By Fatima Saka
The Africa Union Commissioner for Agriculture, Josepha Sacko, has called on African countries and others partners to examine the need to transform the agriculture systems of the African continent destructed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors.
Sacko made the call during an interactive session with the press at the 35th African Union (AU) Summit on Building Resilient Food Systems in Africa Post COVID-19, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The commissioner stated that it is important for African countries to take bold actions to reduce the impact of Covid-19 and future pandemics on food security.
“it is important that we, as a continent, take bold actions to make sure that we not only recover from the impact of the pandemic but also build sustainable and resilient food systems that will reduce vulnerability to future pandemics.”
She further stated that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rise of hunger among the people of the continent to about 270 to 280 million at present compared to what obtained before the outbreak of covid-19, whereby about 200 million African people were estimated to be suffering from hunger.
“While it is true that close to a quarter of Africa population was hungry before 2020, the pandemic has worsened the situation. Hunger in Africa has been rising in the last 4 to 5 years. The pandemic has revealed the fragility and vulnerability of our food systems.
“Building resilient food systems requires addressing factors that make Africa’s food systems fragile and vulnerable to shocks.
“We are calling for action to implement the actions and recommendations from the ministerial declarations, Africa common position, and the 3rd CAADP biennial review report. We are calling on member states to design, fund and implement programs that will transform Africa’s food system to ensure food security and nutrition, create jobs, reduce poverty, increase trade in agricultural goods and services and increase resilience of livelihoods and production systems,” Sacko said.
The commissioner also called on the private sector, farmer organizations, civil society and development partners to work closely with governments to ensure that programs that are designed, funded, and implemented will meet the aspirations and needs of people.
The factors observed in the past few years include climate change induced shocks such as hurricane and flood, pests such as desert locust and fall armyworm, and diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
