Key Messages
1. Agriculture’s contribution to economic development
and to achieving development and sustainability goals
in SSA is undermined by high population growth rates,
high dependency ratios, disease, marginalization of
women and inadequate investment in agricultural education. The population that is economically active is as
low as 24% in some countries. Disease also affects overall
economic growth. The three major killers, malaria, tuberculosis
and HIV/AIDS, have reduced the available workforce
in agriculture and other sectors.
2. In formal AKST, women are marginalized. Their disempowerment
compromises household nutrition and food
security and negatively affects their ability to improve agricultural
production. In addition, the impact of HIV/AIDS
on women is significant and poses acute consequences for
food security. They are affected directly, as they fall ill, and
indirectly, as they care for ill relatives or their orphans.
3. External funding for agricultural research and development
continues to eclipse national investment. Curbs on government expenditure and waning support
for agriculture and agricultural research and development
(R&D) have characterized the past two decades. In the
1990s, spending in agricultural R&D declined 2.5% annually
except in Nigeria and South Africa.
4. Current investments in agricultural education are
inadequate to provide for well-trained researchers,
agricultural engineers, extension agents and other
specialists. Increased investments in human resources are
critical for developing an effective and sustainable agricultural
sector. Insufficient resources for agricultural R&D and
its application to agricultural production are significant
constraints and threaten the ability of AKST to contribute
to development goals.
5. The effectiveness of AKST is compromised by a lack
of institutional coordination. Universities, research institutions,
extension facilities, private businesses and other
stakeholders often operate independently. The lack of coordination
among organizational bodies undermines the feedback
loops necessary for developing a responsive research
agenda and compromises access to knowledge. Opportunities
to promote national, regional and international collaboration
are lost because of lack of coordination. Collaboration
between national agricultural research systems (NARS),
subregional organizations, and international research and
development partners is an important component of AKST.
The Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR) programs such as ecoregional initiatives,
challenge programs, and the development of subregional
action plans are good examples of collaborative approaches.
They are refined and expanded through NEPAD/FARA
(New Partnership for Africa’s Development/Forum for
Agricultural Research in Africa) initiatives and programs.
6. Appropriate laws, institutions and market mechanisms
are required for advances in agricultural tech-
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nologies such as irrigation, improved seeds, genetically
modified (GM) crops and fertilizer. Institutional
capacity includes supervision, upstream inputs, microfinance
and credit, markets, consumer feedback, and policies
to regulate technologies and their ownership. Without
this capacity, farmers will remain unwilling to invest in new
technology, and returns will be limited. Most countries in
SSA did not benefit from the Green Revolution, partly due
to from lack of infrastructure, microfinance, credit, markets
and regulating policies. Private businesses will not invest
where these structures are limited or questionable.
7. Agriculture in SSA is increasingly vulnerable to water
scarcity, climate change and land degradation,
leading to low productivity and the loss of biodiversity.
Unlike the rest of the world, agricultural yields in SSA have
not increased over the past five decades. The underlying
reasons include water scarcity, climate, limited institutional
capacity and access to markets, resource degradation and a
loss of agrobiodiversity. Approximately 80% of the irrigation
potential in SSA is untapped and as much as 40-70%
of irrigation is ineffective. These factors prohibit the use of
fertilizer and higher yielding crop and livestock varieties.
The capacity of water management organizations to maximize
the benefits from irrigation, supervise equitable water
distribution and use, and protect downstream ecosystems is
inadequate.
8. The poor, who have the least capacity to adapt, are
the most vulnerable to climate change. Their resilience
is undermined by fragile ecosystems, weak institutions, ineffective
governance and poverty. Although SSA produces the
lowest percentage of greenhouse gases per capita worldwide,
the region will be disproportionately affected by changes
in climate over the long term. It is projected that the areas
hardest hit by climate change will be the West African Sahel,
rangelands, the Great Lakes, coastal areas of eastern Africa
and the drier zones of southern Africa. Deforestation and
land use changes limit the sustainability of agriculture by
diminishing the supply of groundwater and seasonal surface
water in semiarid areas.
9. Agricultural practices in SSA deplete nutrients from
the soil. Organic and inorganic inputs are required to
achieve higher yields, yet application rates remain low. In
many parts of SSA, access to inorganic fertilizers remains
low because of undeveloped marketing and distribution systems.
10. Locally generated and holistic approaches to agriculture
that concurrently address production, profitability,
economic development, natural resource conservation
and human well-being are more effective
than strategies that address these issues in isolation. Integrated approaches can advance AKST by increasing local
knowledge and capacity, enhancing products and services,
and more effectively evaluating options for agricultural
practices.
11. The safety and economic risks posed by genetically
modified organisms (GMOs) are not yet well under- |