Sunday, July 03, 2022

The Food Potential is There

 23 million people are currently experiencing extreme hunger in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, and the United Nations have warned that about 750,000 people across five east African states are at immediate risk of death due to starvation.

Africa has “huge farming potential”. As an industry with the scope to alleviate poverty 2.5 times more effectively than any other sector, agriculture could lift “millions out of poverty, by making small-scale farms more productive.

Approximately 300 million people rely on 33 million smallholder farms on the continent, many of which in the east are failing due to a drought, the worst drought in over 40 years, which has killed 1.4 million livestock so far this year.

Between 1980 and 2010, the use of improved crop varieties in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have increased productivity by an average of 47% and is known to have played a significant role in reducing poverty in several countries.

A recent McKinsey report estimated that improvement in food production systems would result in a two to threefold increase in the volume of cereals and grains produced on the continent.

Galway Wool Co-Op to host Meitheal at Athenry Mart - Agriland.ie


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