Transforming agriculture in Africa

Today in a village in Zambia, a woman will walk 5 kilometres to reach her one-hectare maize or potato plot. Using a hoe or cutlass, she will carefully tend her crops, slashing away weeds and straightening potato tendrils, while praying for the rain which will be two weeks late. For without rain, she may not be able to harvest the usual 2.1 metric tons per hectare, part of which feeds her family, part of which she will sell in the local market. The money she makes will mostly go towards paying school fees or hospital bills and medication, should any of her children or herself get sick.

Africa, though with immense natural resources, is the world’s most food insecure region. Around 226 million people, or one out of every five people in Africa, are chronically food insecure. In fact, compared to the rest of the world, while Africa hosts around 15 percent of the world’s populations, it is home to close to a third of those affected by hunger in our planet.  READ MORE

Source: The Southern Times  #IFAMAFRICA