ONE, ANSAF AND MRISHO MPOTO, AKA “MJOMBA” DELIVER “HUNGRY NO MORE” PETITION - SIGNED BY MORE THAN 16,000 AFRICANS - TO PRESIDENT JAKAYA KIKWETE IN TANZANIA

The Africa Director for One Organization Dr. Sipho Moyo(second left) presents to President Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete a special petition signed by 16,000 African citizens including farmers organization, urging African leaders to raise awareness to Hungry No more campaign during the forthcoming AU summit in Malawi  and solicit their support to refocus Africa’s attention on agricultural development. Dr.Moyo further commended President Kikwete’s efforts in improving the welfare of Tanzanians through Kilimo Kwanza initiative. One is an international  non-partisan, non-profit organization which attempts to mobilize supporters around its issues and organize them into lobbying force with the goal of encouraging national leaders to fund more international development and relief programs in tune with Millennium Development Goals. Others in the picture are the Minister for Agriculture Prof.Jummanne Maghembe(right), left is Executive Secretary  for agriculture Non State Actors Forum(ANSAF)Mr .Audax Rukonge and other stakeholders. Photo by Freddy Maro

“Farming is the future.  Famines should be consigned to history.”

A group of smallholder farmers and ordinary African citizens marched to State House Tanzania today, to deliver a petition signed by more than 16,000 Africans.  The petition calls on African leaders to provide greater food security for ordinary Africans by investing more in support for smallholder farmers.  Campaigners called on President Jakaya Kikwete to take the lead on investment in sustainable agriculture, setting an example for other African Leaders.

The petition, also challenges African leaders to demonstrate their resolve in tackling famine and other agriculture related problems on the continent by:

·         Targeting investments in small-holder farmers (especially women) and encouraging sustainable private resources for agricultural development

·         Fulfilling the 2003 Maputo Declaration on Agriculture, which called for 10% budget allocated to Agriculture and Rural Development

·         Improving transparency and accountability in budget and expenditure processes so  progress towards achieve the Maputo Declaration and the Comprehensive Agricultural Development Programme can be monitored

The petition is part of a campaign led by ONE in Africa, ANSAF and other African partners stressing on the importance of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than 70 percent of the populations  live in rural areas  and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Studies show that in 2010 while agriculture’s share of the budget was only about 7 percent the sector contributed at least 24 percent to Tanzania’s GDP, accounted for 60 percent of its labor and provided 34 percent of its exports. This was far more than the 17.3% contributed by Manufacturing, 28.2% from minerals and 22.5% from the tourism industry. The strategic importance of agriculture to Tanzania’s fight against poverty is therefore not debatable and its potential both in Tanzania and across the region is immense. The right investments now can ensure that agriculture helps to lead the economic transformation of the continent.  Nearly ten years ago African leaders made an historic promise to their people, -  to spend at least 10% of the budget on agriculture and rural development as a means of eradicating extreme poverty.  As we approach the 10^th Anniversary it’s a good time to take stock and while some significant progress towards that goal has been made, few countries have kept this promise leaving plenty of room to beat hunger and boost wellbeing across Africa.

During the event, President Kikwete responded by making a recommitment to the Maputo protocol and announced that he would urge his fellow African leaders to do the same in a transparent and accountable manner.

Following today’s event ONE and partners will take the campaign to forthcoming regional events including the AU Summit in Malawi in July.

In recognizing the importance of the event,  President Jakaya Kikwete remarked, “It is important because it reminds us that Agriculture is the life-blood of our country, sustaining our people in towns and villages and meeting their basic needs .  Our attitude towards agriculture can change, will change and must change ”.

The President’s remarks were echoed by Mrisho Mpoto (aka MJOMBA) a famous East African poet, who said: “Hunger is not acceptable. Hunger makes people suffer, affects child's mental growth, diminishes the honour of the family and nation. World leaders have a role to play. Invest in agriculture, support the future generation, attain MDGs

Asked to comment Dr. Sipho S. Moyo, Africa Director at ONE, said, “If you want to address poverty, you need to go where poverty is and it is largely in the rural areas among small holder farmers especially women farmers. Reducing poverty will mean targeting investments towards smallholders in order to create viable employment, boost productivity, and ensure efficient local markets which generate positive multiplier effects within rural economies, by improving  food self-sufficiency and reducing rural inequity.  

This is why we look up to President  Kikwete’s government and count on his leadership  to continue fostering an enabling environment for smallholder farmers . Currently no more than ten African countries have kept their promise to do 10% - we look forward to the  number of countries increasing  by the tenth anniversary in 2013, and we are delighted that Tanzanian is leading the way”.

Mr Audax Rukonge, ANSAF’s Executive director said, “MKUKUTA and the Tanzania Five Year Development Plan commits the government to address food insecurity and poverty, among others. In the Tanzanian context, and probably most of African countries, poverty is a rural phenomenon, and agriculture is the main livelihood source. Tanzania can attain some of the Millennium Development as well as MKUKUTA Goals if we invest in agriculture and particularly smallholder farmers. Let us increase the share of agriculture that benefits smallholders and transform the sector for equitable economic growth”.

Notes to Editor

1. ONE is a global grassroots advocacy and campaigning organization backed by more than 2.5 million people that fights extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, by raising public awareness and pressing political leaders to support smart, effective policies and programs that are saving lives, helping to put kids in school and improving futures. ONE has offices in Washington, D.C., London, Abuja, Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Johannesburg. For more information please visit www.ONE.org.

2.       ANSAF is a registered network of private and civil society organizations including farmers’ umbrella organizations, research institutions and individuals. ANSAF network aims at providing a platform where people learn/share and collectively seek to use their experiences and researches to influence the government and key policy and decision makers on specific sector priorities that accounts to country’s economy and equitably contributes to poverty reduction specifically at community level. ANSAF envisages awakening the latent opportunities in agriculture through identifying and articulating the potential that are currently in place. It provides space where issues from smallholders through members are critically discussed within the context of policy framework and economic growth. For more information please visit www.ansaf.or.tz

3.       At the Second Ordinary Assembly of the African Union in July 2003 in Maputo, African Heads of State and Government endorsed the “Maputo Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa” (Assembly/AU/Decl. 7(II)). The Declaration contained several important decisions regarding agriculture, but prominent among them was the “commitment to the allocation of at least 10 percent of national budgetary resources to agriculture and rural development policy implementation within five years”.  For the latest information on how African countries are performing with regard to this allocation go to www.nepad.org

4.       Adopted by world leaders in the year 2000 and set to be achieved by 2015, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions. 
For more information on the Millenium Development goals, go to www.undp.org

5.       in the coming weeks the campaign moves to Nigeria  and onwards towards wider commitments from African leaders we hope will be made by the time of the AU summit in Malawi in July

For more information please contact Wangui Muchiri: +27 73 250 7742 or wangui.muchiri@one.org  or Alawiya Mohamed :+255713385538 or alawiya14@gmail.com