Pretoria - Food security is a huge challenge and a key priority for the African continent, says Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson.
The minister was addressing the 3rd BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] Ministers of Agriculture and Agrarian Development Meeting on Tuesday.
She said the meeting will consider and provide leadership on the important matter of the ‘Negative Effect of Climate Change on World Food Security”.
“I am energised by this theme because food security is a huge challenge and thus a key priority for the African continent.”
According to the minister, the challenge requires BRICS ministers responsible for agriculture to urgently and significantly accelerate agricultural and food production, so that people on the continent can enjoy sustainable access to safe, nutritious and affordable food.
“Our priority on the continent and in South Africa is to promote sustainable agricultural and food production, which will enable Africa to feed itself and the world,” she said.
As a result of the realties and impact of climate change, the minister said BRICS ministers must promote smart, responsible and sustainable Agriculture.
“We are required to ensure that the decisions we make today impact positively on the continent and the quality of the land we leave for the next generation and their children.
“As we consider ‘Negative Effect of Climate Change on World Food Security’, we must remain mindful that with a few exceptions, rural women fare worse than rural men and urban men and women against all the Millennium Development Goals indicators,” Joemat-Pettersson said.
Support for women
Research has shown that closing the gap in terms of access to resources and support for women in the agricultural sector makes good economic sense.
“It has been estimated that if women had the same access to productive resources (such as land ownership, technical inputs, water and energy) as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20 to 30 percent. This would raise the agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 to 4 percent and reduce the number of hungry people in the world by between 12 to 17 percent,” the minister said.
Attending the meeting -- which will culminate in the signing of a joint declaration -- are Han Changfu, the Minister of Agriculture from the People’s Republic of China; India’s Union Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Food Processing Industries, Sharad Pawar; Antonio Andrade Ferreira, the Minister of Agriculture in Brazil; and the Deputy Minister of Agriculture from Russia, Shestakov ILya Vasilyevich.
“It is my expectation that we will emerge from this meeting with a shared sense that it was instructive, successful and well worth of the investment and effort we have made to be here.” - SAnews.gov.za
