15/09/21

Invest in research to save Africa’s agriculture

farming
For food systems to work well in Africa, the entire food system from production, processing to marketing must be effective — but success hinges on smallholder farmers who are at the frontline, says Gilbert Nakweya. Copyright:Axel Fassio/CIFOR,CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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[内罗毕]beplay下载官网西西软件in Sub-Saharan Africa was already getting a beating from shocks such as droughts, desert locusts and a growing population, and新冠肺炎仅增加了压力。

As I listened to proceedings at the 11th Annual Summit of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) held in Kenya last week (6-10 September), I became more convinced that the global pandemic is hurting agricultural systems across the continent, and that urgent action is needed to mitigate the situation.

Areportreleased last year by the UN’s High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition says that measures taken to contain the spread of COVID-19 have had “profound implications forfood security,nutritionand food systems”.

“小农户是非洲农业的引擎。beplay下载官网西西软件It must therefore be productive, profitable and caring about the environment.”

Enock Chikava, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

对我而言,很清楚,Covid-19的遏制措施,例如在家颁布法令,减慢了农业推广服务,减少了家庭收入,减少了耕种成本的收入,导致农业投入材料的不可用以及有关营销的不确定性产品等。

Donations appeal

But how do we cushion agriculture in Africa against unforeseen crises such as COVID-19? How can the sector be revitalised and made resilient? These were some of the questions that came to my mind as I listened to various panellists and attendees of the AGRF summit.

During the summit, experts shared knowledge and ideas on how to create sustainable food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa amidst the shocks ofclimate changeand burden of疾病在该地区。

大陆需要强大的policychanges in agriculture to ensure that the sector becomes responsive to the population’s current food needs and to further the socioeconomic development of Africa through creation of jobs.

Speakers at the event were particularly concerned with how the region can find innovative solutions to increase agricultural production that can address the challenges of shrinking arable land caused by population growth and other shocks such as climate change and COVID-19.

For food systems to work well in Africa, the entire food system from production, processing to marketing must be effective — but success hinges on smallholder farmers who are at the frontline.

“小农户是非洲农业的引擎。beplay下载官网西西软件因此,它必须具有富有成效的,有利可图的和关心的环境。beplay足球体育的微博“我们需要谈论农业的投资,因为它在经济上可行且经济上是合理的。”beplay下载官网西西软件

He added that it was time to change tack from funding to investing in agriculture. And I couldn’t agree more. Such investments will make the sector fund itself without relying on external funding that may not besustainable.

在我参加的一次会议中,尼日利亚联邦农业和农村发展部副局长Sugra Mahmood同意农业应为自己付费。beplay下载官网西西软件

Mahmood解释说,该行业“需要通过提供所需的关键要素(例如土地任期,扩展系统和响应式研究)来使投资环境友好的战略干预”。beplay足球体育的微博

The summit highlighted how food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa are lacking the attention needed to ensure that people can access food across the region.

我同意专家的观点,应该通过增加投资来重建弹性食品系统来高度优beplay下载官网西西软件先级。我们需要围绕非洲农业挑战,尤其是气候变化和害虫来建立韧性。beplay下载官网西西软件

Ahead of the UN Food Systems Summit next week, it is critical that African governments and development partners clearly outline the need to address the continent’s food systems challenges with commitments to invest in research and strengthen localresearchorganisations for home-growninnovations这支持食品系统并增加基层的吸收。

如果非洲希望自己摆脱农业部门面临的挑战,包括Covid-19,并与他们的中心与小农户建立高效,有效的食品系统,则必须发生范式转变。beplay下载官网西西软件

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.

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