October 18, 2012

The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) has revealed that agricultural initiatives in Africa and Asia have reduced the world's hungry from one billion 20 years ago to 870 million, but the World Bank believes Africa still needs to increase agricultural productivity.

Despite the success of agricultural programmes, with FAO registering declining hunger in Asia and Latin America, Africa has registered an increase in the number of people without enough food. One in eight people around the world still go to bed on an empty stomach, every night.

The agriculture sector in Africa employs 65% of the continent's labour force, accounting for 32% of its GDP, and yet the World Bank maintains that the continent's farm yields are among the lowest in the world.

"In June 2010, a 90-kilogramme bag of corn - the primary food for most Kenyans - cost US$16. By July 2011 the same bag was US$44 - a 160% increase," a recent report by the International Corn and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) said.

The report made a strong case for the populations of East Africa who earn an average of "US$2 a day and spend about half their income on food".

As it seeks to find solutions to increase yields, the World Bank has commended the initiative One Acre Fund, an American aid group working with 130,000 farming households to increase food production through improved seeds and fertiliser.

"On average we are seeing a tripling of yields and a doubling of profit once you net out the additional costs for farmers who sign up for the programme," Nick Handler, the group's country director in Kenya said.

But CIMMYT says African countries in 2012 will spend US$12 billion to import 40 million tonnes of wheat, as demand for the product continues to register a faster growth than for any other food crop in sub-Saharan Africa. Africa consumes a large amount of wheat but only produces 44% of the crop locally.

As agricultural experts re-examine what crops are best produced in Africa, in line with the World Bank's call to increase agricultural productivity, CIMMYT has announced the development of drought-tolerant corn seeds that could eventually replace traditional seeds, which usually experience stunted growth in dry conditions on longer term trends.