Kenya to benefit from Sh3 billion food security drive

Kenya is among 11 African countries lined up to benefit from a Ksh3 billion (US$280 million) initiative aimed at increasing incomes and improving the food security of 30 million smallholder farm households.

The Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA), which was launched at the 2017 African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) by four organisations, is an innovative and transformative financing vehicle to drive inclusive agriculture transformation across the continent.

Together, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will provide up to the money to catalyse and sustain inclusive agricultural transformation in at least 11 countries in Africa, which will in turn increase incomes and improve the food security of 30 million smallholder farm households.

PIATA reflects a recognition that greater impact and value can be achieved through a strategic partnership that builds on what has been achieved by each partner across the continent, and pulls them together in ways that help catalyse and sustain transformation at scale.

Other priority countries set to benefit are Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Mamadou Biteye, Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation Africa Regional Office said: “We are pleased to be part of PIATA. We see it as an opportunity to leverage even more from the partners and their huge networks, for greater impact. We are looking forward to deploying the technologies that we have helped develop over the years, together with our shared knowledge and grant support, to work with our esteemed partners. Together we hope to catalyze Africa’s pursuit for prosperity through agriculture. PIATA is critical in our ongoing push to build the resilience of farmers and systems that affect them, especially in light of increasing challenges such as climate change, among others.”

Exciting platform

Mr Rodger Voorhies, the Executive Director of the Global Growth and Opportunity Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “We’ve seen significant progress when countries recognise the critical importance of agriculture to their economic development and help catalyse agricultural transformation with targeted investments, evidence-based policies, and strong national plans. PIATA is an exciting platform that can help countries take the lead in driving agricultural transformation. Our investment reflects our desire to help countries develop high-quality plans linked to national and continental accountability frameworks.”

Mr Sean Jones, the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Food Security, USAID, said: “PIATA offers a new way of doing business across the many public and private actors working to ensure food security and economic growth as called for in country-owned visions and the goals laid out in the Malabo Declaration. Agriculture is at its core a private sector enterprise, and one of the best bets for job creation and inclusive growth when the right policies and investments allow the private sector to flourish. This partnership offers an innovative mechanism to unlock this investment and realize many of the targets laid out in the Global Food Security Strategy approved by our Congress.”

PIATA’s launch comes at a critical time in the continent’s agriculture history. Most African countries have undertaken a rigorous review of the sector, developing and adopting a new generation of sector development plans that prepare them to do business.

Welcoming the new partnership, Dr Agnes Kalibata, President, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), expressed her belief that the initiative would contribute significantly to accelerating Africa’s path to prosperity by growing inclusive economies and jobs through agriculture.

“We have witnessed significant progress in our agricultural transformation over the past decade, with countries that have prioritized the sector recording notable drops in poverty levels, improved food security and inclusive economic growth. PIATA will be critical in bringing key players together to support governments in their push to fully unlock the potential of Africa’s smallholder farming and agribusiness as the surest drivers of job creation and the continent’s inclusive economic transformation,” she said.

AGRA is the primary implementing institution of the partnership under the institution’s new strategy for the continent and plan agreed with priority countries.