Afruibana Makes Agroecology in Africa a Priority with the IAM Africa Initiative
28 January 2021Joseph Owona Kono, President of Afruibana: ‘An unregulated market is a market doomed to fail’
9 March 2021
Afruibana, a Association of African Producers of Banana and Other Fruits, announces its membership in the International Agroecological Movement of Africa (IAM Africa). Through this agroecological and multilateral initiative, the association intends to revitalize its agricultural cooperation with Europe while ensuring the protection of biodiversity.
The network of the International Agroecological Movement of Africa (IAM Africa) has just undergone a considerable expansion. Its charter has been signed by its 112th member, Afruibana. It is a Association of African Producers of Banana and Other Fruits, particularly bananas, in Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon and Ghana. With a total of 80,000 direct and indirect jobs, as well as a production of just over 600,000 tons of bananas in 2019, Afruibana intends to take greater advantage of the support of European players. “Our membership in the multilateral initiative IAM Africa is part of the collaborative logic of our association. We are convinced that the transformation of African agriculture with sustainable and competitive value chains will be done with the mobilization of all stakeholders in the sector,” said Joseph Owona Kono, president of the association Afruibana.
Launched on the sidelines of the third edition of the “One Planet Summit”, held in Paris on January 11, 2021, the young agro-ecological and multilateral initiative IAM Africa aims to boost African agriculture in a sustainable way with the technical and financial support of Europe.
Investing in sustainable agriculture in Africa
Agriculture is one of the main levers of development on the continent, where nearly 70% of the population still lives in rural areas. Today, 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable land are located in Africa, which offers considerable growth potential. The modernization of the African agricultural sector, particularly through agro-ecology, digital technology and social business, is therefore a priority, necessary to combine economic performance and environmental preservation.
This approach is supported by the President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Taking part in the Summit for Adaptation to Climate Change organized by the Netherlands on January 25, 2021, Gilbert F. Houngbo said that “if investments to help small farmers adapt to climate change do not increase significantly, we risk seeing hunger gain ground and the world in the grip of instability.
