Two major U.S.-based foundations have announced a grand plan to rejuvenate Africa’s agriculture. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation will spend $150 million toward eco-friendly revolutionizing Africa’s agriculture.
The method, in accordance to a joint press release from the two foundations, “intends to boost agricultural enhancement in Africa by addressing each farming and suitable economic challenges, like soil fertility and irrigation, farmer management tactics, and farmer obtain to marketplaces and financing.”
There is no doubt that this initiative has arrive at an opportune time. Africa’s agriculture is in close proximity to overall collapse and needs urgent reengineering. Africa has been sluggish in embracing cutting edge agricultural technologies these kinds of as biotechnology that have remodeled the economies of quite a few acquiring nations these as India, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and China.
This initiative stands a very good probability to completely transform Africa’s agriculture. For this dream to be realized, even so, each fashionable agricultural technology should be explored. Monthly bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Basis envisages “African plant researchers building higher-yielding and drought resistant crops and African business owners beginning seed corporations to get to tiny-scale farmers…”
Building superior yielding and drought resistant crops would remain a aspiration as extensive as Africa continues to see new agricultural systems recommended by the west as resources of domination. This has been, primarily, the situation with agricultural biotechnology. Anti-biotechnology activists have designed African farmers to think that agricultural biotechnology only serves the interests of multinational seed businesses. This is misleading.
As Africa gears up to receive the Rockefeller and Gates Foundations largesse, it should, first of all, appreciate that dismissing these types of innovative agricultural technologies as biotechnology by a hand wave will not serve its agricultural interests.
It can be instructive to point out that the African Union (AU) has a pivotal role to enjoy in making sure that Africa gains most rewards from novel agricultural systems these as biotechnology.
Late previous yr, the AU by means of the New Partnership for Africa’s Enhancement (NEPAD), commissioned a panel of African experts and plan makers to analyze how modern day biotechnology could be built-in into Africa’s agricultural and health and fitness sectors. The panel, co-chaired by Prof. Calestous Juma of Harvard College, has previously drafted a report that, among other items, proposes the institution of regional “Centers of Excellence” for biotechnology study. The report will be submitted to African heads of condition meeting in January 2007. AU need to ratify this report to permit Africa make improvements to its agriculture.
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