IITA, Nigeria – The global food crisis hurt millions, but according to IITA, it also presents opportunities for an agricultural and economic turnaround for Africa. The food crisis, in reality, is a price crisis. It is painful, but temporary. “What Africa can do is to turn it around and get a dividend out of it,” says Hartmann, Director General of IITA, in a statement issued in observance of World Food Day 2008 on 16 October.
The global food system is showing cracks. But this is only the tip of the ‘foodberg’. This food system needs propping up, and this is what Africa should capitalize on while addressing its own food systems.
“Africa has the technologies, elevations, ecosystems, arable l ands and yield gaps that could be exploited. These are very powerful potential assets that other continents do not have,” Hartmann adds. “However, we cannot eat potential. We have to move potential to reality.” Increasing production is key, but Hartmann cautions it should be done within ethical boundaries. “Farmers are very responsive – when asked to produce more, they produce more, but when prices collapse, it is the farmers that pay the price.”
More important than putting food on farmers’ tables is putting money in farmers’ pockets. One important way to achieve this is by reducing post-harvest losses. In Africa, about 20-40% of produce is lost. But more than just losses to production are also losses in farmers’ labor, farm inputs, opportunity costs, time and effort. Hartmann says “we should change the phrase ‘post-harvest losses’ to ‘post-harvest profits’ because reducing these losses translates into profits”
“Africa is well-placed to make the most of this crisis. It has the agricultural assets that are more powerful than oil to come out of this situation better than it was before,” Hartmann concludes.
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For more information, please contact:
Jeffrey T. Oliver, o.jeffrey@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Manager
Godwin Atser, g.atser@cgiar.org
Corporate Communications Officer
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 (www.cgiar.org).
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