the right track towards self-sufficiency. They also accepted that there are many challenges ahead as Africa continues to grapple with the aftermath of Covid-19, climate change and the impact of Russia’s conflict in Ukraine on global grain exports.