July 05, 2021

Putting African governments to task on Maputo Declaration

topic:	Food Security
located:	Mozambique
editor:	Bob Koigi

Nearly 20 years after African heads of states and governments passed a resolution to allocate 10 percent of their national budgets to agricultural development, there has been nothing to write home about concerning that political commitment. 

Dubbed the Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security, the pledge was informed by the crucial role that the sector plays in the continent and why governments needed to invest in it to lift thousands from poverty, address malnutrition and bolster economic development of individual countries.

Even with the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth, which sought to bolster the previous pledge, governments have continuously paid lip service to investment in agriculture

Yet the sector remains the lifeline of a bulk of African nations - contributing over 30 percent to the national purse, employing more than half of sub-Saharan Africa's active labour force and providing much needed income at the household level. 

With the emerging unprecedented economic crisis, an extra 29 million people could sink into poverty, 19 million jobs could be lost and the number of the undernourished people from food importing countries could rise to 80.3 million.

A recent report by FAO  showed that despite the pivotal role agriculture plays in Africa, the continent invests less per capita compared to other regions globally. 

An even more shocking finding of the report is that 21 percent of food and agriculture-dedicated budgets in Sub-Saharan Africa are usually not spent on what is attributed to slow disbursement of funds or emerging issues in project implementation.

For a sector so crucial for millions of people, commitment to and investment in its growth should never be a choice. The private sector, civil society and the general public should constantly remind African heads of states and political leaders of their fiduciary duty to fulfill the pledge that matters to an entire people - now more than ever.

Image: Anaya Katlego. 

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