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Food production needs a rethink to feed more mouths

Wednesday October 13 2021
MAIZE

The fall armyworm invasion, conflicts and migration are some of the factors affecting food security in Africa. Innovation can be channelled towards developing technology that will consolidate our food systems and position farmers for long term prosperity. PHOTO FILE | NMG

By IKENNA NZEWI

The United Nations reveals more than half of global population growth over the next three decades will be in Africa. This growth means more mouths to feed and more jobs to be created to avoid further unemployment.

I believe this is a clarion call to build efficient food systems to secure future prosperity. Our farmers are the backbone of our food system. In and out of season, they are constantly working on their farms to get the best harvest they can. Unfortunately, despite producing 400 times more food than we did in the 1950s, the demand for food still outweighs supply.

The absence of effective tools that will make their ventures more profitable means many farmers spend their time doing backbreaking work with little return. In the palm oil sector, for example, many farmers still use rocks to de-shell palm nuts by hand. This drudgerous process also means they are less likely to produce factory-grade nuts -—and the nuts they do produce are either sold cheaply or go to waste.

On the flipside, 90 percent of factories are running at below 50 percent of their installed capacity due to scarcity of quality raw materials and the capital to purchase them. This combination of issues is just a glimpse of the challenge facing our food production industry but it also points to how we can make the progress we need.

In the 21st century, why farmers should not rely on handheld rocks to process food? Our burgeoning technology sector has shown that Africans are just as capable of developing effective solutions to our own problems. Innovation can be channelled towards developing technology that will consolidate our food systems and position farmers for long term prosperity.

Recently, the African Green Revolution Forum Partners Group and the government of Kenya hosted AGRF 2021 organised under the theme Pathways to Recovery and Resilient Food Systems. I welcome a platform like AGRF, a forum that draws African government, private and development sector leaders to explore new ways to improve food systems and support for increased participation of youth in agriculture.

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I was privileged to participate in and be one of the winners of the African Development Bank’s AgriPitch competition, an annual event that aims to encourage a culture of innovation and nurturing for technology-led agribusiness innovations to create jobs and improve youth livelihoods. The competition reminded me of the potential that abounds among Africa’s young people and our desire to develop solutions to the challenges that face the continent. Africa has the largest share of young people in the world, with 75 percent of the continent’s population below the age of 35. About 65 percent of youth in Africa also live in rural areas and are employed in the agriculture sector.

When you combine these facts with the reality that young people are more open to new ideas and innovation, we just might be looking at what the continent needs to achieve the transformation it needs.

As we prepare for the exponential growth in our population, we need to address the challenges that have been holding our farmers back and put structures in place that will ensure future prosperity. Whatever we do to address farmers’ challenges will not only address issues from the past, but will also position the continent for the long-term prosperity we all desire.

Ikenna Nzewi is CEO and co-founder of Releaf, an agtech startup that develops proprietary hardware and software solutions to drive the industrialization of food processing in Africa.

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