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AS has been suggested time and time again, africa holds the key to the global population’s growing demand for food. The continent has many hectares of untouched land, waiting to grow the crops to feed the ever increasing extravagancies of a growing global middle class.
The land is there, the demand is there and yet the supply has not been able to follow. The logical question is why supply is not keeping up with demand. Demand in local and regional urban food markets across africa is expected to jump from $50 billion in 2000 to $150 billion in 2030. Yet, according to Jonathan Kamkwaka writing for the World Bank blog, “as little as 7 percent of the continent’s arable land is irrigated – or artificially watered. The rest of african farmland is subject to the vagaries of erratic rainfall.”
There is no denying that africa’s climate has put pressure on the continent’s agricultural development, as farmers still only depend on one or two kinds of crops and risk starvation if there is a lack of rainfall. Many countries in africa continue to be among the lowest per-capita energy consumers in the world, which is necessary for agriculture development.
The main issue experts believe contributes to the lack of supply is linked to growing changes in climate patterns. This is affecting farmers across Sub-Saharan africa and means a lack of real and tangible investment in agricultural inputs. according to the World Bank, successful agriculture is dependent upon farmers having sufficient access to water and the bank considers production and water management as an increasingly global issue.
There are two main issues linked to water. There is the issue of “physical water scarcity,” which is where there is not enough water to meet all demands, including that needed for ecosystems to function effectively, and “economic scarcity,” which is caused by a lack of investment in water or insufficient human capacity to satisfy the demand for water. Symptoms of economic water scarcity include a lack of infrastructure, with people often having to fetch water from rivers for domestic and agricultural uses.
In addition, many energy policies do not take into consideration the current and future energy needs of agriculture and many rural energy/electricity programs consider the housing needs of households but not their farming needs. With growing awareness of food production issues and climate change hazards in africa, there needs to be new incentives for the agriculture sector, revitalizing productivity and attracting new investments.
In the last week of august this year, experts gathered in Stockholm for World Water Week, which focused on understanding how water impacts food security.Agriculture and food production in africa can be strengthened by focusing on improving irrigation, ensuring that water reaches parched lands, and strengthening the hands of farmers who produce food against climatic odds.
The World Water Week report, based on an international study, clearly highlights that water management innovations could boost crop yields and raise household income on the continent. according to the report, “Water for wealth and food security: Supporting farmerdriven investments in agricultural water management,”expanding the use of smallholder water management techniques could increase yields by up to 300 percent in some cases, and could add tens of billions of dollars to household revenues across Sub-Saharan africa and South asia.
Alioune Diouf, a technical advisor for the Israeli Embassy in Senegal – Israel is one country that created agricultural richness from desert lands, said, “The simplification of technology would help change the mentality of farmers, to make them think more like entrepreneurs, but more needs to be done to support them.”
Sub-Saharan africa has the much needed land to feed the global population. What must be established is a simple yet realistic approach to ensuring that basic inputs such as water supply, irrigation and electricity are provided in the most cost-efficient way so that the farmer can not only diversify, but can also live off his/ her land and remain somewhat unharmed by growing irregular weather patterns.
The land is there, the demand is there and yet the supply has not been able to follow. The logical question is why supply is not keeping up with demand. Demand in local and regional urban food markets across africa is expected to jump from $50 billion in 2000 to $150 billion in 2030. Yet, according to Jonathan Kamkwaka writing for the World Bank blog, “as little as 7 percent of the continent’s arable land is irrigated – or artificially watered. The rest of african farmland is subject to the vagaries of erratic rainfall.”
There is no denying that africa’s climate has put pressure on the continent’s agricultural development, as farmers still only depend on one or two kinds of crops and risk starvation if there is a lack of rainfall. Many countries in africa continue to be among the lowest per-capita energy consumers in the world, which is necessary for agriculture development.
The main issue experts believe contributes to the lack of supply is linked to growing changes in climate patterns. This is affecting farmers across Sub-Saharan africa and means a lack of real and tangible investment in agricultural inputs. according to the World Bank, successful agriculture is dependent upon farmers having sufficient access to water and the bank considers production and water management as an increasingly global issue.
There are two main issues linked to water. There is the issue of “physical water scarcity,” which is where there is not enough water to meet all demands, including that needed for ecosystems to function effectively, and “economic scarcity,” which is caused by a lack of investment in water or insufficient human capacity to satisfy the demand for water. Symptoms of economic water scarcity include a lack of infrastructure, with people often having to fetch water from rivers for domestic and agricultural uses.
In addition, many energy policies do not take into consideration the current and future energy needs of agriculture and many rural energy/electricity programs consider the housing needs of households but not their farming needs. With growing awareness of food production issues and climate change hazards in africa, there needs to be new incentives for the agriculture sector, revitalizing productivity and attracting new investments.
In the last week of august this year, experts gathered in Stockholm for World Water Week, which focused on understanding how water impacts food security.Agriculture and food production in africa can be strengthened by focusing on improving irrigation, ensuring that water reaches parched lands, and strengthening the hands of farmers who produce food against climatic odds.
The World Water Week report, based on an international study, clearly highlights that water management innovations could boost crop yields and raise household income on the continent. according to the report, “Water for wealth and food security: Supporting farmerdriven investments in agricultural water management,”expanding the use of smallholder water management techniques could increase yields by up to 300 percent in some cases, and could add tens of billions of dollars to household revenues across Sub-Saharan africa and South asia.
Alioune Diouf, a technical advisor for the Israeli Embassy in Senegal – Israel is one country that created agricultural richness from desert lands, said, “The simplification of technology would help change the mentality of farmers, to make them think more like entrepreneurs, but more needs to be done to support them.”
Sub-Saharan africa has the much needed land to feed the global population. What must be established is a simple yet realistic approach to ensuring that basic inputs such as water supply, irrigation and electricity are provided in the most cost-efficient way so that the farmer can not only diversify, but can also live off his/ her land and remain somewhat unharmed by growing irregular weather patterns.