Trade and Agriculture for Africa Development

Poverty reduction needs sustainable growth and sustainable growth needs expanded markets and much better access to the international as well as continental markets. Trade is a very important engine of growth and development in Africa. Having participated in trade conferences over thee years, I have to underscore its importance for the continent, of fair, non-discriminatory, predictable, multi-lateral rules base trading system. Africa needs a great improvement in market access, particularly in agriculture and in the other export areas of interest to the African countries. Within the continent, there is need to use the regional initiatives to open up and encourage trade in goods and services amongst member states. Their is need for the elimination of trade distorting domestic support and export subsidies that have harmful implications for African commodity exports.

Thinking and acting collectively, African countries need to expand their markets in order to fight poverty effectively. Sector like the transport and energy, needs to be strengthened. The regional economic communities are critical to collective action. As such, rationalising them, harmonising their work and enabling them to better implement programmes at sub-regional levels will greatly enhance efforts towards achieving sustainable development.

Given the critical importance of agriculture to development, poverty reduction, and food security in Africa, this sector deserves special attention. Some 65% of the total labour force in Africa works in agriculture, providing livelihoods for more than 90% of people in rural areas, yet challenges such as fragmented and underdeveloped markets, lack of access to information, finance and land, poor infrasturcture, and vulnerablitity to external shocks and market barriers undermine the sector. Investment in integrated water and agriculture devopment must urgently be scaled up while the African Agricultural Development Programme needs to be supported and applied.

Africa needs a new impetus to reverse deterioration in its human and capital development. A paradigm shift is urgently needed to achieve a true reversal of present trends in economic and human development on the continent. Agriculture and trade capacity development of African countries remains the big push that Africa needs for its sustainable development!