Agriculture

Strengthen Regional Trade To Guarantee Food Production, AGRF Urges Africa

Published

5 years ago

August 31, 2020

President of African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) Agnes Kalibata has revealed that Africa needs to strengthen regional trade to achieve sustainable and resilient food systems.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, she also observed that bolstering regional trade would boost a system that will meet the health, environmental, social, and economic aspirations of people living in rural and urban areas.

Kalibata, also an envoy to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, said that it had become imperative for the continent not to relent in its effort to transform food systems for the benefit of everyone.

According to the statement, we need food systems that are equitable, sustainable, resilient, and capable of meeting the global challenges of malnutrition, poverty, and climate change as well as be responsive to emerging and unforeseen challenges such as those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic,’’ she said.

She also announced that the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme, funded by the African Development Bank for the purpose of boosting productivity and make Africa self-sufficient in key commodities, would convene a high-level session on “Agricultural Technologies for Feeding the Cities” at the 10th annual summit of AGRF in Kigali.

“The session will hold on September 8 where TAAT is expected to use its values to drive the actions required to overcome the major challenges affecting African agriculture in food production and others development issues.

She noted that the summit with the theme “Feed the Cities, Grow the Continent: Leveraging Urban Food Markets to Achieve Sustainable Food Systems in Africa’’, would be co-hosted by Rwanda and the AGRF partners group.

The statement said further that the session would bring to fore, the strategic linkage between research and delivery as well as TAAT’s success stories in feeding African cities through its wheat revolution, intensification of cassava production and commercialization, and building the capacity of African farmers through technology outreach.

She said that it would address innovative options for accelerating African agricultural transformation in a post-COVID-19 pandemic era through the deployment of proven agricultural technologies and partnerships capable of bringing food security to African cities and rural communities.

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Agriculture

Group calls for improved agriculture innovations to boost food security

Published

1 month ago

April 30, 2025

The Gleamer

Mariam Sanni

A Non Governmental Organization, NGO in the agricultural sector, Self Help Africa, SHA has called for improved agricultural innovations to enhance food security and support farmers.

The Country Director, Joy Aderele made this call during in a media chat at the National Mid-term review for the abatement of short-lived climate pollutants in Nigerian Agricultural sector project held in Abuja .

According to her, a recent learning visit revealed that many innovative solutions exist in institutes but are not reaching farmers.

She added that there is a need for policies that would enable researchers in the agricultural sector to disseminate their innovations more effectively.

She emphasized the need for a protocol that allows researchers to share their work without fear of it being taken over is emphasized.

“So we just returned from a learning visit last week, where we had gone to some institutes, great institutes across the country, and I was surprised and amazed to see that we have a lot of innovation sitting in this institute, professors that have done a lot of things that will even make us not to have any issue a young guy in Nigeria. But this learning or innovation is not trickling down. People don’t know about it. The average farmer in my village does not know about the innovation.

“ So I would say that one thing that the ministry should do is to bring up this protocol that enable researchers in the agri space to disseminate their their data, their innovation freely so that farmers and our food security can improve,” she stated.

Aderele highlighted the major achievement of reducing bush burning among farmers, which improves soil and environmental health.

She explained that the promotion of climate-smart agriculture has led to higher crop yields, benefiting farmers and the community.

According to her, Post-harvest losses have been reduced, with rice residue now used to make briquettes, providing an additional income source for farmers.

The country Director said awareness of climate change has increased among farmers, leading to a shift away from traditional, harmful practices like bush burning.

Aderele revealed that the current pilot project in Benue state is aimed to be replicated across all 36 states and the FCT in Nigeria.

She noted that the organization has worked with over 500,000 small farmers globally, with a focus on making farming attractive to young people.

She added that the organization plans to share the lessons learned from the pilot project to improve farming practices nationwide.

The Director, department of agriculture land and climate change management device, Federal Ministry off Agriculture, Muhammed Bello emphasized the importance of sustainable land management for food security and the government’s goal of ensuring healthy soil for farmers.

He surged that the project on abatement of short-lived climate change pollutants is highlighted as a key initiative to clean up and fertilize the land.

He explained that the collaboration is aimed to replicate the project’s achievements and expand its reach across Nigeria, ensuring that more farmers benefit from healthy soil.

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