Improving on Food Security | through Tree Planting, Mechanisation & Data Proven Approaches

In this issue, we delve into the critical work of AGRA as it strives to enhance food security across the continent. AGRA’s multifaceted approach combines tree planting, agricultural mechanization, and data-driven strategies to empower smallholder farmers and revolutionize Africa’s food systems.

AGRA, in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation conducted a tree planting exercise at G.K Kitengela Prison Primary School on July 24, 2024. During the event, students actively participated in planting 400 fruit trees, including apples, mangoes and pixies.

This initiative aims to improve nutrition by enhancing the pupils’ diets. The tree planting program, which advocates for environmental stewardship, aims to enhance the school grounds while instilling a sense of responsibility and care for our planet in the students. Each tree is adopted by two students, nurturing a personal connection to the environment. ?

Betty Kibaara, Country Director, at the Rockefeller Foundation remarked, “School feeding programs have not only reduced malnutrition rates among learners by 15%, but they have also increased school attendance and improved learners’ cognitive abilities. These programs also promote access to markets for farmers who grow and sell produce to the schools.”

AGRA co-host a Workshop on Africa-China Agricultural Mechanization and Digitization Cooperation

AGRA co-hosted a workshop on Africa-China Agricultural Mechanization and Digitization Cooperation the first of it kind. The event was co-hosted by China Association?of?Agricultural Machinery?Manufacturers (CAAMM) and Hello Tractor. It was held under the theme of “Agricultural Mechanization and Digitization: A Pathway to Sustainable Transformation of Food Systems, Youth and Female Employment, and Food Security in Africa”.

The seminar brought together representatives from the Chinese government, agriculture-related international organizations, domestic and international financial institutions, and Chinese agricultural machinery manufacturers.

The seminar, which included three sub-forums focused on different topics, was co-chaired by Dr. Cheng Cheng, Lead of Asian Partnerships at AGRA, and Wang Fengde, Deputy Secretary-General of CAAMM. Tang Zhongdong, Consul General from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Prof. Chen Zhi, President of the CAAMM, attended the seminar and delivered opening remarks.

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“Data-Driven Revolution: How African Policymakers Can Transform Agriculture

The policy and legislative environment is a key driver of agricultural transformation. Policy and regulatory regimes “define the rules of the game”. They regulate the roles and behaviour of players in the sector, determine resource allocation, and assign incentives and disincentives accordingly.

Policies shape the business environment by influencing costs, risks, and competition barriers for different players in the agricultural value chain. This in turn extensively affects investment decisions not only by the government but also by the private sector. Thus, by a single stroke of a policy or law, the government can shift the direction and pace of agricultural development.

Opinion leaders in agricultural development agree that the observed changes in Africa’s agriculture and economic fortunes over time have much to do with the policies that African leaders have chosen than anything else. Weak policies and poor legislative decisions have shaped the continent's agriculture and economic growth by stifling investments in skills, technology, services, and infrastructure.

Whereas regulation is important to ensure safe agricultural practices, setting quality standards, encouraging innovation and sustainable use of resources; heavy regulation creates burdensome procedures and high transaction costs and can be detrimental, especially to small players. Therefore, the benefits of regulations should always outweigh its social and economic costs. Excessive regulation with opaque discretion and overbearing regulations in the agriculture sector can constrain innovation and trade, to the detriment of poor farmers in the rural villages in the continent.

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Revitalising Africa’s Soils and Landscapes is Key for Enhancing our Food Security and Climate Resilience

This year’s environment day theme of accelerating land restoration aligns perfectly with Africa’s need to revitalize its soils, a critical yet often overlooked solution to Africa’s ongoing challenges of agricultural productivity. Healthy soils and landscapes have a direct positive influence on our livelihoods and environment.

Land degradation in Africa is severe, while the continent’s soil organic content falls below the benchmark. Land degradation, which includes soil erosion, desertification, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity, poses a significant risk to food systems, especially in Africa, where agriculture forms the backbone of many economies and sustains the livelihoods of many people. ?According to FAO’s, State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, 2022 report, over 58% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa experiences moderate to severe food insecurity, which has been exacerbated by declining soil health.

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