How can we make africa agriculture and food production better

First, to achieve higher productivity, African farmers need to increase the adoption of productivity-enhancing measures, including irrigation, improved seeds, fertilizer, and modern farm management practices.

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How can we improve the quality of Agriculture in Africa?

Land reform has had mixed results on the African continent but changes that clearly define property rights, ensure the security of land tenure, and enable land to be used as collateral will be necessary if many African nations are to realise potential productivity gains. 8. Step up integration into Agricultural Value Chains (AVCs)

How can farming in Africa be improved to prevent hunger?

Especially with the African population growing at such a high rate (it’s projected to reach 2 billion people by 2050), farming in Africa needs to make use of new technologies to improve in order to prevent mass hunger in its own countries as well as in the world. Here are some examples that demonstrate how technology in Africa improves farming:

How can Africa sustainably feed its growing population?

So, to sustainably feed the entire growing population in Africa, such storage technologies need to be distributed and made locally. Agricultural development is essential to eradicating poverty and to bringing food security to developing nations, so it is crucial that technology in Africa improves farming.

How can Africa develop high-yield crops?

Develop high-yield crops Increased research into plant breeding, which takes into account the unique soil types of Africa, is a major requirement. A dollar invested in such research by the CGIAR consortium of agricultural research centres is estimated to yield six dollars in benefits.

How can we increase food production in Africa?

How to boost food production in AfricaForget “blanket” advice about soil health. … Ease fertilizer access. … Introduce new crop varieties. … Get the youth involved. … Make use of the “brilliance of women” … Manage more water, irrigate more land. … Follow climate-smart mechanization. … Reduce post-harvest losses.

How can we improve and increase production of agriculture?

How to Improve Farming ProductivityImplementation of land reforms. For improving the production, land reforms are the first and predominant point. … Interplant. … Plant more densely. … Plant many crops. … Raised beds. … Smart water management. … Heat Tolerant Varieties. … Use nitrogen.More items…•

How can we improve food production in our country?

Increase Livestock and Pasture Productivity.Improve Crop Breeding to Boost Yields.Improve Soil and Water Management.Plant Existing Cropland More Frequently.Adapt to Climate Change.How Much Could Boosting Crop and Livestock Productivity Contribute to Closing the Land and Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Gaps?

How can food security be improved in Africa?

Encouraging local farmer cooperatives to build, own and operate community silos will also help reduce waste. It is common knowledge that between 20 to 40 percent of agriculture production in Africa is lost in transportation. Thus, storage facilities close to the farm-gate will help increase overall stocks.

What agriculture needs to improve?

Improving agricultural productivity is important in order to improve farmer incomes, and it requires increases in yield, better productivity through the efficient utilization of resources, reduction in crop losses, and ensuring that farmers receive fair prices for output.

What are the solutions to the problems of agriculture?

Below are the top solutions to the Problems of Agriculture: Provision of Adequate Education to Farmers. … Provision Large Area of Land to Farmers. … Reducing of the Cost Farmer Inputs to Farmers. … Encouragement of the Gender and Age in Farming Sector. … Farmers should be Encourage to Join Co-operative Society.More items…•

How can we improve the food system?

HOW CAN WE IMPROVE THE FOOD SYSTEM?PRODUCING SUSTAINABLE, NUTRITIOUS FOOD. PRODUCING SUSTAINABLE, NUTRITIOUS FOOD.REDUCING FOOD LOSS AND WASTE. REDUCING FOOD LOSS AND WASTE.INNOVATING FOOD DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS AND MARKETS. INNOVATING FOOD DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS AND MARKETS.IMPROVING DIET AND NUTRITION.

How can we improve food production in Nigeria?

Use of agro-based loans by the government to encourage farmers: The government of Nigeria should encourage farmers by giving loans for agricultural activities. This will help farmers meet up with financial needs in terms of purchasing some seeds, hiring machines etc thereby boosting agriculture in Nigeria.

How can we improve food?

Here are some of the possible solutions to food insecurity.Reduce Food Waste. … Reduce the Risk of Commercialising. … Improve Existing Infrastructural Programs. … Improve Trade Policies. … Promote Diversification. … Close the Yield Gap. … Work Towards Defeating Climate Change.

How can we solve the problem of food in Africa?

Five transformative ways to solve hunger in AfricaEmpower women. The first step to transforming how Africa grows and eats is identifying who’s behind the continent’s current food production. … Promote adult literacy. … Provide resources directly. … Look after the soil. … Build and support smart partnerships.

What are some solutions to solve problems of food security in Africa today?

There are three immediate and critical steps that African leaders must take to find solutions to starvation and malnutrition in Africa.Prioritise agriculture as an economic and security agenda. … Make agriculture profitable and attractive to young people. … Policy alignment, implementation, and accountability.

How can we solve malnutrition in Africa?

Here are some of the ways we help to overcome the root causes of hunger and malnutrition:Food assistance, including emergency feeding and cash vouchers.Diagnosis and treatment of maternal and child malnutrition.Access to clean water and improved sanitation to prevent water-related diseases and support crop irrigation.More items…•

What is the most unanswered challenge in Africa?

