{"id":905,"date":"2020-07-08T21:07:27","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T21:07:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emergingag.com\/?p=905"},"modified":"2020-07-08T21:07:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T21:07:27","slug":"2019-agra-report-focuses-on-africa-smallholder-farmers-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emergingag.com\/fr\/2019-agra-report-focuses-on-africa-smallholder-farmers-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"2019 AGRA Report focuses on Africa Smallholder Farmers Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cToday, the agricultural sector is responsible for 65% of Africa\u2019s employment, 35% of its GDP and 75% of its internal trade. The continent\u2019s smallholder farmers (80% of the total population) are vibrant and inventive. Yet hundreds of millions of Africans go to bed hungry every night, imports dominate our markets, and farmers cannot access the seeds and fertilizers they need. Nor can they always get their goods to market or add value to their products to make a profit. A huge opportunity is being wasted.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– H.E Hailemariam Desalegn Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Chair of the Board of Directors of AGRA<\/em><\/p>\n

The 2019 annual report<\/a> of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)<\/a> has been released. The report titled \u201cIntegration and Scale: Transforming the livelihoods and lives of smallholder farmers in Africa\u201d focuses on AGRA\u2019s integrated delivery model that seeks to drive agricultural transformation and enhance the livelihoods and lives of smallholder farmers in Africa. The report makes a compelling case of why, now more than ever, accelerating agricultural transformation in Africa is crucial. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report estimates that as many as 44 million Africans are likely to contract the disease resulting in enormous pressure on economies and agriculture, and calls for the protection of agricultural value chains and food systems. To avert an imminent food insecurity crisis, the report calls for support for farmers and agricultural SMEs to be placed at the heart of the response to the pandemic.<\/p>\n

The report gives an overview of AGRA\u2019s Strategy 2017-2021 which has the ultimate goal of transforming smallholder agriculture into a highly productive efficient, competitive, and sustainable system. The strategy seeks to increase incomes and improve food security for 30 million smallholder farming households in 11 focus countries \u2013 Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.<\/p>\n

Through the three pillars of its Strategy – State Capability & Policy Engagement, Systems Development, and Partnerships \u2013 AGRA coordinated various activities in 2019 reaching 4,652, 390 farmers (32% female) with a portfolio of $139 million in grant investments spread across its 11 focus countries. AGRA made significant progress in 2019, specifically in the areas of financial leverage, technology access, local private sector engagement, markets and post-harvest management, extension services, and state capability & policy engagement.<\/p>\n

In numbers, AGRA recorded remarkable success including:<\/p>\n