Poverty continues to stalk the continent of Africa, decades after the end of the brutal era of Western colonialism.
The continent whose population currently stands at 1.3 billion people is rated as the most poorest in the world with more than 450 million people living below the poverty line. This, in essence, means they live on less than 2.50 US Dollars a day.
The situation has been exacerbated by the adverse impact of climate change and the effects of Covid-19 pandemic that dragged close to 32 million people back to the poverty bracket.
Africa is blessed with good climatic conditions and fertile arable lands. Yet, the continent continues to suffer from biting food shortages and high food costs.
According to the African Development Bank, the continent is likely to miss the sustainable development goal number 1 which commits all countries to end all forms of poverty by the year 2030.
Though Africa is a huge continent made up of 54 countries, it can pull enough muscles under the leadership of the African Union to eradicate extreme poverty by the year 2030. This can be achieved through collaborations with the international community, targeted interventions and more investments in agriculture, water and sanitation.
The continent can also learn from its peers like China which managed to end extreme poverty in 2015.
The Chinese economic miracle, which has managed to pull more than 700 million people out of extreme poverty in less than five decades, offers vivid examples of how Africa can deal with the poverty menace.
When more than 30 African journalists visited China early this month under the invitation of the China Media Group, they were taken to various villages to have a first hand experience of how various policy interventions have helped China empower rural communities economically and socially and deal with rural poverty. At the heart of the plan is to address food poverty which has helped China attain high levels of food security.
China, which is home to 20% of the world population, has invested heavily in agricultural mechanization and research to improve agricultural yields. A visit to the National Hybrid rice centre in Hunan Province, one marvels at the immense contributions of renowned agronomist Yuan Lonnping, who helped discover a type of hybrid rice that helped increase production by 20 percent.
Today, Yuan’s hybrid rice constitutes 60 percent of the country’s rice production and is now grown in over 60 countries worldwide including Africa.
The centre offers a critical lesson for Africa. To achieve food supremacy, the continent must invest in top notch agricultural research centres. The 10,000 acre demonstration farm in Gangzhongping Village close to the city of ChangDe offers critical insights to Africa on agricultural mechanization, where local farmers have embraced artificial intelligence for weather forecasting and drones to survey and spray their farms.
To deal with rural poverty, China has invested heavily in state of the art infrastructure like roads, water dams, electricity and proper sanitation. This is clearly highlighted in the Shibadong village of Shuanglong township in Huayan County, Hunan Province.
In 2013, Chinese president Xi Jinping, then the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of China, directed local authorities to develop robust poverty eradication mechanisms to deal with high poverty levels. At the time, almost 60 percent of the locals were considered to be poor.
The Province developed a coherent poverty reduction plan targeting to exploit tourism, agriculture and cottage industries. The strategy targeted job creation for the locals through handicrafts and Miao embroidery as well as batiks. The local authorities worked closely with the national government to implement the strategy.
In 2016, the entire population of the village was lifted out of extreme poverty. Today, Shibadong village is a melting pot with a thriving agriculture and tourism based economy.
In China, Africa can learn critical lessons on how to reduce poverty, revitalize rural communities and embrace mechanization to increase food production.
However, to achieve this, Africa should remember the words of president Xi Jinping in 2013. Addressing the Central Rural Work Conference of the Communist Party of China, Xi averred that: “We should recognize that the issue of food security is a red line that would trigger terrible consequences were it ever to be compromised”.
