Africa needs the will to push for agricultural productivity

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has urged African countries, particularly the least developing countries to invest in agricultural productivity as a means of generating revenue for their various countries and boosting the economy.

Speaking at the High-Level Panel Discussion organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD) in Geneva, Dr. Bawumia indicated that many African countries have the necessary structures in place to improve productivity in the agricultural sector, they merely lack the will and the skillset to do so.

Citing Ghana as an example, he indicated that government’s planting for food and jobs initiative scheduled to be implemented to increase productivity in the country is one that takes into consideration similar initiatives of other countries and the various techniques used to facilitate its implementation to produce measurable results.

He advised that rather than depending solely on the ideas generated from a particular country, African countries learn from best experiences globally to revitalize their agricultural sector and thereby boost their markets.

Touching on funding to support agricultural productivity in African countries, Dr. Bawumia urged governments to invest in other ventures including the private sectors as a supportive measure for funding such projects.

“In terms of the whole development agenda, money is always going to be a problem because the wish list is very large but the constraints are there by the budget. I think that for the most parts, governments tend to take on too much and believe that they are supposed to take care of everything but we can if we will structure the economy properly. “

“The private sector can do so much more than the government can actually do……before you invest in a project, ask yourself why can’t the private sector fund this? If you structure the project enough to be bankable, the private sector will do it. We believe that with private and public partnerships, you can get a lot done.”

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia was in Geneva, Switzerland to attend a High-Level Panel Discussion organised by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The discussion dubbed “Accelerating Progress in Building Productive Capacities in the Least Developing Countries and Other Vulnerable Developing Economies,” saw Dr. Bawumia addressing issues regarding development in African countries.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), is the United Nations body responsible for development issues, particularly international trade as the main driver of development. UNCTAD focuses its analytical research on the linkages between trade, investment, technology and enterprise development with especial “positive agenda” for developing countries in international trade negotiations.

Its activities are designed to assist developing countries in better understanding the complexity of the multilateral trade negotiations and in formulating their positions.