“The challenges of food security in Africa are not insurmountable," he said, noting that "if all actors in the agricultural field take the right measures, Africa will not only feed its population, expected to double by 2050, but also export food to the global market."
For example, Kenya’s commitment to ensure food security for all its citizens, being one of the essential goals of the promising Presidential Big-Four agenda, can be juxtaposed with Morocco’s national Plan Maroc Vert (Green Morocco Plan) to serve as an African Benchmarking platform for other African countries, the ambassador points out.
Green Morocco Plan was launched in 2008 with the objective of planting 12,000 fruit trees every year.
The diplomat also shed light on OCP Group, the world’s largest producer of phosphate and its derivatives.
OCP offers a great potential for increasing food production through enhanced and adequate soil fertilization, he said, adding that farmers in countries as diverse as Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and recently Kenya depend on OCP environment-friendly and customised fertilisers to increase their production with affordable and adequate products.
"OCP does not just supply fertilisers, but offers a holistic approach to sustainable agriculture, based on setting up public-private partnerships, providing innovative research practices, conducting soil testing, and facilitating farmers’ access to markets and business skills," he went on.
Indeed, part of the OCP’s African success story lies in the company’s commitment to putting the farmer and his environment at the heart of its economic policies and investment strategies.
"Today more than ever, we are entitled to make our founding fathers’ dream of food security come true if the African unity our current leaders cherish at the political level is translated into a Pan African economic policy, where agriculture should play a critical role," he said.
"Our hopes are particularly boosted by the newly-ratified African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA)."
According to the diplomat, the AFCFTA is a historic step forward, one which transforms trade barriers into bridges of South-South cooperation.
"Going beyond geographically-oriented economic blocks like COMESA, ECOWAS, or SADC, the AFCFTA brings together economically-diverse regions so as to make intra-African trade less competitive and more complimentary."
"Once the AFCTFTA becomes operational, we will be reassured enough to believe that our continent does not really need to look beyond its borders to find solutions to its food system challenges," he added.