Chief Executive Officer, NEPAD, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki |
Available
statistics from the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) show that
Africa is the most prone to food insecurity as it affects a larger percentage
of the continent's population.
NEPAD revealed
to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement
that Africa needs energy security in order to get out of poverty and achieve
food security.
Speaking at a
workshop on linking bioenergy and food security in Africa recently, the chief
executive officer, NEPAD, Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki said transformation in energy
generation and services is necessary to achieve food security in Africa.
Also, experts at
the workshop agreed that African countries have to progressively move away from
the use of fossil fuels and increase the share of renewable energy sources in
their total energy mix.
Other energy
highlighted by the experts include solar, wind, hydropower and geothermal; that
bioenergy would play a major role in the coming decades on the continent.
Prof. Emile Van
Zyl of the University of Stellenbosch said Africa has the potential to be a
major player alongside Brazil in the biofuels trade if it applies modern
technology as Africa produces 606 million litres of biofuels equivalent of 2
per cent of the global trade with South Africa alone accounting for more than
half of the total output.
NaijaAgroNet
further gathered that the technical arm of the African Union (AU) Commission,
the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency has a vision to give 35 per cent of
African population access to energy in the next 20 years.
Yinka Awosanya/LS
... Linking agrobiz, people & technology
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