Nearly one-third of people in Sub-Saharan Africa suffer from chronic hunger--the highest proportion found in any region in the world. Fighting African hunger is largely dependent upon the success of the agricultural sector, especially among the small-scale farmers that comprise a vast majority of Africa's rural poor. Although the "green revolution" of the mid-twentieth century introduced technologies that doubled and tripled crop yields all over the world, African farmers did not experience similar gains. A recent article in Science, GM Technology Develops in the Developing World, discusses the potential for genetically modified (GM) crops to bring belated success to Africa's agricultural sector.
Percent Undernourished by Country, 2000
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization
The Challenge of Agriculture in Africa
Small-scale farms account for over 90 percent of agricultural production in Africa and are dominated by the rural poor. African farmers face numerous obstacles including ongoing civil conflict, HIV/AIDS, vulnerability to natural disasters, and insufficient investment in agricultural research and rural infrastructure. For these and other reasons, the technology of the green revolution did not transfer well into African soil. Maize is a staple food in Africa, accounting for over 50 percent of calories in local diets and up to 90 percent of cropland in some countries. It is subject to drought and disease including the maize streak virus, which destroyed between 5 to 100 percent of African farmers' crops in 2006.
Annual Growth Rate of Global Public Agricultural Research Expenditures
Source: International Food Policy Research Institute, Looking Ahead: Long-Term Prospects for Africa’s Agricultural Development and Food Security
Genetically Modified Maize
After over a decade of work, a team of scientists in South Africa will soon test a crop of maize plants that have been genetically modified to resist infection from the maize streak virus. The tests, scheduled to begin in late 2007, will be the first field trial of GM agriculture in South Africa (one of only a few African countries that currently allows the planting of GM crops). If successful, this project could help alleviate grain shortages, thereby reducing hunger and poverty.
The implications of a failed field trial extend to the reputation of GM technology as a whole. GM crops are highly controversial due to speculated environmental and human health risks and suspicion that western biotechnology companies and industrial agriculture stand to gain far more than small-scale farmers. Conscious of these concerns, the producers of the disease resistant GM maize are carefully assessing environmental and health risks and expect seeds to cost no more than 15 percent higher than traditional varieties.
RELATED LINKS:
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
FAO, State of Food Insecurity in the World 2006
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
IFPRI, Ending Hunger in Africa: Prospects for the Small Farmer
United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), Africa Hunger Alert
EarthTrends
Searchable Database: Nutrition
Agriculture and Food Searchable Database
Data Table: Food and Agriculture Overview 2005
September 2006 Monthly Update: Can a Green Revolution Catalyze African Development?
