AGRA to influence 25 policy reforms

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa has outlined a five-year project that seeks to help governments to create an enabling policy environment in Africa with the ultimate aim of increasing incomes of smallholder farmers.  

The Micro Reforms for African Agribusiness (MIRA) initiative is aimed at identifying, prioritising and reforming specific agricultural policies and regulations that currently deter or limit private investments in small- and medium-sized agribusinesses in smallholder agricultural value chains. 

Over a period of five years, AGRA aims to motivate at least 25 significant policy or regulatory reforms in selected countries, leading to measurable increases in private sector investment in local agribusinesses. 

The project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation, is expected to increase the number of smallholder farmers accessing improved technologies supplied by agribusinesses operating in local staple food value chains. 

It will also help them to access stable, predictable income-generating market opportunities. 

This enhanced access to input and output markets is in turn expected to lead to increased smallholder productivity and incomes, and reduced poverty for smallholder farm-dependent families.

“We are very excited about this new initiative,” the President of AGRA, Ms Jane Karuku, said and added that “it will help African governments to unlock agricultural potential in their countries by supporting their efforts to develop progressive agricultural policies that will attract increased private investment in smallholder agricultural value chains”. 

The initiative aims at reforming retrogressive agricultural regulations that deter rather than encourage such investments.

“The MIRA project will provide African governments with access to high quality local and international technical assistance for identifying, prioritising and reforming specific agricultural regulations,” AGRA’s Director of Policy and Advocacy, Dr Steven Were Omamo, said. 

“Current regulations often discourage private investment in small- and medium-sized agribusinesses that serve the needs of smallholder farmers. 

The project will help build the capacity of African Government leaders and analysts to make better-informed, economically-robust assessments and decisions about which regulations need to be reformed in order to facilitate increased private investment in smallholder value chains. 

At least, 25 significant policy or regulatory reforms that induce measurable increases in private sector investment in local agribusinesses operating in smallholder agrifood value chains, will be effected.

 The MIRA project key objectives include;

• To strengthen African governments' demand for regulatory reforms, by supporting efforts to identify and assess regulations that unintentionally limit private sector investment in smallholder value chains;

 •  To support African governments’ efforts to reform regulations that limit private sector investment in smallholder value chains; 

• Promoting reformed regulations to local and international private sector investors, in order to raise awareness about improved agribusiness-enabling environments in Africa; and

 • Enhancing the capacity and commitment of African governments to continuously review, assess and reform regulations that limit private sector investment in smallholder value chains.

African Press Organisation/GB.