President Kagame urges African leaders to tackle food shortage

President Paul Kagame has urged African leaders to tackle the problem of food shortage with renewed vigor, as this will be the foundation of the continent’s prosperity.

The Head of State was speaking at the Africa Food and Security Leadership Dialogue dinner gala hosted in honour of the dignitaries attending a two-day food security meeting in, Kigali.

President Kagame noted commended the progress made so far to address the hunger problem in Africa but also pointed out that more effort is needed to meet set targets to eradicate the problem altogether.

“We want a continent that is truly prospering in every sense of the term. And agriculture is undoubtedly the foundation of Africa’s prosperity. That is the larger ambition we must challenge ourselves to achieve.We owe it to the generations that follow us," President Kagame said.

He also stressed that improving an enabling environment for agriculture is something Africans can fully control and should.

“Africa’s farmers were poor before climate change became a factor. We cannot afford to go on like this and there is no excuse. Improving the enabling environment for agriculture is something we can fully control.” President Kagame pointed out.

He added, “This is the reason why the African Continental Free Trade Area is of the very highest importance for our future. The AfCFTA is now in force and trading will commence in July 2020,”.

The two-day Africa Food and Security Leadership Dialogue being held in Kigali has brought together participants from the African Union Commission (AUC), African Development Bank (AfDB), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and World Bank (WB).

Low agricultural yields have been identified as the issue behind the problem of the 800 Million people around the globe facing famine and the more than 2 Billion others who do not get enough to eat every day. 

Available statistics show that Africa remains the lead importer of food in the world, although it has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land.

Africa has 60% of all the world's agricultural land, but experts say it is not as productive as it should be.

As a result, the Continent faces some of the worst food shortages, resulting in many people going with insufficient food daily. Add the repercussions of Climate Change and conflict and you have a situation that is truly troubling.

The issue of Genetically Modified Foods is another controversial matter, especially in light of the fact that African Farmers are yet to fully exploit the more conventional agricultural practices available.