Food
Security, according to the World Food Summit of 1996, exists “when all people
at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a
healthy and active life”.
This
definition takes into account both physical and economic access, availability
and use of food that meets people's dietary needs as well as their food
preferences.
In
Europe and North America, people are increasingly becoming socially conscious
to eat ethical – most times opting for “clean” pesticide-free food.
In
sub-Sahara Africa, however, where the food imports of most countries far
outweigh local production levels, the ‘luxury’ of choosing what to eat is yet
to gain momentum as people would rather dream of sufficiency in food
availability.
The introduction
of appropriate water management systems to use as irrigation, increasing use of
fertilizers and improved seeds and preserving natural resources are critical to
securing a greener Africa, said Prof. Richard
Mkandawire, Advisor
and Head of Agriculture Unit at the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
“It
can be as green as national governments are committed to reforms in policy to ensure
that there is an enabling environment, to allow the private sector to
participate in the agricultural sector” he added.
To improving
food security and agricultural growth in Africa, the
adoption and use of new technologies are imperative, which in turn will require more and better investments in Research
and Development as well as transfer of technologies.
The
African Green Revolution Forum 2012 will be exploring the subject of applying
technologies to build the
foundations for rapid growth in agricultural productivity.
There are thorny
and
debatable issues with the adoption
of certain agricultural innovations
like genetically modified seeds, which are being pushed as alternatives
to combat low crop yield of farmers who are battling with poor soil fertility,
pests and diseases.
But Daniel
Otunge of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation
(AATF) believes it is high time Africa explored
the potentials of GMOs to be agriculturally productive.
“There are a number of countries within even the
European Union who are growing the GM crops”, he said, noting that about 90 percent of
maize and soyabean sold on the world market is genetically modified, mostly to
meet demands in the EU.
“Therefore, my advise to African leaders is that we really
need to think for ourselves and look at what is good for us without having to
look at Europe because most European countries do not have food insecurity problems”,
said Mr. Otunge. “Our farmers cannot even afford fertilizers, they cannot
afford herbicides, they cannot afford pesticides; now if there are technologies
that can reduce these burdens of framers, then we need to evaluate them, using
our trained scientists and regulators and them adopt them and avail them to our
farmers”.
Story by Kofi
Adu Domfeh/ in Arusha, Tanzania
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