Small farmers central for food security in Africa
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- Small farmers as a group are the largest investors in African agriculture
The group of 8 large economies, known as the G8 is taking food security in Africa seriously, according to Kanayo Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Mr Nwanze on Wednesday briefed the press on the G8's New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition announced in Washington D.C. last week.
The initiative will initially focus on Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania and is expected to expand to three other African countries in the near future.
Mr Nwanze returned from a meeting in Chicago that was attended by President Barack Obama and African leaders.
He said he has been able to voice IFAD’s opinion that the initiative should put small farmers at the centre of food security discussion.
"It is correct and we endorse it that private sector investment in agriculture in Africa is very low but the idea here is that we have to recognize first and foremost that farming is a private business. Small holders are central so one point is for the initiative to ensure that the international private sector can contribute to transforming the smallholder producer from a subsistence farmer to a commercial farmer and by "commercial" I do not mean necessarily large farms." (Duration: 29")
