Why is this Important?
Agricultural innovations that can sustainably optimise agricultural production systems will build resilience of agricultural and food security systems, address farmer needs and contribute to agricultural transformation in Africa.
Agriculture is a major component of the economies of SSA, reaching further into everyday life than in any other part of the world. More than half of the total labour force is involved in agriculture-related activities. Smallholder farms constitute approximately 80% of all farms in SSA and employ about 175 million people directly. For that reason, improvements in agricultural technology have the potential to impart broad-based economic benefits and help to sustain the economic growth that SSA has been experiencing. The World Bank estimates that agriculture and agribusiness in Africa have the potential to grow to a US$1 trillion industry by 2030, up from the current US$300 billion.
However, Africa’s agriculture has been facing new and emergent challenges such as climate change threatening the ability of the continent to achieve food security, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development. In addition, new pests and diseases such as fall armyworm, are exacerbating the situation. This calls for advanced agricultural techniques including conventional and biotechnological approaches for genetic improvement of crops, inputs, and equipment that can radically transform the region and sustain the growth trajectory that African countries have been experiencing.
Current Projects and Special Initiatives
WEMAAfrica is a drought-prone continent, making farming risky for millions of smallholder farmers who rely on rainfall to water their crops. Maize is the most widely grown staple crop in Africa – more than 300 million people in Africa depend on it as their main food source – but too often it is severely affected by frequent drought. Drought leads to crop failure, hunger, and poverty. Climate change will only worsen the problem...
NEWEST RiceSub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has for the last two decades been experiencing a continuous increase in rice consumption driven mostly by a shift in consumer preferences, urbanisation and rapid population growth....
Striga ControlStriga (witchweed) is a parasitic weed that constrains the productivity of staples such as maize, sorghum, millet and upland rice in Sub-Saharan Africa. The weed survives by siphoning off water and nutrients from the crops for its own growth. Striga infests over 40 mill. hectares of smallholder ...
Cowpea ImprovementCowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) is considered the most important food grain legume in the dry savannas of tropical Africa, where it is grown on more than 12.5 million hectares of land. It is rich in quality protein and has energy content almost equivalent to that of cereal grains; it is a good source of quality fodder for livestock and provides cash income...
MLN DiseaseMaize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) disease has continued to wreak havoc on maize production in East Africa since it was first reported in Kenya in 2011. Since then it has been reported in other eastern Africa countries.
Hybrid RiceRice consumption is increasing at about 8 percent a year in many Sub-Saharan African countries. However, the increase in yield per year is less than 6 percent, and in some cases it is decreasing. Consumption in East Africa is also going up, especially in Tanzania, and probably relates to a significant expansion of the area planted under rice, and to some degree the yields, which have gone up about 1.3 percent per year...
Need more info on this?
Get in touch with us for more information.
Fill out the contact request form below & we'll get back to you.