Anne Mbaabu, director of AGRA’s Market Access Program, says post-harvest loss is “the most unanswered and ignored challenge” to food insecurity in Africa, with losses exceeding 30 percent of total crop production and representing more than US$4 billion every year. “That does not include fruits and vegetables, the loss of which is very difficult to track,” said the director.

What is the role of female farmers in Africa?

Female small scale farmers dominate the agricultural landscape in most production environments in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet they constitute the majority of rural actors locked in socio-cultural structures that limit their agricultural productivity, efficiency and effectiveness at all points across the value chain.

Why is maize yielding 80 percent below what farmers outside Africa achieve?

The stagnant state of commercial seed production is often cited as a key reason why yields per hectare in Africa for staple crops like maize are up to 80 percent below what farmers outside Africa achieve.

What are the advances in agriculture?

But advances in agriculture have revolutionized agricultural practices and led to much of the world growing more abundant yields of sturdier and more nutritious crops.

What are the challenges of Africa?

Africa’s underdeveloped infrastructure poses a considerable challenge to farmers’ productivity and profitability. The scarcity of roads in rural areas makes it difficult for farmers to move their crops to the local markets. The prevalence of unpaved roads and inadequate port facilities on much of the continent hinders national and inter-African trade and makes African countries dangerously dependent on imports shipped by air from outside the region. Lack of access to electricity also hinders Africans’ ability to establish food manufacturing facilities and add value locally to the agricultural raw materials.

How does the current crisis affect Africa?

The current crisis presents an opportunity for Africa to develop and modernize its agriculture sector, which would put the region on a path towards food security and economic prosperity. Countries that wish to use the current crisis as an opportunity to enhance their food security, improve the resilience of their food supply chain, and reach self-sufficiency in food production can take several steps:

What are the building blocks of African agriculture?

Africa has the building blocks – including a large population working in agriculture and abundant, fertile land – necessary to grow all of its own food and even produce a surplus. Over the past years, foundations and NGOs have invested in farmer education, improved inputs, irrigation projects, and other initiatives to help farmers increase both the quality and quantity of their yields. More private investment in African agriculture can remove some of the obstacles that are currently keeping African farmers from achieving their land’s full potential.

Why is 65% of land in Africa still tilled?

Due to the availability of physical labor, lack of funds, and other structural reasons, farmers in the region tend not to invest in modern tools and equipment. The lockdown, which has limited laborers’ availability in many markets, may encourage farm owners to shift to machine use over human labor.

Do African countries have emergency food stockpiles?

Many African countries do not currently have national emergency food stockpiles. Instead, they rely on foodstuff imported on a need-to-need basis to adequately feed their citizens. The pandemic may drive governments and farmers’ collectives to build storage warehouses and stock up on food when the regular food supply is disrupted. Better crop storage facilities will also help mitigate the significant post-harvest losses that African farmers currently experience.

What is Zenvus in Nigeria?

Zenvus, a precision farming startup in Nigeria, helps farmers determine appropriate fertilizers to apply to their soil as well as to optimally water their farms. The company acquires such information by measuring and analyzing soil data such as nutrients, temperature and vegetative health.

What is a hippo water roller?

The Hippo water roller, a drum that hauls large amounts of water by being rolled on the ground, helps numerous people in Africa that lack local water facilities and result in walking long distances to reach their water sources.

What are the challenges of Africa?

Africa faces the challenges of a growing population as well as low farm productivity. Weather changes, shorter fallow periods, deforestation, worsening farmland and the loss of young people in farming communities that move to urban areas further hinders the ability of African farms to increase farm yields.

Why is farming important in Africa?

Especially with the African population growing at such a high rate (it’s projected to reach 2 billion people by 2050), farming in Africa needs to make use of new technologies to improve in order to prevent mass hunger in its own countries as well as in the world.

Where is Sunculture irrigation?

Sunculture sells solar-powered drip irrigation kits in Africa that make watering crops more affordable. Other efforts have also been made to increase the use of groundwater through the distribution of low-cost treadle pumps and drip-irrigation kits in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and other countries.

Is surface water the main source of irrigation in Africa?

For now, however, surface water is the main source of irrigation for most of Africa, so more surface water storage systems are required to optimize the numerous parts of Africa’s use of river water. Unfortunately, some obstacles to the development of surface water storage (in some places) would be the cost of construction …

The new fashion in development

Among donors, agriculture is once again the hot topic of international development.

Being competitive

The patterns of global trade in food are changing fast. In recent years even China, long admired for its determined pursuit of self-sufficiency in food, has become a net importer of maize. For better and for worse, globalised commercial agriculture is coming to Africa.

A question of scale, and value

Being commercial means being competitive. In agriculture, commercial has become a short hand for ‘big’. Commercial farmers are generally assumed to be ‘largeholders’ – typically, the big estates in Egypt, Kenya, South Africa or Zimbabwe. This is wrong.

The example of Kenya

Rural livelihoods around Mount Kenya have been transformed. While large commercial estates dominate production of roses, two thirds of Kenyan vegetables are grown by smallholders.

An African answer to globalisation

The opportunities for African agriculture in world trade are real, and demonstrable. Where food security is precarious, state direction of staple crops is inevitable in order to build up a national grain reserve. That is a different priority from the emphasis on self-sufficiency that has become familiar from AGRA and other donor agencies.