Kanayo F. Nwanze to speak on agriculture, jobs and public-private partnerships at World Economic Forum (Cape Town)

Rome, 8 June 2009 – Unleashing the potential of Africa’s small farms – the mainstay of food production – is more essential than ever as the continent grapples with the impact of the global economic crisis, according to the President of the UN’s rural poverty agency, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

“Smallholder agriculture is the largest private-sector activity in many African countries. It not only feeds families, it provides jobs and catalyses the growth of rural businesses and broader development,” said IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze.

Agriculture accounts for about 30 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP, at least 40 per cent of its exports and up to 80 per cent of employment. But Africa’s 80 million smallholder farms are far from realizing their potential, noted Nwanze, who is attending the World Economic Forum in Cape Town (10-12 June) where he will speak on agriculture, employment and public-private partnerships. The global economic crisis has thrust the region’s largest economy – South Africa – into recession and risks having a devastating impact on poor people across the continent.

External resource flows to Africa – overseas development aid, remittances and foreign direct investments – have been declining, and the International Monetary Fund last month revised its growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa in 2009 from 3.25 per cent to just 1.5 per cent.

To protect the most vulnerable people, particularly those living in rural areas, African governments need to put money into agriculture to prevent a slide back into poverty and to stimulate growth.

“An increase in investment in smallholder farms – which represent 95 per cent of agriculture in Africa – can return the continent to a path of high growth.”

Investments need to be made right across the value chain: in microfinance to allow farmers to buy their inputs, to agro-processing to increase food quality, and access to local and international markets.

“Economic uncertainty prevails in Africa, as elsewhere. A growing farm economy can counter that uncertainty by creating off-farm jobs, agro-processing and small-scale manufacturing, and generating domestic resources for governments,” said Mohamed Beavogui, Director of IFAD’s Western and Central Africa Division.

“African governments under fiscal pressure need to recognise and explore this potential to help avoid any hasty reactions that might end up undermining agriculture,” he added.

Notes to editors

• The President of IFAD is meeting with international, national and regional media at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) at the Wits University, in Johannesburg.
  Date: Tuesday, 9 June 2009
  Time: 10:30 – 11:30 am
• Some 45 per cent of all IFAD funding goes to Africa, placing the Fund among the top three multilateral institutions on the continent.
• Economic growth in Africa is expected to be only 2.8 per cent in 2009, less than half of the 5.7 per cent estimated for 2008. And the International Monetary Fund forecast for growth in sub-Saharan Africa in 2009 is just 1.5 per cent – below the rate of population growth.
• In absolute values, the number of people in Africa living on less than US$1.25 a day almost doubled over the period from 1981 to 2005 (from 200 million to around 380 million).

Press release No.: IFAD/30/09

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The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes, and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$11 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering some 340 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 165 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).