Moses Hategeka

“African countries have for decades depended on research and innovations from the developed world markets that are in most cases not tailored to meet the unique needs and situations of the African continent. This must change, and to meaningfully do so, African governments, must begin committing a greater part of their National budgetary resources to fund home grown research, science, technology, and Innovations, that can make the continent food secure,” says, Professor Thomas Jayne, of Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, USA, and Board member of Lusaka based Regional Network of Agricultural Policy Research Institutes (ReNAPRI).

It is crucial that African governments invest more in promoting joint Science, technology and Innovation strategies (STI) so that agricultural initiatives in one part of Africa can be replicated in other parts. Some countries like Uganda, Sudan, Burkina Faso, and South Africa are effectively utilizing their dry lands for massive millet, sorghum, maize and wheat production.  The National Semi Arid Resources Research Institute (NaSARRI) in Uganda has successfully developed two varieties of pearl millet, Serere Composite 1 & 11, which are drought tolerant, yield up to 2,500kg/ha, are fast maturing. Other African countries could adopt such varieties to breathe life to most of the arid and semi-arid areas in Africa.

African countries are at different stages with regard to value addition in agriculture. Uganda has established a banana processing enterprise that has enabled it to produce and export value added banana products like instant flour and low amylase starch. South Africa and Kenya are producing and exporting soya porridge, cakes and powdered milk. There is need for more collaboration in the area of scientific, technology, innovation, and information sharing among African research institutes, scientists, innovators, policy makers and implementers.

African countries must collaborate to fund affordable IT and climate change mitigation technologies to minimize the negative effects of climate change on agriculture. Farmers must be fed with right agricultural information on when to plant, which crops to plant, when to apply fertilizers, as well as market prices. In India, approximately five million farmers get this information through their cell phones.

The regional economic blocs in Africa must harmonize their agriculture and trade policies. Countries like Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania regularly impose export restrictions on some of their staple crops like maize especially during the period of shortages, and also impose different import tariffs on imports originating from other blocs. In Malawi, pricing and marketing of crops (except maize) is purely liberalized. Mozambique applies the open market policy by allowing free trade of staple food. The different trade policies are affecting farmers in different ways.

In sum, besides possessing sixty five per cent, of world’s remaining arable land, Africa’s comparative advantage in today’s global competitive world is in the agricultural sector. African governments must collaborating and committing more financial resources to home grown science, technology and innovations. They should share information, harmonize their trade and agricultural policies and offer reasonable contracts to farmers.

By Moses Hategeka
The author moseswiseman2000@gmail.com is a Ugandan based independent governance researcher, public affairs analyst, and writer.