Help Solve Food Insecurity - African Scientists Challenged

African scientists and researchers have been challenged to find viable farming solutions to perennial food insecurity on the continent. Speaking to scientists attending the African Knowledge Transfer Partnership conference in Nairobi, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga said food security in Africa could only be achieved if new technologies were adopted and applied to improve agricultural productivity in the wake of unpredictable climatic conditions caused largely by global warming.

"It is my belief that investing in agricultural technological research and adoption of resultant products would save Africa from the pangs of hunger that came knocking every so often either because the rains failed or our farmers planted wrong or inferior seed variety," the Premier said. The government of Kenya, for example, has declared hunger a national emergency and appealed for relief foods to feed over 10 million people currently facing starvation due to crop failure. The Prime Minister called on African governments to invest more in science and technology to bolster efforts being made by the private sector and development partners to ensure that the continent was self-sufficient in food, feed and fiber.

For more information contact Daniel Otunge of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) AfriCenter at d.otunge@cgiar.org)