Researchers are highlighting the fact that agriculture in the continent can be transformed through relevant research works.
Agriculture in the 21st century is science based and needs collaborative work to take advantage of the huge potential in the field, the researchers told ENA at the 5th international conference of African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE) held in Addis Ababa.
Investing in agricultural research and technology plays pivotal role in transforming agriculture in Africa, they stated.
Frank Place, Senior Researcher Fellow CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions and Markets said Africa has immense agriculture potential that contributes for its growth, poverty reduction, nutrition and food security.
The researcher said agriculture is more important for Africa and its potential is proving even more important.
She cited Ethiopia’s experience saying “if you look at the data on investment in agriculture research and technology, you see that Ethiopia is a big investor relative to other African countries.”
“Ethiopia is in a better position than many African countries because Ethiopia in recent years has been investing in the agriculture research more than a number of other African countries.”
Kenya is also investing in agriculture and technology, she said, indicating the need for others to follow suit by investing in agricultural research and science.
Place indicated the untapped potential in Africa’s agriculture and pointed out lack of productivity and investment in technical improvement.
Agriculture remains an integral part of the African economy and the daily lives of the majority of Africans, accounting for over 60 percent of jobs in the continent.
Professor Awudu Abdulai, Head of Department of Food Economics and Consumption Studies at the University of Kiel, Germany said investing in infrastructure and research development contribute to transform African agriculture.
He said building the capacity of researchers and technical support has important role to conduct studies that are important to improve agricultural products.
Will Martin, Senior Researcher at International Food Policy Research Institute also mentioned the big share of agriculture in economic development in many African countries.
The key to use of agriculture for poverty reduction is to raise agriculture productivity, he said, adding: “if productivity can be raised in agriculture, poverty can fall very rapidly.”
[www.ena.gov.et/]