AFRICAN LEADERS SUPPORT AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PLAN AT UN-BACKED CONFERENCE

AFRICAN LEADERS SUPPORT AGRIBUSINESS DEVELOPMENT PLAN AT UN-BACKED
CONFERENCE
High-level representatives from 44 African countries wrapped up a United
Nations-backed conference in Nigeria today with the approval of an ambitious
plan to generate employment, income and food security across the continent
through agribusiness.

The
<"http://www.unido.org/index.php?id=7881&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=453&cHash=33
cdb3c3c7">scheme provides a framework and financial mechanisms for public
and private sectors investors to finance development of the agricultural
industry in Africa, whose population could double by 2050 to reach 2 billion
people.

Sub-Saharan Africa alone will need $940 billion of cumulative investment
over the next 40 years - most of it for agribusiness capital outlays - to
feed its people, according to the UN Industrial Development Organization
(<"http://www.unido.org/">UNIDO).

"Agribusiness in Africa needs to undergo a profound structural
transformation and technological upgrading during the next 20 years to
generate jobs and income urgently needed by Africa's growing population,"
said UNIDO Director-General Kandeh K. Yumkella.

The African Agribusiness and Agro-industries Development Initiative, or
3ADI, was endorsed at a three-day gathering in the Nigerian capital Abuja,
attended by some 500 participants - including heads of State, prime
ministers and the ministers of agriculture and industry - and organized by
UNIDO, with the African Union (AU), the Food and Agriculture Organization
(<"http://www.fao.org/">FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (<"http://www.ifad.org/">IFAD), the UN Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA), and the African Development Bank.

"It is essential to avoid policies, such as subsidies on labour-saving
technologies, that bias technology choice in favour of large-scale, highly
mechanized operations," stressed Mr. Yumkella.

He underscored the importance of developing agribusiness on a regional and
continent-wide level, adding that private enterprises had to be stimulated,
technology and innovation expanded, innovative financing mechanisms
introduced, infrastructure and energy constraints removed.

"For agribusiness to become competitive, policies need to be in place, as
well as research and practical actions to achieve a unique blend of
ecological compliance and inclusive growth," he said.

African States have pledged to invest through the AU a minimum of 10 per
cent of budgetary resources in the agricultural sector, and the Group of
Eight industrialized countries (G-8) conference in Italy last year renewed
the donor community commitment to the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural
Development Programme, which has set an annual agricultural growth target of
6 per cent to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving
poverty by 2015.

In a related development, UNIDO and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated
(ETI), a leading pan-African banking group, signed an agreement to work
together in promoting economic growth in Africa, particularly in the area of
agribusiness, including food, leather, textiles, wood, agro-machinery; on
renewable energy, including bio-energy initiatives, on hydro power projects,
and other environmentally sustainable projects; as well as on clean
technologies.