complimented and food security obtained.
Improving Agricultural Productivity
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), the total food production in South Africa has
increased over the last 40 years, mainly through improvements in productivity, but the production per
capita in South Africa and Southern African Development Countries (SADC) is declining. There have been
large drops in production (notably, 1981–1983 and
1989–1993) that coincided with major droughts followed by periods of recovery. See Figure 2. But these
recovery periods have not been sufficient for food
production to keep up with population growth. This
could become an area of concern as it may have an
impact on food security, not only in South Africa, but
in the region as well.
Water harvesting and utilization through irrigation,
as well as employment of drainage technologies to
remove excess water from arable lands, sustainable
land and water management are key to increased
agriculture sector performance and sustainable food
security. In this regard the application of the correct
engineering principles and systems is imperative for
optimal food production and productivity.
Sustainable Food Systems
The FAO’s define food security as follows: “When all
people at all times have access to sufficient, safe and
nutritious food to meet dietary needs for a healthy
and active life”. The challenge is to achieve a sustainable food system, which allows increased food production while reducing poverty and hunger and overexploitation of natural resources.
Figure 1: Global Food Crisis with 925 million people
hungry in 2010
Achieving sustainable management of natural resources while meeting increasing future food demands will be the key to success. Some actions can
be taken to name but a few:
Use available technologies.
Save energy
Improve infrastructure.
Optimise water resources.
Focus on agro-ecological methods.
Take political action.
Etc.
Agricultural Engineering and Food Security
Sub-Saharan Africa is blessed with significant land
and water resources and diverse agro-ecosystems but
agricultural productivity is low and hunger and malnutrition persist, particularly in rural areas. The area
under irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa is the lowest of
any region in the world. They only irrigate 13 million
hectares out of a potential of 42 million hectares.
Making effective use of available water can help to
improve productivity and reduce poverty. Smallholder
farmers attracted by the benefits of irrigation are already investing in small-scale irrigation and different
systems and methods that are available. Individually
owned and operated irrigation technologies improve
yields, reduce risks associated with climate variability
and increase incomes, allowing farmers to purchase
food, health care and education.
The water sources supporting smallholder food production are varied and the majority of farmers rely on
rainwater directly falling on their fields. Some also
Figure 2: Production per capita in Sub-Saharan Africa is
declining.