Africa can triple food output
2008-06-16 21:08
Nairobi - To counter the global food
crisis, Africa could triple or quadruple domestic production
over two seasons through simple changes to agricultural
practices, a United Nations food expert said on Monday.
In response to rising food prices, the continent must drop
its reliance on food imports and learn to feed itself, said Mafa
Chipeta, sub-regional co-ordinator for the UN Food and
Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in east Africa.
"Within two seasons we can change (dependence on imports),"
he told Reuters on the sidelines of the launch of a regional FAO
conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
"We can boost production by three
or four times by making simple changes."
Governments should reduce fertiliser prices and introduce
quality, high-yield seed varieties, he said.
High-tech solutions dismissed
Chipeta also argued more investment in irrigation and
dismissed the need for high-tech solutions such as genetically
modified organisms.
He said he hoped the week-long conference would produce
"actionable decisions" for Africa's agricultural sector which
employs about two-thirds of the continent's workforce.
"Africa imports about $25bn worth of food and receives
about a third of the world's food aid," he said. "The food
crisis cannot be solved by the continuation of charity."
Opening the conference, Kenya's Agriculture Minister William
Ruto said 46% of Africans were hungry.
"Agriculture-led development is fundamental to eradicating
hunger, reducing poverty, generating economic growth and
minimising the burden of food imports while opening the way to
expansion of exports and employment opportunities," he said.
Mobido Traore, FAO assistant director general for Africa,
said 20 years ago Africa was a net exporter of food.
However, whilst the urban population has expanded as people
abandoned rural areas in search of employment, governments have
not invested sufficiently in agricultural production and
therefore become net food importers, he said.