SIRTE (Libya) - African leaders yesterday faced calls to follow through on pledges to help the continent's farms, which are threatened by climate change and hampered by poor funding.

Agriculture is the official focus of the African Union summit that opens today in the coastal Libyan town of Sirte, amid a raft of warnings about the future of farming on the continent.

Six years ago leaders at a summit in Maputo pledged to devote 10percent of their national budget to agriculture - a goal British charity Oxfam says only seven countries have met.

This time activists and experts say they will put pressure on leaders to set a concrete timetable for achieving the target. - Sapa-AFP