he agricultural sector is the world’s largest single employer. It provides jobs for more than 40% of the global
population. It’s also the largest source of income and jobs for poor, rural households.
It is, by and large, a successful sector. There have been huge improvements in yields and food production over the past five decades. More cereals have been produced annually over the past 40 years than in any earlier period. It is also predicted that the most grain in history will be harvested in 2017. This is a consequence of scientific advances, increased fertilizer use and favourable rainfall patterns.
Many of these gains are evident in Africa. Improved seed varieties, new fertilizers and pesticides, improved credit and market access have all played a role. So have scientific innovations such as improved and more reliable weather prediction, improved drought tolerance and increased resistance to extreme climatic conditions, and cross-breeding for improved efficiency.
And yet hundreds of millions of people in Africa are going hungry every day. Globally, 800 million people are categorized as chronically hungry. Around 30% of them – 227 million people – live in Africa.
So where is the disconnect between food production and food security in Africa? Why does the continent spend about US $40 billion a year importing food when so many of its own residents are farmers? And how can this situation be changed?
At least part of the answer lies with science. There are already several excellent examples of ways in which science has led to dramatic increases in food production and moved farmers in some countries closer to self-sufficiency.
Science at work
A project in Uganda provides an excellent example. Ugandan scientist, Robert Mwanga, won the 2016 World Food Prize for his work in addressing Vitamin A deficiencies. Without Vitamin A, children are more likely to develop entirely preventable blindness. Working with people in Uganda’s poor, rural areas, Mwanga set about substituting, at scale, white sweet potato – which is low in Vitamin A – with a Vitamin A-rich alternative.
NEWS
Science has the power to boost farming in Africa. But a lot has to change.
Frans Swanepoel
University of Pretoria
The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/science-has- the-power-
to-boost- farming-in- africa-but- a-lot- has-to- change-78489
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Grassroots
August 2017
Vol. 17, No.3
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