A new book called The New Harvest, by Harvard University Professor Calestous Juma said that all African leaders must make agriculture expansion a central topic in decision-making regarding their countries.“Improvements in infrastructure, mechanisation and GM crops could vastly increase production” Professor Juma claimed.
The presidents of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are already having meetings discussing how to further expand agriculture in Africa so that it can sufficiently feed its people. “While 70% of Africans may be engaged in farming, those who are undernourished on the continent has risen by 100 million to 250 million since 1990″, estimated by Professor Juma.
Professor Juma suggests that farming, GM crops and biotechnology should finally be adapted to make food production efficient. The problem is that some of the leaders ignore the expansion of rural lands and only focus on urban areas, thus fails to create a link between rural and urban and expand land and production. Another problem is that only 10% are being invested to agriculture, therefore; it is crucial to invest “where the mouths are.” So, in doing all these it may be able to reach the goal of feeding itself in the near future.
Source: BBC
Special Credit: Jianne Soriano
