Keynote Opening Address Delivered by Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Honourable Minister of Agriculture of Nigeria at the Africa Green Revolution Forum, September 2, 2014, Africa Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, good
afternoon! It is always a great pleasure to be at the Africa
Union, the place where the voices of African leaders
galvanize our continent to arise and shine.
It is great to see you, Your Excellency, Dr Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the Africa Union
Commission, and thank you for your leadership for our
continent. I am especially delighted to see the former United
Nations Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, the former
Chairman of the Board of AGRA, Africa's iconic leader who
never ceases to inspire us.
I wish to thank the AGRA Board Chairman, Strive Masyiwa,
Board members and the President of the Alliance for a
Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Jane Karuku, and all
their partners, for inviting me to deliver the keynote address
at this 4th edition of the African Green Revolution Forum. I
remember in 2009 in Accra, Ghana, where we held the
inaugural Forum.
The support of YARA has been inspiring from the start, as
well as IDRC, Rockefeller Foundation, the Africa Union and
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I am excited that the
AGRF has become a solid platform for dialogue on the
transformation of agriculture in Africa.
Today, seven of the ten fastest growing economies in the
world are in Africa. But the growth is not inclusive. Growth
is important, but nobody eats GDP.
Africa's rural economies harbor the greatest share of those
being left behind or excluded. We must ensure that Africa
grows in a way that lifts hundreds of millions out of poverty.
Because the majority of our people are in the rural areas,
we must make sure that the nature of the new growth in
Africa is one that opens up the rural economy. A totally
revived rural economy must become the new economy of
Africa.
We must end the era of prodigal economics, where Africa
ignores its own agricultural potential and turns itself into a
net food importing region, spending a whopping $35 billion
on food imports annually. Yet, 65% of all available arable
land to feed the 9 billion people in the world by 2050 lies in
Africa.
It was this belief that led Kofi Annan, as United Nations
Secretary General in 2004 to call for a uniquely African
green revolution, which inspired all of us. He knew that
Africa has potential in agriculture, and like the visionary
late Dr. Norman Borlaug, he threw a challenge to all of us
right here, in Addis Ababa on July 5, 2004 to achieve this
green revolution.
Much has been achieved since we started and the journey is
full of emerging shoots of successes. From the rolling hills
of Rwanda to the highlands of Ethiopia, the southern
Tanzania, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Matoke fields in
Uganda and the diverse ecologies of vast lands of Nigeria,
fields of hope with bumper harvests are rising.
I am inspired by the level of partnerships for change that
have been built over the years – an alliance of farmers,
researchers, political leaders, private sector and
philanthropic organizations, all with one goal and one
mission: turn Africa into a breadbasket for the world.
So today, as we gather, we must set higher targets for
ourselves in this quest for Africa to feed itself. We must not
get complacent, for the voices of millions of malnourished
children must spur us to action. No African child must ever
go hungry.
To achieve our goal, we must set a new vision for
agricultural transformation, inspired by the political
leadership of African leaders and the African Union. As it
was during the days of apartheid, Africans united together,
our leaders inspired us and our friends supported us. Africa
must feed itself and all Africans must arise. This new vision
must be one that sees agriculture as a business not as a
development program. The new vision must be focused on
governments enabling the private sector. We must focus
sharply on raising private sector investments in agriculture.