Several African countries have called on the continent’s private sector to aid in enhancing Africa’s agricultural development programme.

The Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP), an African Union and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) initiative, aimed to drive agricultural development in Africa.

The programme aimed to increase public financing in agriculture by 10% and raise agricultural productivity by 6%.

African Union chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said agriculture was the “true driver of economic growth”; however, the private sector was required to “kick-start” the process.

African heads of State and government, including Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, Malawian President Joyce Banda, Benin President Yayi Boni and Ghana’s Vice-President Kwesi Amissah-Arthur, agreed that agricultural investment would uplift smallholder farmers out of poverty, empower women and transform Africa.

The various leaders were meeting at the World Economic Forum on Africa, held this week in Cape Town, and hoped to mobilise private-sector investment and align that to the organisation’s priorities.

“The Grow Africa [partnership] countries have made agricultural transformation a priority. It is encouraging to see companies respond concretely and apply their knowledge, finance and market access in a way that will drive Africa's development,” Nepad CEO Dr Ibrahim Mayaki added.

The multistakeholder, multicountry Grow Africa partnership had “marked a shift in private-sector investments in Africa’s agricultural sector, as a growing group of companies commit to creating economic opportunity for smallholder farmers and improving food security”.

Last year, the partners secured in excess of $3.5-billion in new investment commitments and had engaged more than 800 000 farmers across eight African countries.