The Country Director of the Sasakawa Africa Association, Nigeria, Dr Godwin Atser, has called for a concerted effort to tackle poverty in Africa, especially among farmers and rural dwellers. Speaking recently at a side event organised by the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) at the just concluded African Food Systems Forum (AFSF) in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, Dr Atser, stated that Africa’s agriculture must take the transformative path.
His words: “Africa needs to grow its agricultural sector to have a transformational impact to tackle poverty. It is disheartening that while agriculture contributes 20—30 per cent of the GDP of several countries in Africa, its smallholder farmers are trapped in poverty due to low productivity plus the negative impact of climate change”.
Dr Atser stressed that the fact that 70 per cent of the continent’s population was employed in agriculture and 70 per cent of the population still live in rural areas, Africa’s story had to change from the current unpalatable realities.
He observed, “In 2022, the average annual income of a cereal farmer in India was $2,168 per annum and average yield was 4.0tons per hectare, but the annual income of his Northern Nigerian counterpart in the same year was $489 per annum and average yield was 1.7 tons per hectare. Nigerian farmers are back where Indian farmers were in the early 1970s.”
While laying the background for the side event’s panel discussion, the Sasakawa boss stated SAA was joining other organisations and initiatives, to recalibrate intervention strategies for greater impact on food security and economic empowerment.
“Sasakawa Africa Association and its partners are responding to these challenges,” he said. “Examples are the Nippon Foundation grants to SAA; the Kano State Agro-pastoral Development Project (KSADP) in Nigeria; AGRA’s projects in Nigeria, BASICS-II Project transforming Cassava Seed System in Nigeria and Tanzania; and Technology for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)”.
Leaders of the initiatives were the panelists for the discussion. They include Dr Rufus Idris (Country Director, AGRA Nigeria); Dr Mel Oluoch (Director for Strategic Partnerships, Sasakawa Africa Association), Dr Solomon Gizaw (Head of TAAT ClearingHouse) and Abdulrasheed Hamisu Kofarmata (SAA Project Coordinator, Kano State Agropastoral Development Project).