RATIN

Agro financing needs substantial improvement

Posted on April, 20, 2018 at 10:42 am


Financing has stagnated in agriculture for some time now, and if the African continent wants to make progress in this area then issues like data collection must be enhanced.

This is the view of Dr Augustin Wambo, head of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) at NEPAD Agency.

Speaking in a telephone interview with The Guardian ahead of the 14th CAADP PP set to be held this month in Libreville, Gabon, Dr Wambo said:  “There is need to agree on the nature of financing as a proper definition of funding is equally needed. Where we channel the financing is also important to ensure that it will impact agriculture growth.”

The CAADP PP in Gabon will be held under the theme: ‘Accelerating the implementation of the National Agricultural Investment Plans to achieve the Malabo goals and targets.’

 ccording to Dr Wambo, evidence-based approach planning should be put to use so that every penny spent is accounted for. The NEPAD official said countries must take the lead in ensuring that the 10 per cent of their budget allocation to agriculture, as stipulated
in the Maputo Declaration, is wisely used to trigger more private investment in agriculture.

The private sector should be allowed to occupy its natural space in agriculture transformation in Africa, he asserted, adding:

“We have noted that the private sector is moving into financing agriculture, though not enough has been done.”

Wambo explained that when CAADP was started, there was a large shortfall in finance with many donors coming in with trust funds.

“However, this funding comes to an end this year, and if nothing is done, we might find ourselves unable to fund CAADP at country levels,” he stated.

He said he is glad to see that countries no longer consider CAADP as purely a money-making venture, and are asking questions on how to access effective tools and instruments to push their agriculture forward.

Worldwide, agriculture and the agribusiness industry face a multibillion-dollar financing gap. Estimates of the global demand for smallholder agriculture finance are as high as $450 billion. Within Sub-Saharan Africa alone, an estimated $11 billion of investments are needed each year to achieve the desired expansion of agricultural output in the region.

When African leaders endorsed the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) as a New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) program in July 2003, the overall goal was to “help African countries reach a higher path of economic growth through agriculture-led development which eliminates hunger, reduces poverty and food insecurity, and enables expansion of exports.”To meet these goals, African leaders re-affirmed their commitment to the CAADP process and agreed to enhance investment finance and a biennial tracking of progress and reporting mechanism as part of the mutual accountability commitment.

Specifically, the Malabo Declaration - known as the Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation Goals 2025 - outlines seven ccommitments that are geared towards fostering agricultural growth and transformation.

 

Source: IPP Media