Twelve years on, and another billion people are sharing the planet.
Starting half a century ago, the Green Revolution doubled or tripled production of the major grains, using modern seeds, heavy use of fertilizer and irrigation. The revolution helped India and China to feed themselves and averted widespread starvation.
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Africa’s sustainable agriculture is a need of the hour if the country has to be brought out of poverty and hunger. Sustainable farming in Africa is therefore being given much boost by the World Bank, UNO in order to reform African agriculture. “Africa Project 2020” is a step taken in this direction.
The agricultural production in many of the African countries is quite low in comparison with the rest of the world. Due to this fact, there has been poverty and deprivation surrounding the continent and most of the people are living below poverty line. The result is high level of infant mortality rates, low level of economic development.
Sustainable Agriculture in Africa
Sustainable agriculture is a need of the hour for Africa if the country wants to come out of the shackles of poverty and become self sufficient in food production and food security. Due to these reasons, there has been a number of steps are being taken by the government of the African countries.
Community training is being given to the people of the rural areas, women are also being taught the basics of agriculture so that they too can participate in the programme. The people are also being trained in bio-intensive agriculture, poultry farming, rainwater harvesting and the like fields which are associated with agriculture.
Improving African Agriculture
In this regard, efforts are being taken world over to improve African agriculture. The World Bank, The United Nations are some of the international bodies which have been making efforts in this regard and have borne fruits as well.
For the effective development of sustainable agriculture the economists too are working hard in order to bring out measures to reform the agriculture in Africa. It has been brought to the knowledge of everyone that existing efforts have not been sufficient in improving the agriculture of Africa so much more is desired.
“Africa Project 2020” is thereby an effort in this direction. The aim of the project is to make Africa self sufficient in food production, since at present a large amount of food grains are exported from the European and Asian countries. So it is an initiative in the right direction.
NAIROBI, 28 August 2009 (IRIN) – Countries tackling food insecurity and climate change adaptation can greatly benefit from agroforestry – integrating fleshy plants and trees into their farming systems, environmental specialists say.
Sub-Saharan Africa has a history of food insecurity brought on by meagre rains, land degradation, declining soil fertility and bad management of resources, among other factors. “How do we, in a world of more than six billion people, rising to perhaps over nine billion, feed everyone while simultaneously securing the ecosystem services such as forests and wetlands that underpin agriculture, and indeed life itself in the first place?” Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), posited at the second World Congress on Agroforestry in Nairobi. “We can empower people – not to wait for others to do something for them – but to take the initiative, one tree at a time,” Steiner said. » Read more: Trees “vital for food security”
For the poor of the world, improved agricultural productivity and reduced land degradation is vital. The United Nations, the World Bank, and other bodies are currently making tremendous investments in African agriculture. How researchers can contribute to ensuring that these resources are put to best use was the main question for the expert group meeting, organised by the United Nations, together with environmental economists from the School of Economics, Business and Law, University of Gothenburg. The 27 participants included researchers, agricultural consultants, ministers and aid donors.
Three-quarters of the world’s poor are dependent on agriculture. The fact that the World Bank last year chose agriculture as the theme of its principal annual report, the World Development Report, reflects the importance of agriculture in reducing poverty and achieving the United Nations Millennium Goals, which are the eight goals that world leaders agreed on in 2000 with a view toward cutting poverty by half by 2015. » Read more: UN Expert Group Meeting: Sustainable Agriculture in Africa
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