The need to create innovative financing mechanisms for Africa’s farmers and revaluate existing ones is becoming increasingly critical as the continent faces compounded challenges, including climate change, low productivity, and conflict. The agricultural sector is the economic backbone of Africa, where an estimated 33 million smallholder farms and the farmers who live on them contribute to 70% of the continent’s food supply. Climate change also modifies the properties of soil, both chemically and physically leading to land degradation. The president of the African agricultural transformation institution, AGRA, Dr Agnes Kalibata, estimates that land degradation costs farmers up to $1,400 per year. Substantial investment in Africa’s agricultural sector is needed, however, the visible impacts of climate change have caused investors to be wary.

Source: News Business Ethiopia May 30, 2024 10:46 UTC