Africa needs economic and agricultural revolutions greater than the one observed in Asia. With a population of 770 million people estimated to rise to 1.75 billion by 2050, poor performing agriculture aggravated by invasive pests, weeds, land degradation, erosion, droughts and the effects of climate change, Africa faces one of the biggest challenges of its time – assuring its increasing population of a sustainable food supply.

In the US, Europe and Asia, improvements in agricultural productivity has had direct relationship to improvements in economic development. This has not been the case in Africa where Africa continues to suffer under-investment agricultural research and extension, farm mechanisation along with enabling infrastructure such as roads, electrification, irrigation, etc.

For Africa to realise the benefits of a Green Revolution, a lot more effort, commitment and focus is required from the governments. The continent currently lacks the five key instruments of the Asian Green Revolution — development and use of high yielding varieties, improved utilisation of water through irrigation systems, utilisation of farm inputs such as fertiliser and pesticides, availability of credit facilities (micro-finance) and rural infrastructure.

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