Central/West African agriculturalists express cautious optimism on prospects

There is cautious optimism for agriculture in West and Central Africa as players in the sector ended two recent days of deliberations to boost production and end poverty. The meeting was held in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. Dr. Emmanuel Owusu-Bennoah, President of West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (WECRAD), said "There were more than 100 delegates from all the sectors and we agreed on eight programmes. About $100 million was pledged for work to go on."

Paco Sereme, Executive Secretary of the Dakar-based WECRAD, said that they expect visible changes in agriculture from their activities in 10 years with an average of 6 per cent agricultural growth in West and Central Africa.

Sereme listed the eight programmes they agreed on as livestock, aquaculture and fisheries; staple food for food security; non-staple crops; marketing and trade; strengthening the capacity of actors such as scientists, researchers and extension officers; natural resource management; knowledge management and bio-tech. "There was consensus on the programmes and a strong commitment of our partners for their implementation," he said.

However, delegate Desire Porquet was not so optimistic. "The problem is not finance, but access to credit," he said. "We can obtain money from donors, but how to get the farmers have access to it is the problem. We face this problem daily. Once a farmer does not plant at the right time, he loses the whole season and this is a big loss," Porquet said.

Joel Beassem, Coordinator of the Regional Programme for Food Security, notes that of the 11 countries in Central Africa, seven are either at war or are in their post-war period. Access to agricultural land is constrained because of landmines that kill livestock and are dangerous to farmers.

There is also the problem of access to markets and unfair trade practices. "The agricultural trade agreements are not good for us but the politicians are signing them," noted Gisele d´Almeida, chairperson of an organisation in the private sector. "We are not poor. We're rich but the environment is not favourable to us," she said.

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