Agricultural innovations still needed to boost food production

Agricultural innovations are still relevant in  transforming livelihoods in Africa , a stakeholder lecture on “Food and  Culture” has heard.

Farm

Using a case study of the cassava revolution in Africa,  researchers estimate that resource-poor  farmers in Nigeria, alone,  traded improved cassava stems—a  part that is often neglected for having  commercial  value—worth more than US$1 million (about N150m) in five  years.

Professor Lateef Sanni, IITA Scientist, said that   this  increase in incomes of farmers came between 2003 and 2008.

Organized by the Public Affairs Section of the United  States Consulate General,   Lagos and IITA in Ibadan ; the  “Food and  Culture” lecture brought together  experts in the food and agricultural  sector including a guest lecturer  from  Tufts University .

Stakeholders reviewed the US agricultural experience and  brainstormed on areas  that Africa could tap into.  In his presentation titled: “Roots and Tubers: Food  Security Crops in Nigeria  ,”

Sanni said cassava was a food security crop  in Nigeria and a major provider of employment and income. He said the  crop appeals to farmers because of its  affordability, ease of  cultivation, and high return on investment.  Apart from  the stems, cassava roots and leaves are now  offering additional  income streams to farmers.

Despite cassava’s role in the food web, Sanni said more  attention by way of support to research was needed. More  importantly,  cutting down postharvest losses through investment in processing  technologies and the creation of  an  appropriate policy framework were  necessary to sustain cassava’s role in  ensuring food security in the  future.

Prof. William Masters of Tufts University said that the  US government was  reviewing its commitment to African  agriculture with  plans to increase funding for the sector and to achieve productivity  growth which IITA has stood for in the last more than four decades.

Masters, an agricultural economist, shared his thoughts  on “How Americans are  rethinking what they eat and what is in their  food, how they grow, market and  distribute them.”
He explained that consumers in wealthy societies no  longer need higher farm productivity for their own prosperity, but  instead are seeking foods that  embody their cultural values. Giving a  scenario of killing the ‘golden goose  that laid the golden eggs,’  Masters expressed fears that consumer preferences for organic, local and  traditional foods in the US might limit their support for the kind of  agricultural innovations that are needed in Africa .

According to him, the agricultural revolution in America  and Europe whichsustained industrialization was a product  of  technological improvement in  agriculture and that campaigning against  new advances that hold the key to  cutting down hunger and poverty in  Africa was synonymous to killing the golden  goose that laid the golden  eggs of new crop genetics and agronomic methods.

African experts at the session agreed that taking Africa  ’s agricultural sector    out of the woods would require the  adoption of  new technological tools.

For Paul Ilona, IITA Senior Cassava Trials Manager,  farmers needed  improved seeds, fertilizer and other farm inputs such as  pesticides to boost  productivity. He said anything to the contrary was a  disservice to farmers in  Africa.

Earlier, IITA’s Director-General, Dr. Peter Hartmann ,  who was represented by Dr Mbaye Yade, said the Institute was delighted  to share its knowledge and  experience in the area of agriculture with  partners.  He said the fight against  poverty and hunger in Africa  required collaborative  efforts among the many stakeholders working for  Africa ’s development.