Kofi Annan concerned about the global food, fuel crisis

Accra, Aug. 8, GNA - Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed concern about the current global food crisis and the rising costs of fertilizer and fuel in Ghana.

He said the increasing prices, exacerbated by floods and droughts, posed an additional challenge for farmers in Ghana and other countries in the sub-region.

"The high costs of food have made everyone aware of the fact that agriculture has been ignored by governments and donors for far too long. It is good to see that this trend is reversing, but these new investments must yield results. We are encouraging everyone to work in partnership and to be as creative as possible in finding solutions," he said.

Mr. Annan's expressed his concern in a release issued by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) after his three-day meeting and field visits with farmers, crop scientists and other key partners in Ghana.

Mr. Annan, who is the current Chair of the Board of AGRA, experienced first-hand information and some of the challenges facing many farmers as well as progress made towards boosting production for West Africa's small-holder farmers.

He noted that Ghana, with a population of 21 million people, was among the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to reach and even surpassed the 1996 World Food Summit goal to reduce by half the number of undernourished people by 2015.

With offices in Nairobi and Accra, AGRA is a partnership-based organization that strives to help millions of small-scale farmers across Africa to rapidly and sustainably increase their productivity and lift them out of poverty.

West Africa is highly dependent on food imports. "We eat what we don't produce and we produce what we don't eat," said Mr Annan. Mr Annan visited Nsawam Afumkrom Vegetable Growers Association, growers of onions, pepper, okra and garden eggs, maize and cassava. He also visited and interacted with a group of PhD candidates of the West African Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) of University of Ghana who are part AGRA-funded programme that is aimed to train 40 crop scientists at the University over the next five years. Students at the University are working on improving and adapting indigenous crops like cowpea, rice, millet and sorghum as well as other key food staples like cassava and maize.

"We're building the crucible for agricultural development in West Africa," he said.

Mr Annan stressed the need to provide financial support and innovative insurance measures for African farmers, most of whom were women.

Joe DeVries, Director of AGRA's Programme for Africa's Seed Systems, said: "Women are the backbone of agriculture in Africa. They assume the greatest risk in all human endeavours.

"In the 60's and 70's, Africa was an exporter of food. We can get back to that time. There are a lot of challenges but it can be done." He said AGRA hoped that scientists trained at WACCI and its sister programme in South Africa would be able to develop and release more than 1,000 improved crop varieties of African food staples over the next 10 years.