African scholars call for shift to realize green revolution

NAIROBI, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) — The attainment of the green revolution in Africa could become a reality soon once countries adopt new farming technologies, innovations, adequate financing and enhanced market linkages, scholars said Wednesday at a forum in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have convened the Africa-China-CIMMYT Science Forum that runs on Aug. 13-16. More than 100 participants, including policymakers, scientists and industry executives from China and 12 African countries, are attending the four-day forum themed “Transforming Agrifood Systems in Africa through Scientific Innovations and Partnerships.”
Blessings Chinsinga, a professor of development studies at the University of Malawi, said Africa has no choice but to shift to capital- and technology-intensive farming systems to feed a growing population.
“As a continent, we need a green revolution. Now we have the benefit of learning from previous mistakes, and we just need to do things differently,” Chinsinga said on the sidelines of the forum.
The African continent should establish functional markets, enhance adoption of appropriate technologies by smallholder farmers, and ease access to inputs like improved seeds to boost crop yield, Chinsinga said.
In addition, the continent must invest in vibrant seed systems, tackle the fragmentation of arable land, and align priorities of the political and technocratic class as a means to boost agricultural productivity, according to Chinsinga.
Tariro Gwandu, the head of the Agronomy Research Institute at the Department of Research and Specialist Services in Zimbabwe, stressed that Africa should leverage its youthful workforce and digital platforms, revamp irrigation infrastructure, and act on climate change to achieve a green revolution. “As a soil scientist, I also believe that investing in soil health is very important if we are to achieve the green revolution,” Gwandu said.
She called for the involvement of women and youth in agriculture, who form the bulk of the sector’s workforce, to accelerate food systems transformation on the continent and tackle the endemic hunger and malnutrition crisis.
Gwandu suggested that governments should align their agricultural policies with Agenda 2063 (African Union’s 50-year continental development blueprint) and other continents’ socioeconomic blueprints in their quest for a home-grown green revolution that promises food security, ecological integrity, and improved rural incomes.
Fekadu Gurmu, the director for Crops Research at Ethiopia’s Institute for Agricultural Research, said Africa can harness its wealth of crop diversity and embark on cluster farming to achieve food and nutrition security. Gurmu suggested the continent should borrow best practices from countries like China that are advanced in mechanized agriculture as it forges a future characterized by resilient and sustainable food systems. ■