AGRA said there would be food security crisis on the continent that could affect the political, social and economic health of African countries, if measures are adopted by African governments to contain the corona virus restricted smallholder farmers from working on their farms.

AGRA in a press statement signed by its President, Dr Agnes Kalibata and copied to the Ghanaian Times entreated African governments to put measures in place to ensure that people have access to food.

“Africa’s smallholders produce 80 per cent of the food we eat. It, therefore, goes without saying that if they can’t farm because of COVID- 19, Africa will inevitably face a food crisis,” it said, adding that “already over 250 million people in Africa are without food, and the vulnerable populations will suffer more from both the short- and long-term effects of the pandemic.”

The statement stressed that “measures must be taken to ensure that people have food now, in the recovery period and beyond. If this is not done, COVID-19 will result in a food crisis that will affect poor people the most, in both rural and urban areas.”   

It said each of the 14 countries that “AGRA partners with has imposed some degree of restrictions to protect the populations from the spread of the virus and this is clearly an important protective stop”.

AGRA commended African governments for measures instituted to tackle COVID-19 and promote food production on the continent, saying, “There are very good lessons coming from across Africa and beyond and we will bring these to our countries as we go.”

It mentioned the Planting for Food and Agriculture programme in Ghana in which the Ministry of Food and Agriculture was providing fertiliser and other farm inputs for farmers at subsidised prices, and the efforts by the Ethiopian government to get fertiliser and farm inputs to farmers at lower prices.

“Our collective duty now is to ensure that efforts like these are scaled up across the continent. At AGRA, we are committed to working with our partners and governments to support farmers, most of whom are women and youth; to plant, harvest, transport, and sell food without endangering their safety and that of others.  We will do this by working with governments to ensure that village-based agro dealers shops stay open to enable farmers access inputs at affordable prices,” the statement said.

AGRA urged African government to invest more on agriculture modernisation, saying, “In the long-term, this pandemic underscores the need for Africa to focus on agriculture transformation as its surest path to inclusive economic growth to build the resilience of its population.”