Footballer Yaya Touré and recording artist D’Banj, have joined forces with the One Campaign to collaborate in a new project, Do Agric, it Pays!, in a bid to support African farmers.
The two African icons made this announcement with the One Campaign at a media briefing in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, coinciding with the 2014 January African African Union (AU) summit – the AU has declared 2014 the Year of Agriculture in Africa.
Going even further, the ‘coco-master’ D’Banj, also announced that he would also start farming himself, having seen that agriculture is a very underrated business opportunity.
Agriculture is no longer a profession for the rural poor – it’s a promising, dynamic career option with vast economic opportunities. I’m grateful that ONE is giving me the chance to tell young people across Africa that agriculture is ‘cool.’” D’banj explains.
Agriculture as a viable business definitely doesn’t get enough PR – although 70% of Africans live in rural areas, and are dependent on some form of agricultural activity to put bread on the table, African governments still have not invested adequately in it. Reports show that growth in agriculture is 11 times more effective at reducing poverty in Sub Saharan Africa than growth in other sectors such as mining. Farming is definitely ‘the future’!
The background to the campaign is that in 2003, African heads of state signed on to the Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security, committing themselves to spending 10% of their budgets on agriculture, in order to reduce poverty and eliminate food insecurity. Unfortunately, to date, only 8 of those countries have kept to that promise.
The ‘Do Agric, it Pays!’ campaign aims to remind our leadership of that promise, and exert pressure on them to meet their commitments to agriculture. A petition directed at heads of state in this regard has been placed on the One.Org website where people can sign, expressing to our leadership that we, as Africans, want them to support agriculture and small farmers.
“While other African leaders have made statements of good will, only 8 countries have kept their promise to invest 10% of their national budgets in agriculture. It is therefore essential to do more, to go further. Agriculture is not only important, it is also vital. Agriculture pays,” explains campaign champion, Yaya Touré.
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