Africa can 'feed itself in a single generation'
Source: Agencies |
December 3, 2010, Friday
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AFRICAN nations can break dependence on food imports and produce enough to feed a growing population within a generation despite extra strains from climate change, a study said yesterday.
Research into new crops resistant to heat, droughts or floods, better support for small-scale farmers and greater involvement by national leaders in setting policies in sectors from transport to education were needed, it said.
"Africa can feed itself. And it can make the transition from hungry importer to self-sufficiency in a single generation," said an international study led by Harvard University professor Calestous Juma.
About 70 percent of Africans are involved in farming but almost 250 million people, or a quarter of the population of the poorest continent, are undernourished.
Juma, who is a professor of international development, said food self-sufficiency would require big shifts in policies that have led to dependence on food aid handouts and imports in many nations.
"Climate change makes it more difficult," he said of the study released to coincide with a meeting of several African leaders in Tanzania, as well as United Nations talks on climate change in Cancun, Mexico. The UN panel of climate scientists says that up to 220 million people in Africa could face extra disruptions to water supplies by 2020.
Research into new crops resistant to heat, droughts or floods, better support for small-scale farmers and greater involvement by national leaders in setting policies in sectors from transport to education were needed, it said.
"Africa can feed itself. And it can make the transition from hungry importer to self-sufficiency in a single generation," said an international study led by Harvard University professor Calestous Juma.
About 70 percent of Africans are involved in farming but almost 250 million people, or a quarter of the population of the poorest continent, are undernourished.
Juma, who is a professor of international development, said food self-sufficiency would require big shifts in policies that have led to dependence on food aid handouts and imports in many nations.
"Climate change makes it more difficult," he said of the study released to coincide with a meeting of several African leaders in Tanzania, as well as United Nations talks on climate change in Cancun, Mexico. The UN panel of climate scientists says that up to 220 million people in Africa could face extra disruptions to water supplies by 2020.
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