Africa's crop production lags behind - Food Laureate

Director General, FARA, Monty Jones

The Executive Director of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Monty Jones, has said that crop production in Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world with a very wide gap, AfricaScienceNews.

Jones, a World Food Prize Laureate, NaijaAgroNet learnt, also affirmed a sharp decline in global agricultural exports with unreasonable increase in African food imports.

Jones said this at the recently concluded Second Ministerial Dialogue on Increasing Agricultural Productivity in Africa, which brings together agriculture, science and technology ministers in Africa as well as experts from the continent.

Former President of Ghana, Mr. John Kufuor, who also is a World Food Prize Laureate said, there is need for policies in order to transform the sector that holds most of the population to break the logjam of poverty.

"With the right policies in place, Africa has the potential to be the breadbasket of the world, starting with Africa itself," Kufuor said. 

Participants at the dialogue also expressed their concerns over the lack of progress by African governments in meeting their commitments to allocate at a minimum of 10 per cent of their budgets to agriculture.

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Scientists call for new solutions to prevent fungal infections in plants and animals

Maize Plant affected by Fungi

Scientists has called for new solutions in order to prevent the proliferation of existing and emerging plants' and animals' fungal infections, a bid to prevent further loss of biodiversity, ScienceDaily reports.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the call was made following a data reviewed by scientists that revealed that emerging fungus is behind the problem where infectious disease causes extinction of a type of animal or plants.

The scientists who are from University of Oxford, Imperial College London and institutions in the United States affirmed that about 125milllion tones of the top five food crops - rice, wheat, maize, potatoes and soybeans - are being loss yearly, the loss they say could have been used to feed those in need if prevented.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered that the damage caused by fungi to rice, wheat and maize alone costs global agriculture $60 million, about N9.44 billion yearly. Read moreAdmin/LS

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Employ modern techniques to boost farm productivity - Experts

Mechanized Farming

Experts have called for incorporation of modern techniques and methods to boost farm productivity as the next revolution in farming, IBNLive reports.

The Deputy Director-General, Crop Science, Indian Council of Agriculture Research, Swapan Datta said at a discussion panel that biotechnology can improve biodiversity and also help with the improvement of farm productivity as well.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that Datta said science and technology can be used to develop value added genetically engineered or modified crops and that crops can support our environment and farmers' need. 

S L Kothari, Professor of Botany Department, University of Rajasthan, another member of the panelist laid emphasis on increase in farm productivity so that farmers can get more benefit from crops. Read more

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Taiwan supports The Gambia's food supplies with N472M

Samuel Chen, Taiwanese Ambassador

Taiwan government made provision for The Gambia the sum of $3 million; about N472 million to enable The Gambia fight food shortage, Observer reports.

The fund will be used to buy 2,300 metric tones of seeds and to also import 1, 360 metric tones of fertilizer in a bid to assist the country out of food shortage.

NaijaAgroNet recalls that last year's crop failure really affected food supply in The Gambia, hence the Taiwan support is appropriate and at the right time.

Samuel Chen, Taiwanese ambassador to The Gambia, announced the support at the opening of a 10-day seminar on crop production with special focus on rice for the Africa region and Haiti held at Bakau.

Ambassador Chen affirmed the need to maintain food security as a crucial policy in The Gambia with rice as one of the most important staple food of its people.

He added that Taiwan is glad to share her knowledge to her friends and diplomatic allies. ReadMore

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East African govts fight drought with new strategies

Governments of the Horn of Africa under the aegis of Inter-Governmental Authority of Development (IGAD) are working towards fighting drought and famine through the application of early warning mechanisms, reports CoastWeek.

Leaders of the seven countries that make up IGAD recently met in Kenya, which resulted in creation of new strategies to enable the region battle drought and famine.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that participants asserted that most of the requests for support made by IGAD from donors are usually meant to address drought emergency cases.

Participants also agreed the new plan should be based on addressing resilience and should be backed by a very strong drought early warning mechanisms that is well linked to institutions that coordinate response.

Mahboub Maalim, IGAD Executive Secretary affirmed the need to undertake and sustain long term programs aimed at vulnerability reduction and resilience building, following the changing cycle of drought where it was now occurring every two years. 

Highlighting the need for infrastructural investments in dry land areas to facilitate creation of wealth, Mahboub Maalim said “The region requires long term investments that will form the bedrock of this resilience. Short term projects should well link to the overall long term objectives." Readmore

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No single govt can fight hunger - FAO boss

The 32nd meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO’s) Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean ended in Buenos Aires, with the Director-General of FAO, Mr. Graziano da Silva asserting that no single government can fight hunger alone.

The fight against hunger, FAO boss noted, should not be the commitment of a single government but a decision of the entire society.

He also said the initiative against food insecurity is for every country and urged governments to embrace the initiative alongside parliaments, civil society, private and academic sectors.

As revealed to NaijaAgroNet in press statement made available by FAO, some of the issues top on the agenda during the meeting included the challenges of food and agriculture, defined priorities for FAO's regional work for the next two years.

Equally, FAO said, food security, climate change adaptation, smallholder agriculture and food safety were deliberated upon.

"The challenges the world faces today are increasingly interconnected. You cannot talk about food security without talking about climate change, or about development without talking about sustainability or social inclusion; not to mention food prices. Nor can we think that we can respond to the challenges we are facing as individuals", said Graziano da Silva. 

NaijaAgroNet recalled that the conference witnessed renewal of commitments by governments for Latin America and the Caribbean without Hunger in 2025.

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