A professor of
Agricultural Economics, Mandivamba Rukuni has predicted that Africa’s
agriculture is poised to grow faster and by 2025 Africa will be food secured, NaijaAgroNet reports.
This is coming as he charged African media practitioners to see something
good on the continent and report same always.
Prof. Rukuni who advises African Union (AU) on Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and Economic
Commission for Africa (ECA) among others made these assertions at a two-day training
workshop of CAADP Journalists Network in Pretoria, South
Africa.
According to him,
there are avalanche of development messages African journalists should showcase
to the world, including that Africa’s agriculture is now grows faster and by
2025 Africa will reach food secure, stressing that Africa’s economies are
rising sustainably, though many Africans are still poor and hungry.
He also told NaijaAgroNet
that African agriculture is growing slowly now after decades of stagnation and
food security is improving, stressing that sustained improvements in governance
and political stability will usher in these predictions.
Prof. Rukuni equally predicted that the industrialised world
will have no capacity to feed 8 billion people by 2040 and Africa will have to
be the food-basket of the world by next 27 years, insisting these are some of
the stories; Africans are waiting to hear so as to build their confidence and
belief.
“Africans need to re-write their own narratives, create
their own future and fulfill own destiny. African journalists, therefore, have
the unique role in shaping that narrative, so as to aid the main responsibility
in re-branding Africa,” he said.
The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)
Prof. Rukuni said, is a major part of the narrative on ‘African solution to an
African problem’ although Africa has a lot of homework to do.
Pointing out that between year 2000 and 2012 were proverbial
unprecedented decade for the continent for Africa which now has impressive economic growth across
the 54 countries accompanied with improved governance, human development
indicators.
Despite the
aforementioned good signs, Prof. Rukuni decried that Africa still faces major challenges of poverty, food insecurity,
concerns that Africa is unlikely to meet most of the MDGs, especially
MDG 1 on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015
Remmy Nweke in South Africa
... Linking agrobiz, people & technologyPix: Prof. Mandi Rukuni (2) Brenda Zulu with Mwanja Nyajo of NEPAD, Marie-Noelle Guichi and Agathe Aline