{"id":18888,"date":"2014-05-09T10:30:45","date_gmt":"2014-05-09T10:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/?post_type=one_press&p=18888"},"modified":"2024-01-22T14:31:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T14:31:38","slug":"half-a-million-nigerians-join-fellow-african-citizens-to-call-on-african-leaders-to-keep-their-promise-and-invest-in-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"one_press","link":"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/press\/half-a-million-nigerians-join-fellow-african-citizens-to-call-on-african-leaders-to-keep-their-promise-and-invest-in-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Half a million Nigerians join fellow African citizens to call on African leaders to keep their promise and invest in Agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2003 in Maputo, African leaders committed to spending at least 10% of their national budgets on agriculture with a view to attaining 6% growth in the sector under the Comprehensive African\u00a0Agriculture \u00a0Development\u00a0Program\u00a0(CAADP)\u00a0which was set up to monitor the implementation of the Maputo Declaration. More than ten years later, only eight countries have kept that promise.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"President
ONE.org\u2019s Executive Director for Africa, Dr. Sipho S. Moyo, joined by ONE Africa’s Media Manager Nde Ndifonka, presents the petition to President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ONE.org launched the petition\u00a0as part of its\u00a0\u2018Do\u00a0Agric, It Pays\u2019 campaign on\u00a0January\u00a021, in support of\u00a0the 2014 AU Year of Agriculture.\u00a0The petition urges African leaders to collectively adopt an enhanced CAADP framework during the AU Heads of State summit in Malabo in June 2014, that will open up opportunities in the agriculture sector for millions of smallholder farmers and young people who are trapped in poverty.\u00a0Six hundred thousand Africans have so far signed the petition, and many more\u00a0are joining the cause daily.<\/p>\n

President Kikwete of Tanzania later that day accepted the petition from Dr. Moyo and promised his support in rallying his peers to support the cause for better agricultural development, ahead f the AU Summit in June in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea: \u201cI will be taking this petition to Malabo in support of the campaign, you have my full support.\u201d<\/p>\n

PM Moussa Mara also reiterated his support for agricultural development, and noted that agriculture is at the centre of Mali\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad that Africans have rallied behind this campaign, and as leaders, we will continue to work to find effective solutions to job creation and economic development, agricultural growth being a major portal for that. Our government is very committed to agriculture, and you have our full support to bring this campaign to Mali.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, popstar and Do Agric, It Pays ambassador, D\u2019banj presented the petition to Nigerian Federal Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, at a joint press briefing that also featured Founder of Heirs Holding Tony\u00a0Elumelu, African Development Bank President Mr. Donald\u00a0Kaberuka, and Dr. Sipho S. Moyo.<\/p>\n

\"Popstar<\/a>
Popstar and Do Agric, It Pays ambassador, D\u2019banj, flanked by Tony Elumelu and Dr Sipho Moyo presents the petition to Nigerian Federal Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The conference was organized by ONE.org, in collaboration with the African Business Roundtable, to discuss the role of catalytic public investments in agricultural development.<\/p>\n

In accepting the petition, HE Adesina lauded the contribution of ONE.org\u2019s DO Agric campaign to the development of agriculture in Nigeria:<\/p>\n

