Agriculture needed new technologies and innovations as well as bold leadership as developing nations look towards an era of climate smart agriculture.
This would meet the needs of the huge number of people that suffer from poverty in rural areas across the globe.
These were the views shared by several leaders and delegates at the opening of the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) 35th Governing Council in Rome, Italy on Wednesday.
Experts from IFAD, a specialised agency of the United Nations, said that there was a satisfactory degree of agricultural success in developing nations but much still needed to be done as small holder farmers remained vulnerable to forces of climate change, lack of market access and under investment.
Out of a global population of about seven billion, more than one billion people remained under nourished, yet there is enough arable land to feed the entire world population, reports show.
Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, said it was evident that food production was not keeping up with the increase of the world’s population, and many of those affected were people from lower income countries in the developing world.
He pointed out that Rwanda had a small-holder base agricultural sector in a fragile environment that was susceptible to climate change. With these issues, it was time to try what had not been done and look to other methods that worked to suite small farmers.
He was also quick to point out that with this approach, agricultural output for small holder farmers in Rwanda had improved which saw small farmers increase their income by about five percent.
“One million Rwandans are moved beyond the poverty line…This was achieved in fragile conditions as the productivity of small holder farmers was increased,” he said.
Kagame said cooperation was critical if agriculture were to grow. Ifad had played a critical role in assisting the country with tea and coffee exports.
The agricultural sector was the main source of livelihood that ensured a steady food supply for the majority of the population in Rwanda.
“Rwanda’s arable land population, is growing and we need to protect our food security,” he said.
Kagame said the country had tripled maize and doubled what production between 2007 and 2010.
“A lot remains to be done. We cannot talk of sustainable production if we rely on rain fed agriculture. We need to intensify irrigation while making water resources better. Farmers need fertilisers and seeds. We need to invest in new technology to ensure production of staple foods,” explained.
Kanayo Nwanze, president of Ifad, said in his key note address to delegates agriculture needed to reflect the impacts of environmental degradation in order to develop ground breaking innovations that would help channel agricultural finance to smaller countries.
Nwanze said the organisation had surpassed its efficiency target for aid. He called for farmers to be recognised as entrepreneurs where they can have access to means that would enable them to transform their operations. The organisation would also expand its partnership with the private sector and would expand its presence in fragile states, added. - Ayanda Mdluli