Agricultural Innovations Will Boost Africa’s Food Production

An African farmer at work

For African countries to boost food production, they require well articulated innovations in agricultural production if not the continent will continue to wallow in perpetual poverty and starvation.

These are some of the inputs made in a stakeholder lecture on “Food and Culture” organized by the Public Affairs Section of the United States Consulate General, held in the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Lagos and  Ibadan, Nigeria.

Case Study of Cassava

Professor Lateef Sanni, the IITA Scientist, in his presentation entitled, “Roots and Tubers: Food Security Crops in Nigeria,” said that using a case study of the cassava revolution in Africa, researchers estimate that resource-poor farmers in Nigeria, alone, traded improved cassava stems, a part that is often neglected for having commercial value, worth more than US$1 million (about N150m) in five years.

He noted that the increase in incomes of farmers came between 2003 and 2008 adding that cassava is a food security crop in Nigeria and a major provider of employment and income.

He said that the crop appeals to farmers because of its affordability, ease of cultivation, and high return on investment and that apart from the stems, cassava roots and leaves are now offering additional income streams to farmers.

Cassava’s Role in the Food Web

“Despite cassava’s role in the food web, more attention by way of support to research was needed. More importantly, cutting down post-harvest losses through investment in processing technologies and the creation of an appropriate policy framework were necessary to sustain cassava’s role in ensuring food security in the future,” Sanni stated.

In his own contribution Prof. William Masters of Tufts University said that the US government is reviewing its commitment to African agriculture with plans to increase funding for the sector and to achieve productivity growth which IITA has stood for in the last more than four decades.

Masters, an agricultural economist, shared his thoughts on “How Americans are rethinking what they eat and what is in their food, how they grow, market and distribute them” adding that consumers in wealthy societies no longer need higher farm productivity for their own prosperity, but instead are seeking foods that embody their cultural values.

Giving a scenario of killing the ‘golden goose that laid the golden eggs,’ Masters expressed fears that consumer preferences for organic, local and traditional foods in the US might limit their support for the kind of agricultural innovations that are needed in Africa.

The Agricultural Revolution in America and Europe

According to him, the agricultural revolution in America and Europe which sustained industrialization was a product of technological improvement in agriculture and that campaigning against new advances that hold the key to cutting down hunger and poverty in Africa is synonymous to killing the golden goose that laid the golden eggs of new crop genetics and agronomic methods.

Also speaking the IITA Senior Cassava Trials Manager, Paul Ilona, said that farmers need improved seeds, fertilizer and other farm inputs such as pesticides to boost productivity and that anything to the contrary was a disservice to farmers in Africa.

Earlier, IITA’s Director-General, Dr. Peter Hartmann, who was represented by Dr Mbaye Yade, said the Institute was delighted to share its knowledge and experience in the area of agriculture with partners.

He said the fight against poverty and hunger in Africa required collaborative efforts among the many stakeholders working for Africa’s development.