Africa remains hungry despite $3 billion annual food aid and $33 billion on food imports, says ECA

Abstract

Addressing the plenary session of African heads of state at the conference on agribusiness and agro-industry which ended today in the Nigerian capital , on behalf of the Executive Secretary of the ECA, Abdoulie Janneh, Dione said much of the $33 billion Africa spends to import food could be better diverted to domestic production for regional and global trade, thereby contributing to poverty reduction and repositioning Africa in the global economy. Stating that Africa did not do better at the global level, Dione said the continent’s share in world agricultural trade declined from 15 percent in the 1960s to 5.4 percent in the 1980s and 3.2 percent in 2006, while intra-Africa trade represents barely 10 percent of Africa’s total agriculture trade This poor performance in the face of considerable unexploited potential, is a symptom of a major structural problem facing agriculture, said Dione.