![Modernizing African agriculture, one of the priorities of the Paris Peace Forum Modernizing African agriculture, one of the priorities of the Paris Peace Forum](https://media.lesechos.com/api/v1/images/view/666838c67b39c767d160492c/1280x720/01101676175121-web-tete.jpg)
To create dialogue, the participants must agree on the terms of the subject. The Paris Peace Forum knows this well, which brings together high-level international representatives every November 11 in Paris to develop collective actions promoting peace in the world.
On Monday, for the first time since its creation in 2018, the event moved abroad. Its spring meeting was held in Morocco, in the ultramodern grounds of the Mohammed-VI-Polytechnique University, between Casablanca and Marrakech. Among the priorities of this African edition: food security. The challenge is to encourage investment in African agriculture, which is too unproductive. Although the objective may be unanimous, there is dialogue – between donors, States, research institutes, private sector, etc. – is difficult.
The Paris Forum therefore launched an initiative on Monday, the Agricultural Transitions Lab for African Solutions (ATLAS), which brings key players – such as the French Development Agency (AFD), INRAE, CIRAD – to the table. , the Boston Consulting Group and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation – to promote dialogue between the North and the South.
“Huge potential”
The observation is there: the African continent is unable to feed its entire population, and the situation is only expected to get worse with demographic growth – more than a billion additional inhabitants by 2050 – and climate change. “Africa has enormous potential, it could cover all its food needs, and also contribute to global food security,” underlines Augustin Grandgeorge, head of the ATLAS initiative for the Paris Peace Forum. “The current increase in agricultural production on the continent is occurring through the expansion of cultivated plots, and therefore through deforestation. It is therefore in all of our interests to unlock the potential of African agriculture. »
The figures confirm it: according to the FAO, the UN agency for food and agriculture, deforestation has only accelerated in Africa in recent decades, going against the global trend. Between 2010 and 2020, the continent lost 3.9 million hectares of forest each year, mainly converted into cultivated areas (75%) and pastures (20%).
Agricultural productivity stagnated over the same period. According to the FAO, yields of the main cereal crops in Africa do not even reach a quarter of their potential. The main cause: “lack of access to inputs, technologies and advisory services”. All aggravated by the effects of climate change which increases the frequency of droughts and floods.
200 billion dollars per year missing
According to the ATLAS initiative, the lack of public and private investment and donations in African agriculture is estimated at $200 billion per year. It is therefore a question of seeking these funds. But it was already necessary to “pose the debate”, explains Augustin Grandgeorge: “There is an ideological divide which is widening between the countries of the North which prioritize climate objectives and the African partners who point out that they are only responsible of around 3% of greenhouse gas emissions and are primarily concerned about food security and the fight against poverty. »
To overcome these mutual distrusts, it was necessary to define a common language: “for example the word agroecology was blocking. It was perceived by some in the South as a way of teaching lessons while in the North it was synonymous with sustainability,” continues Augustin Grandgeorge. Likewise, the increased use of chemical inputs is sometimes poorly received by Europeans, when African partners emphasize that their tropical soils are historically degraded and must be nourished more.
This is how the main actors first managed to agree on some major principles during the last Paris Peace Forum, such as the need not to oppose agriculture and the environment, and the freedom for each African country to choose your development path. Enough to “de-stress” the dialogue, underlines Augustin Grandgeorge. It is now a matter of getting down to business, defining standards, common positions, and bringing these voices to international donors. “This is a work of several years that is beginning,” he warns.