Africa Economy: African states urged to reduce poverty via agricultural transformation

African states are urged to make more efforts to alleviate hunger and poverty via agricultural transformation as poverty has posed a significant threat on the continent's economic growth, a senior African Union official said Tuesday.

Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, AU's commissioner for rural economy and agriculture, told a press briefing on the sidelines of the AU ministerial conference that African governments have resolved to implement broad action plans to reinvest food production.

"Every single country on this continent is firmly committed to realizing agricultural transformation that heralds food, nutrition security and economic growth," Tumusiime said.

Heads of state and government from AU member states in 2014 endorsed a comprehensive blue print to accelerate agricultural renewal through increased investments, adoption of technology and policy reforms.

The AU official said that many countries have not wavered in their commitment to modernize agriculture and enhance its resilience in the face of climatic shocks.

"African countries have internalized previous declarations to boost the agriculture sector, and rapid economic growth has been realized in countries that have prioritized investments in agriculture," Tumusiime said.

Tumusiime noted that African states have rallied key stakeholders to catalyze agricultural transformation and achieve food security.

"The political commitment towards agricultural transformation on the continent is visible. Adequate budgetary allocation and policy reforms in this sector has been a priority," Tumusiime said.

The AU in its Agenda 2063 recognizes agriculture as the key driver of socio-economic transformation on the continent.

Tumusiime said AU and key partners have agreed on specific programs to revitalize food production systems across Sub-Saharan Africa.

The African Union commission and New Partnership for African Development on Tuesday launched a new roadmap to reinvent African farming, eradicate hunger and malnutrition by 2025.

Tumusiime said the AU will conduct regular appraisals to gauge African countries' commitment to agricultural transformation.

"Monitoring and evaluation will be conducted regularly to ensure countries do not backtrack in their commitment to uplift the agriculture sector," Tumusiime added.

She said African states have agreed on strengthening cross border trade in agricultural commodities to economic growth and job creation.

"Governments have discovered that greater participation of the private sector, women and youth underpins agricultural transformation," she said. Endi