\u201cYour work has taken agriculture out of obscurity into the mainstream. Nigeria remains committed to agricultural development as the quickest means to economic development. We are not only at the forefront of innovative reforms and technological development in the sector, but we are also collaborating and exchanging ideas with other active countries such as Rwanda. Our electronic wallet programme has enabled us to reach 10.5 million farmers with support, and this has provided a template that is being emulated by countries such as India,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dr.\u00a0Moyo\u00a0called\u00a0on Nigeria as a leading African nation to\u00a0continue to champion this cause\u00a0and\u00a0scale up its public investments in agriculture, in line with its Maputo commitments. This she\u00a0said,\u00a0will help to\u00a0catalyze both domestic and private sector participation, and\u00a0ensure that the government’s flagship programs designed to promote the development of agricultural value chains benefit smallholder farmers.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is estimated that agricultural growth in sub-Saharan Africa today is 11 times more effective in reducing poverty than growth in any other sector including mining, oil and gas. The majority of Nigeria\u2019s poor live in rural areas and over 14 million families depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Increased strategic government-led investment in agriculture, complimented by private sector investment\u00a0is therefore crucial now, more than ever. This will help ensure that\u00a0more Nigerians at the grassroots\u00a0benefit from\u00a0laudable programs\u00a0such as the\u00a0Agricultural Transformation Agenda and\u00a0the country\u2019s inspirational search for 750 000\u00a0\u2018Nagropreneurs\u2019,\u201d\u00a0Dr.\u00a0Moyo\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing Africa\u2019s most populous country, and the continent\u2019s biggest economy, any further gains in agricultural development in Nigeria could mean a giant step forward in the continent\u2019s fight against poverty.\u201d she\u00a0concluded<\/p>\n

Tony\u00a0Elumelu\u00a0called on entrepreneurs to seize the benefits of agricultural investment in Africa:<\/a><\/p>\n

\"IMG_0565\"
Dr Sipho Moyo, Nachilala Nkombo and Nde Ndifonka present the Do Agric petition to Prime Minister Moussa Mara of Mali, during the World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja, Nigeria.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAgriculture is a transformative sector for any economy and offers many opportunities for business and job growth across the continent. This is why I am working through Heirs Holdings and the Tony\u00a0Elumelu\u00a0Foundation to make investments in agriculture in Tanzania, Rwanda and Nigeria, in partnership with smallholder farmers. \u00a0The impact of our technical and financial investments would be multiplied by public investments in access to finance, infrastructure and skills development. Thus, I want to encourage African governments to continue to scale up their commitments to these enabling public investments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donald\u00a0Kaberuka\u00a0called for increased agricultural investments as a means to kick-start economies and\u00a0grow\u00a0DECENT jobs:<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAs African leaders, we need to lay a special emphasis on those sectors that generate more economic opportunities for the vast majority of Africans, and plough\u00a0revenues harnessed from\u00a0Africa\u2019s natural resources into job creating sectors such as agriculture.\u201d<\/p>\n

ONE.org\u2019s\u00a0key policy recommendations are outlined in the recent policy report: \u2018Ripe for Change: The Promise of Africa\u2019s Agricultural Transformation<\/a>\u2019, released in support of the 2014 African Union Year of Agriculture. The report tracks the progress of African countries in agricultural development over the last decade, since 2003 in Maputo when African Heads of State committed to investing at least 10% of their national budgets in agriculture.<\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABUJA, NIGERIA \u2013 Over half a million Nigerians have signed an ongoing petition calling on African leaders to invest more in agriculture and help transform the sector in a manner that will benefit small holder farmers and women directly.<\/p>\n

The petition was today presented by ONE.org\u2019s Executive Director for Africa, Dr. Sipho S. Moyo to President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania and Prime Minister Moussa Mara of Mali, during the World Economic Forum on Africa in Abuja, Nigeria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":18890,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"163822,163796,163741,163616,162098,162097","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"contributor":[],"class_list":["post-18888","one_press","type-one_press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHalf a million Nigerians join fellow African citizens to call on African leaders to keep their promise and invest in Agriculture - ONE.org Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.one.org\/africa\/press\/half-a-million-nigerians-join-fellow-african-citizens-to-call-on-african-leaders-to-keep-their-promise-and-invest-in-agriculture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Half a million Nigerians join fellow African citizens to call on African leaders to keep their promise and invest in Agriculture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ABUJA, NIGERIA \u2013 Over half a million Nigerians have signed an ongoing petition calling on African leaders to invest more in agriculture and help transform the sector in a manner that will benefit small holder farmers and women directly. 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