News in Brief:
– Ten years after the Malabo Declaration, many African nations are falling short of their commitment to allocate 10% of their national budgets to agriculture.
– This lapse hinders efforts to achieve food security and reduce poverty as advocates call for increased investment and collaboration to promote sustainable agricultural development.
When African leaders met at the Equatorial Guinean Capital of Malabo in June 2014 for the 23rd Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Summit, they had high hopes for the future of the continent.
With the backdrop of overwhelming poverty and hunger in the continent of over a billion people, AU Member States’ leaders converged to address some of the lingering issues bedevilling the continent for years. This particular meeting was an offshoot of the Maputo, Mozambique summit of September 2003.
Under the theme: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods through Harnessing Opportunities for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development, they charted the way forward for the continent out of perennial poverty through one of the oldest occupations known to man, agriculture.
Essentially, the aim of the gathering was to effectively end hunger in Africa by 2025 through inclusive agricultural growth and transformation. They also sought to boost intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and services, while enhancing resilience of livelihoods and production systems to climate variability.
The 10% target
The Malabo Summit affirmed the place of agriculture on national budgets, as a critical policy initiative for the continent’s economic growth. Therefore, it proposed at least the allocation of 10% of each country’ total budget on agriculture, which members agreed with.
This allocation owes to the fact that agriculture employs about two-thirds of the continent’s working population, (both skilled and unskilled). The sector also contributes an average of 30% to 60% of gross domestic product (GDP) and about 30% of the value of exports.
Doubtless, the gathered heads of governments were concerned that a significant proportion of the population still remained vulnerable to the challenges of economic marginalisation, hunger and malnutrition.
Consequently, they believed that agriculture, given the reasons above, could be a pathway for economic emancipation for majority of the continent’s poor, and could significantly reduce hunger.
Progress and challenges
Despite the ambitious goals outlined in the Malabo Declaration, a significant number of African countries, including Nigeria, have fallen short of their commitment to allocate 10% of their national budgets to agriculture. This underfunding has hindered the continent’s efforts to achieve food security, boost rural economies, and create sustainable livelihoods.
The latest Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Biennial Review (BR) report reveals that Africa’s progress towards meeting the Malabo Declaration commitments by 2025 has significantly deteriorated in 2023.
According to available data, out of the 51 African Union member states, only Rwanda is on track to achieve all the Malabo targets. The country scored 6.1 out of 10, exceeding the minimum benchmark of 3.94 set for countries to be on track to achieve the Malabo targets by 2025. Rwanda is followed by Ethiopia, with a score of 5.3.
Consequently, that country’s GDP has been witnessing a growth rate of 7% since 2014.
Meanwhile, others like Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Mali, have consistently allocated 10% of their public spending to agriculture.
Also, Egypt, Eswatini, Seychelles, and Zambia, are currently on track to meet the 10% agricultural budget target. This is an improvement from the previous review period when no country was on track.
Nigeria’s struggles: inconsistent allocation and hindering factors
Nigeria, a major economic player in Africa, has been criticised for its inconsistent allocation to the sector. The allocation to agriculture has remained consistently low in recent years, fluctuating between 1% and 2% of the total budget. Reportedly, the Ministry of Agriculture received the sum of ₦592.9 billion in the last five years.
Cumulatively, this figure falls far short of the expected budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector.
While the government has made efforts to prioritise agriculture, challenges such as corruption, lack of infrastructure, and political instability have hampered progress. As a result, the country continues to grapple with food insecurity and poverty, particularly in rural areas.
These challenges have hindered agricultural productivity, impacting the sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP and increasing food imports due to population growth, leading to declining levels of food self-sufficiency.
For example, between 2016 and 2019, Nigeria’s cumulative agricultural imports reached ₦3.35 trillion, four times higher than its agricultural exports of ₦803 billion during the same period.
As a result, in 2024, Nigeria accounted for over 11% of the global population living in extreme poverty, defined as having less than $2.15 per day.
Subsequently, extreme poverty in Africa is concentrated in rural areas, whose population rely more on agriculture for their livelihoods than their urban neighbours. In 2024, 46% of the rural population lived below the international poverty line.
With about 70 million persons living in extreme poverty, Nigeria has its work cut out for it in the uphill task of significantly reducing hunger and poverty levels in the nearest future.
This is especially important as the world gets set to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on the 17 October.
The need for increased investment
To address this, advocates are calling for increased government investment in agriculture. This includes allocating a larger portion of the budget to the sector, improving financial inclusion for farmers, and strengthening agricultural extension services.
Additionally, there is a need for greater collaboration between governments, the private sector, and international organisations to promote sustainable and inclusive agricultural development.
Agricultural productivity surge in Africa: a decade of growth
However, it is not all gloomy for African agriculture because productivity has experienced a significant boost over the past two decades. Labour productivity increased by 50%, and land productivity doubled, leading to a more than twofold increase in agricultural value added.
Also, between 2000 and 2021, agricultural value added in Africa rose from approximately $200 billion to $425 billion in constant 2015 dollars. During this period, annual growth rates averaged 4.1% from 2000 to 2015 and 3.2% from 2016 to 2021.
Additionally, countries like Liberia and Zambia demonstrated successful agricultural investment strategies, reinvesting 77% and 63% of their agricultural value added, respectively. These examples highlight the potential for other African nations to replicate such approaches.
The improvement in productivity was also evident in labour as workers’ productivity increased from $1,323 to $1,874 per worker.
The road ahead: need for urgent action
As the deadline for achieving the 10% Malabo declaration budgetary allocation approaches (2025), the pressure is mounting on African leaders to take decisive action. Failure to meet this target could have serious implications for the continent’s food security, economic growth, and overall development in subsequent years.
