‘Food security remains elusive in Africa’

Sanginga handed down this warning in a lecture titled “Brown Revolution in Africa and Engagement of Youth in Science-driven Agribusiness” at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, recently.He advised policy makers to enact policies that would fast-track small scale farmers’ access to agricultural inputs as it would enable them grow more valuable crops. “Viruses […]

Sanginga handed down this warning in a lecture titled “Brown Revolution in Africa and Engagement of Youth in Science-driven Agribusiness” at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, recently.
He advised policy makers to enact policies that would fast-track small scale farmers’ access to agricultural inputs as it would enable them grow more valuable crops. “Viruses and fungi no longer pose a major challenge but low soil fertility and nutrient depletion continued to represent huge obstacles to securing needed harvests,” Sanginga pointed out.
The director-general explained that low return witnessed by small scale farmers is as a result of dearth in fertilizer among other necessary input that would have increased farm produce in the country.
According to Sanginga, “Farmers should adopt modern farming techniques, like the integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), which involves the application of soil fertility management practices and the knowledge to adapt local conditions which combines fertilizers and organic resource-use for efficient crop productivity.”
He maintained that the adoption of integrated soil fertility management would reduce the attacks by viruses and fungi on farm produce thereby  guaranteeing better returns on investment.
Sanginga pointed out that integrated soil fertility management represents a means to overcome the current challenges witnessed in the agric sector with the combination of  ISFM with indigenous agro minerals, adding that policy makers must disseminate knowledge.
The agricultural researcher maintained that if the ISFM module is subscribed to by policy makers, “it would result in more productive, sustainable agriculture and improved household and regional food security as small scale farmers would witness bumper harvests.”