For COMESA, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, she says, “They have prioritized infrastructure and trade and capacity development of institutions that are relevant for food security.

In West Africa, Sibanda says, “They’re looking at staples.”

Much of the G8 funds allocated to Africa have gone to the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Plan.

Food crisis recovery

Sub-Saharan Africa was hit hard when the food crisis began several years ago, and food prices on the continent remain very high, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture organization.

“What Africans have done is look inward and look at their potential,” Sibanda says, “We are well endowed with natural resources. And Africa can feed itself and can be the breadbasket for the whole world.”

She says investment is needed in infrastructure, trade routes, technology -- “Investments that will build the human capacity that’s required for a food security region.”

“Currently,” she adds, “if you look at what we’re producing, it’s less than one-third the potential yield we can get from the staples…. And what we are missing there is really the technology to improve productivity and the trade routes that will allow the movement of food between surplus and deficit areas.”

Treat them right

To succeed, Sibanda says it’s important “to make sure our farmers have the right incentives. What we’ve been lacking in Africa is this will to produce because there are a lot of subsidies that become a disincentive.”