Africa is a rich continent. Some of those riches especially oil, gas and minerals have driven rapid economic growth over the past decade. The ultimate measure of progress, however, is the wellbeing of people and Africas recent growth has not done nearly as much as it should to reduce poverty and hunger, or improve health and education.
To sustain growth that improves the lives of all Africans, the continent needs an economic transformation that taps into Africas other riches: its fertile land, its extensive fisheries and forests, and the energy and ingenuity of its people. Agriculture must be at the heart that transformation. Most Africans, including the vast majority of Africas poor, continue to live and work in rural areas, principally as smallholder farmers. In the absence of a flourishing agricultural sector, the majority of Africans will be cut adrift from the rising tide of prosperity
.To achieve such a transformation, Africa will need to overcome three major obstacles: a lack of access to formal financial services, the weakness of the continents infrastructure and the lack of funds for public investment.?The Africa Progress Report 2014 describes how African governments and their international partners can cooperate to remove those obstacles and enable all Africans to benefit from their continents extraordinary wealth.
CSEA’s contribution to the 2 Report identifies an upward trend for Nigeria’s Agricultural Sector through the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS) which aims to improve farmers’ access to fertilizers and seed. The report titled “Grain Fish Money: Financing Africa’s Green and Blue Revolutions” was launched at the African Development Bank (AFDB) annual meeting on May 21, 2014 in Kigali, Rwanda.