- According to the World Bank, growth in the agriculture sector is 2.5 times as effective at reducing poverty as growth in any other sector.
- According to the World Bank Agriculture is essential for sub-Saharan Africa’s growth and for achieving the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015.
- Agriculture employs 65 – 70% of Africa’s labor force and accounts for 32 percent of gross domestic product.
- Today Africa is a net food buyer, looking outside the continent to feed its growing and urbanising population.
- Through the Maputo Declaration at the July 2003 African Union summit, African head of state made a historic promise to their people: to allocate 10% of national budget to Agriculture and seek 6% annual growth by 2008.
- At the 2009 G8 summit in L’Aquilla, Italy, donors pledged $22 billion over 3 years to support sustainable agriculture and food security.
- Women grow 80% – 90% of the food in sub-Saharan Africa but own less than 2% of all land
- Global food prices grew about 170% between 2000 and 2010. In some African regions (e.g Somalia, Uganda) staple food prices temporarily rose by 1,300%.
- Nearly 240 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa live in hunger, where agriculture provides 70% of employment.
- Almost no country has managed a rapid rise out of poverty without first increasing its agriculture productivity
Referenceshttp://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/AFRICAEXT/0,,contentMDK:21935583~pagePK:146736~piPK:146830~theSitePK:258644,00.htmlhttp://www.nepad-caadp.net/pdf/How%20are%20countries%20measuring%20up%20to%20the%20Maputo%20declaration.pdfhttp://global-growing.org/en/content/ten-facts-about-agriculture-sub-saharan-africahttp://storify.com/gatesfoundation
