Posted on June, 21, 2023 at 06:17 am
Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithuka Linturi has called for increased investment in research and innovation to enhance food security in the continent.
He said a lot was being done in the region but is not captured in the Biennial Review Reporting on food insecurity because of lack of accessibility of data and information and not because of lack of performance.
Linturi was addressing 250 delegates attending a two-day conference on innovation, research and how funding can improve food security, productivity, and profitability in Africa.
The conference, whose theme is Cultivating Africa’s Future (CultiAF) – Enabling resilient, equitable and sustainable food systems is being held at the Safari Park Hotel.
The event brings together policy makers, research teams, the private sector, farmer representatives, donors, non-governmental organizations, policy makers, and eminent persons engaged in research, innovation agriculture and food security in the region.
“As a continent, we need to coordinate better and implement innovative digital tools for the collection of data,” Linturi remarked, addressing the delegates during the opening ceremony on Monday.
“Food Security is a big priority for the National Government in Kenya, However the biggest gap is that there is very little or no research being done and I am confident that at the end of this forum, stakeholders will come up with ideas and solutions to ensure food security in the continent,” he added.
Linturi said the provision of dependable, affordable, and adequate food for the Continent, cannot be gainsaid.
“For a continent, whose population is expected to hit 2.5billion mark by 2050, readying for the imminent challenges brought about by the population explosion and climate change has never been urgent.”
He also called for concerted efforts to manage food loss.
“I am aware of the commitment by African governments as part of the Sustainable Development Agenda, to halve food loss and waste. Unfortunately, this has not successfully been realized. Similarly, in 2014 (the Malabo Declaration), African Heads of State yet again promised to halve the post-harvest losses by 2050. While the political commitments, frameworks and goodwill are laudable, they need to be translated into action,” Linturi added.
Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) have shown one-third of the world’s available food, enough food to feed all the 1.2 billion hungry or undernourished people on the plane, never makes it from farm to table.
Food loss has been singled out as unsustainable given that 2 billion more people are expected to live on the planet by 2050.
In developing countries, including the African continent, 40 per cent of losses occur before the food even hits the market. It is lost during and immediately following harvest, as well as in processing and transport.
About 30 percent of the grains produced and close to 90 percent of fruits and vegetables are lost before they reach the consumers owing to inadequate post-harvest management, lack of structured markets, inadequate storage in households and on farms, and limited processing capacity.
Speaking during the opening session, Director, Climate Resilient Food Systems Division, IDRC, Santiago Alba Corral said the forum will provide a platform for knowledge sharing.
“We are honored to host this conference, which will provide a platform for delegates to learn, share information and build strategic partnerships with the overall objective of identifying effective interventions to reduce food loss waste on the continent as well as push for research and funding.”
Santiago said Africa has the potential to not only feed itself, even with a growing population, but to become a net exporter of food – rather than an importer as it is now.
On her part, the Multilateral Engagement, ACIAR Julianne Biddle said Science, technologies, and Innovations are increasingly becoming key, with less land available to produce food and declining water levels.
She said focus must therefore be on how to produce more food, with less land and
water, while conserving environment at the same time.
Biddle said: “Together, we can build prosperity through inclusive, innovative, collaborative, and dynamic food systems, that are based on data-driven decisions to ensure access to diverse diets from climate resilient production in the continent.”
The Conference is being hosted by IDRC and ACIAR. The two organizations have sponsored a programme christened Cultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CultiAf) and funded programs in selected countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe).
The projects, which have been closed out. These projects aimed at improving food
and nutrition security through Innovation, increasing productivity and profitability for smallholder farmers (including women and youth) and building partnerships to achieve impact at scale.
A key highlight of the Conference resolution on how to funds research, Innovations, and technologies on the continent.
Source: Capital FM