Africa Needs to Invest in Smallholder Farms, Says IFAD President

African governments need to invest in agriculture to arrest poverty and stimulate growth. "An increase in investment in smallholder farms – which represent 95 per cent of agriculture in Africa – can return the continent to a path of high growth," said International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) President Kanayo F. Nwanze during the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa.

"Smallholder agriculture is the largest private-sector activity in many African countries. It not only feeds families, it provides jobs and catalyzes the growth of rural businesses and broader development," said Nwanze. He added that Africa's small farms need to be enhanced and their potential unleashed to mitigate the present economic crisis. Mohammed Beavogui, Director of IFAD's Western and Central Africa Division, added that agriculture investments could generate farm economies that can create off-farm jobs, agro-processing and small-scale manufacturing, and generate domestic resources for governments.

See IFAD's press release at http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2009/30.htm