In late 2009, the World Bank reported that the number of the world’s hungry has jumped the one billion mark. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network says that in Africa alone over 20 million people are at high risk from acute food shortages, with millions more following suit. To mitigate this, agricultural scientists are scrambling to improve food security in a sustainable way and at an unprecedented scale, with researchers looking at a four-point strategy to help Africa weather this storm. Lessons learned here could help the rest of the world cope with such challenges.
This four-pronged strategy include the promotion on ‘non-tradable’ commodities, better integration of markets, closing the gap between actual and potential yields, and diversification of rural economies. This strategy was born out of the recognition of the changing global environment in which international agricultural research centers operate. Unlike the situation in the early 1970’s, current research thrusts have moved beyond just keeping the Malthusian spectre of food scarcity at bay.
Non-tradable commodities are goods or services which are not usually traded outside of a country and whose prices are mainly dictated by domestic supply and dem and. They are, therefore, largely immune from variations in exchange rates or world market trends. In Sub-Saharan Africa, governments should promote the utilization of non-tradable crops such as cassava, sorghum, millet, yam, cocoyam, banana and plantain, cowpea and bambara nut as substitutes to corn and rice, which are prone to global price fluctuations. These could be supplemented by small livestock such as goats and sheep to supply the required nutriments to families in poor communities.
Markets at the local, national, and regional levels in Africa should be better integrated to complement each other. It is amazing to see massive food aid to some parts of the continent to shore-up the lack of food, while in other parts there are production gluts. Northern African countries, for example, have a shortage of animal feed, while those in the sub-Saharan region produce enough cassava to more than satisfy such feed markets. Market integration entails massive political will and investments. Basic infrastructure such as farm-to-market roads and transportation facilities need to be established, while at higher levels, policies supportive of integration need to be formulated and implemented.
In Africa, a big gap still exists between the actual and achievable yields of major food crops. In Nigeria, for example, actual production of rice, maize and cassava are currently at 3.0, 2.8 and 12.0 t/ha, respectively, far below their potential yields of 5.0, 7.0 and 45.0 t/ha. Just by closing the yield gap, food production can easily double or triple.
Already, international agricultural research centres operating in Africa such as Africa Rice, IRRI, IITA, and CIMMYT are pitching in. IITA with its partners, for example, have developed and disseminated better yielding cassava varieties to farmers in Mozambique and Nigeria, which are also resistant to the cassava brown streak disease. At the same time, we are also applying molecular-based approaches to make African bananas resistant to the deadly Banana Xanthomonas Wilt. Africa Rice and IRRI are deploying high-yielding drought-tolerant rice varieties across the continent, while CIMMYT is doing the same with drought-tolerant maize.
Addressing the food challenges in Africa must take into account regional differences. In southern Africa, political and agricultural policies in the past concentrated on the production of only one prime commodity. This made the region vulnerable to natural shocks. For example, the productivity of cereals in this part of the continent substantially drops during droughts or floods. Diversification into a ‘food basket’ strategy would be appropriate in such a situation and should be pursued aggressively.
The research agenda of research centers has also exp anded to include the three goals of agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability, and a more explicit focus on poverty reduction that recognizes the dynamic and multidimensional nature of livelihoods of poor people.
For example, scientists now not only emphasize on just producing more pest/disease resistant crops and higher-yielding varieties but also on innovative extension techniques, the creation of input markets and delivery systems, and the strengthening and diversification of output markets.
International agricultural research centers are research for development organisations, but what is research withoutdevelopment? Research-for-development emphasises on the pursuit of a policy of advocacy after research is completed and then exiting to let development specialists bring the fruits of research to the ground where they find practical application.
As centers of excellence, a paradigm shift is needed from being supply-led to becoming more proactive and responsive, and one in which public/private partnerships and client orientation are core principles.
This shift would entail a drastic change in the role of agricultural researchers from just being “the science guys”. They must now also become partners, teachers, students, advocates, development workers, and communicators all rolled into one. Their work then must have an envisioned impact that leads to concrete and practical outcomes that are useful to target beneficiaries and end-users.
These strategies are not overnight solutions: they will take time, commitment, and money. Their potential to address hunger and food insecurity is enormous if the support is there. However, at a time when the world needs them the most, many traditional donors are downsizing their investments in agricultural research, which does not bode well to hungry people in Africa or anywhere else for that matter. But that is a different issue altogether.
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For more information, please contact:
Jeffrey Oliver, J.oliver@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager
Godwin Atser, G.Atser@cgiar.org
Regional Corporate Communications Officer (West & Central Africa)
Catherine Njuguna, c.njuguna@cgiar.org
Regional Corporate Communications Officer (East & Southern Africa)
Communication Office
IITA – Headquarters
Ibadan, Nigeria
URL: www.iita.org
About IITA
Africa has complex problems that plague agriculture and people’s lives. We develop agricultural solutions with our partners to tackle hunger and poverty. Our award winning research for development (R4D) is based on focused, authoritative thinking anchored on the development needs of sub-Saharan Africa. We work with partners in Africa and beyond to reduce producer and consumer risks, enhance crop quality and productivity, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is an international non-profit R4D organization since 1967, governed by a Board of Trustees, and supported primarily by the CGIAR.
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