The media is being urged to play its role in advancing Africa’s development by advocating for increased investments in the agricultural sector.
Director of Communications, Innovations, Advocacy, and External Relations at AGRA, Aggie Konde, says the media has a crucial role to play in holding governments accountable for the implementation of appropriate agricultural policies such as the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
“The CAADP Declaration is asking for countries to commit at least 10% of their budget to the agriculture sector. And right now, we are operating at almost 3%.
So, what does it take to make sure that we increase investments in the sector and also that we attract the private sector to help innovate, improve, and add value to the crops which smallholder farmers are growing?” she quizzed.
CAADP has served as the framework for agricultural transformation across Africa since 2003.
The African Union in January 2025 adopted a new CAADP Strategy and Action Plan (2026–2035) to guide the transformation of the agricultural sector over the next 10 years.
The plan calls for the strengthening of input systems, scaling up of eco-friendly practices, adoption of new technologies, and promotion of agro-enterprises.
It also calls for an increase in both public and private investments in food systems, and the utilisation of innovative financing mechanisms to unlock growth.
It also seeks to advance leadership, policy coherence, transparency, and stakeholder accountability for effective governance in food systems.
The new CAADP vision is focused on building inclusive, sustainable, and climate-resilient agrifood systems.
Konde notes that supporting CAADP is a sure way to help feed the continent and ensure “that we are not increasing our import bill as a country.”
She wants media houses to track various government initiatives in the agricultural sector to ensure full implementation.
“Media houses, are you tracking the policies that are being designed in Ghana? Are you ensuring that the policies are being implemented? Because I think we’ve got several policies that have been created, but implementation of those policies remains an opportunity that we can do a lot better,” she observed.
Konde was speaking to journalists at an engagement in Accra that discussed the state of the food sector and the role of the media in amplifying the needs and the priorities of the sector. She said Africa has made good progress in efforts to develop the agricultural sector, but there is still more to do.
“If you look at research and development, we’ve got a lot of progress around some of the varieties that have been developed. But adoption of this is still under 30%,” she noted.
“So there is progress, but there’s still a long way we can go so that each smallholder farmer can be able to feed themselves at least 12 months of the year. Right now, we are sitting at an average of about seven months.
“So yes, there’s progress, but with climate change, price shocks, with all of these uncertainties, all the gains we have so far received can disappear with one simple shock,” she added.
Konde said that although the media has provided good support to the agricultural sector over the years, there is still more that needs to be done.
“How many times do we see agri food system stories as headline stories in our newspapers, on the radio and TV? So, I’m really encouraging and asking media houses journalists to have a very good interest in the food sector so that we can be able to ask the right questions,” she concluded.
Program Officer at AGRA, Bashiru Musah Dokurugu, said the fight against food insecurity would see great acceleration if the media got more actively involved.
“Farmers need support. So that is why, first of all, we need to be able to beef up our advocacy work to be able to rally support around farmers to access the inputs that they need,” he said.
He says the media can play a role in helping farmers with market access.
“Farmers are complaining that they produce, and there is no market. Meanwhile, the market is there. But the market is looking for some specific commodity…
“So, we want the media to offer this information to the farmers so that they can know that they just don’t produce. You produce because the market is speaking,” he said.
AGRA is an African-led institution working to transform agriculture from a solitary struggle for survival into a thriving business by scaling innovations that enable smallholder farmers to improve productivity and livelihoods.
Source: MyJoyOnline
