NEW YORK, NY - March 10, 2010
-- High-level representatives from 44 African countries wrapped up a
United Nations-backed conference in Nigeria today with the approval of
an ambitious plan to generate employment, income and food security
across the continent through agribusiness.
The
scheme
provides a framework and financial mechanisms for public and private
sectors investors to finance development of the agricultural industry
in Africa, whose population could double by 2050 to reach 2 billion
people.
Sub-Saharan Africa alone will need $940 billion of
cumulative investment over the next 40 years - most of it for
agribusiness capital outlays - to feed its people, according to the UN
Industrial Development Organization
(
UNIDO).
"Agribusiness in Africa
needs to undergo a profound structural transformation and technological
upgrading during the next 20 years to generate jobs and income urgently
needed by Africa's growing population," said UNIDO Director-General
Kandeh K. Yumkella.
The African Agribusiness and Agro-industries
Development Initiative, or 3ADI, was endorsed at a three-day gathering
in the Nigerian capital Abuja, attended by some 500 participants -
including heads of State, prime ministers and the ministers of
agriculture and industry - and organized by UNIDO, with the African
Union (AU), the Food and Agriculture Organization
(
FAO), the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (
IFAD), the UN
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), and the African Development Bank.
"It is essential to avoid policies, such as subsidies on
labour-saving technologies, that bias technology choice in favour of
large-scale, highly mechanized operations," stressed Mr. Yumkella.
He
underscored the importance of developing agribusiness on a regional and
continent-wide level, adding that private enterprises had to be
stimulated, technology and innovation expanded, innovative financing
mechanisms introduced, infrastructure and energy constraints removed.
"For
agribusiness to become competitive, policies need to be in place, as
well as research and practical actions to achieve a unique blend of
ecological compliance and inclusive growth," he said.
African
States have pledged to invest through the AU a minimum of 10 per cent
of budgetary resources in the agricultural sector, and the Group of
Eight industrialized countries (G-8) conference in Italy last year
renewed the donor community commitment to the Comprehensive Africa
Agricultural Development Programme, which has set an annual
agricultural growth target of 6 per cent to achieve the Millennium
Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty by 2015.
In a related
development, UNIDO and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), a
leading pan-African banking group, signed an agreement to work together
in promoting economic growth in Africa, particularly in the area of
agribusiness, including food, leather, textiles, wood, agro-machinery;
on renewable energy, including bio-energy initiatives, on hydro power
projects, and other environmentally sustainable projects; as well as on
clean technologies.