Food security tests Africa’s unity agenda

There are challenges and paradoxes that necessitate more effective action and cooperation in agriculture and food security in Africa.

An immediate paradox is the reality that we continue to face hunger and poverty in a context where large tracks of agricultural land remain under- and unused.

A second and related paradox is that, we are witness to a situation where many of our farmers are moving from the growing of staple foods to the production of high-value agricultural products for export, including bio-fuel, hence forcing many countries to import basic and staple agricultural products.

The simple reality and fact is that the era of globalisation and rapid liberalisation has, over the past decades, served to fundamentally reshape agricultural productions and consumption in our regions.

With the growth in among others, the consumption of imported rice and wheat, food aid, traditional agricultural sectors continue to be destroyed.

Furthermore, the logic of the global market has created deep contradictions that are clearly not sustainable and with current developments, the consequential path of ‘hunger amidst plenty’ in the future should be a matter that concerns all and sundry and not just our Ministers of Agriculture.

If we combine the consequential realities that emerge from the dominance of the global market with the climatic changes we are faced with and will continue to face, there can only be one logical approach to the future – proactive and visionary interventions.

There is bound to be some intervention in the established path from us all, as peoples, as communities, as governments and as regional and multilateral organisations.

We must deal decisively with our current realities and manage the current agricultural and food shortage crisis to further palliate its effects on us and future generations.

The current scenario, therefore, calls for collective actions and joint initiatives that stem from a wide recognition that, while the market has value, left on its own, it would be creating the conditions that are counterproductive.

Indeed, if we do not address in a decisive manner the agriculture and food security challenges we face, the peace and security and development we all talk about will remain elusive.

In recognising that collective action from African Union member states is most necessary to grapple with the challenges in Agriculture and Food Security, we must emphasise and perhaps the importance of appropriate Governance frameworks.

When the State intervenes, its actions are on behalf of its people.

The participation of people is, therefore, fundamental to any development trajectory we seek to establish.

To retain certainty that its actions are in the interest of its people, there must be some modalities of securing mandates from the people.

In emphasising fair and participatory collective governance and decision processes, as a basis for collective actions in all sectors and spheres of society, we have, as the African Union Commission and indeed the African Union also placed a very high premium on regional and inter-regional collective action.

We are in no doubt that the challenges we face and the future we want will require more effective inter-regional cooperation.

Heads of State have made our commitment to Afro-Arab Cooperation very clear at the last AU Summit, by affirming that it was most important that we move forward with the arrangements for the 2nd Afro-Arab Summit.

It has been a very long time since the initial Summit in 1977.

This by no means indicates a lack of appreciation for the importance of engaged relationships between Africa and the Arab world.

Over the past three decades, cooperation has always proceeded undeterred on a number of fronts and we have worked closely with the League of Arab States in our collective international engagements.

In all of our joint initiatives, we fully recognise that cooperation is not a matter of choice for us, but a reality that we live with.

Indeed, we are bound by our geographic proximity and historical, linguistic, religious and cultural ties, and are also living witnesses to an era when there is ever increasing interactions between our people.

Afro-Arab Co-operation has always been a continuing element of the overall agenda of the AU and indeed has over the past years reflected itself in, for example, the organisation of the Afro-Arab Trade Fairs and Business Weeks and the established Joint Institute in Mali for cultural exchanges and research in the two regions.

Investment strategies

By affirming the need for the 2nd Summit, Heads of State and Government have clearly indicated that the time has come for us to appreciate what has unfolded and establish the path into a common future through highest-level consultations.

The Summit will thus come, not as the beginning of a journey, but as reflective impetus for our continued journey and actions in areas of common concern.

The choice of the current domain of intervention is very apt and most timely as it resonates with the current shift in the global international circles that are now devoting focused attention to support Africa in boosting its agricultural growth.

As the bulk of the African workforce is premised on agri-business, it is imperative that all hands are on deck to strengthen the region’s effort in attaining food security and poverty alleviation.

Indeed, a continent like Africa needs a strong agriculture-based sector to catalyse its socio-economic growth and investment strategies.

Joiner is the commissioner for political affairs at the African Union Commission.