The worldview of Africa on the international front is mostly centred on a continent where nearly half of its 53 countries are in the midst of or have just concluded a conflict resulting in the destruction of resources, both natural and human.
Through-out the years, this narrative has been diminishing with the realisation of the potential Africa carries as a continent that can be the world’s leading food exporters but sadly, it presently accounts for only 4% of overall agricultural production. With the global population expected to rise from 7 billion to 9 billion people by 2050, Africa needs to rise quickly to take advantage of its vast fertile lands and conducive environment to see the growth of food production to feed the world.
The Early Stages
It is often said that ‘until you realise how far you have gone, you will never have the courage to move forward’, owing to Africa’s slow development in agricultural infrastructure it has gone a long way in terms of agricultural advancement.
At the very beginning, Men and Women gradually learned how to clear patches of fertile soil and plant a bit of each root or tuber they consumed to allow it to regrow. On a subsistence basis, they began to choose plant kinds that were most suited for domestication, the ennoblement of regular crops, and the growth of agriculture. These practices have metamorphosed throughout series of self-discovery and learned practices form the outside world from a more indigenous approach to the application of scientific principles.
The Middle stage
However, the necessity to significantly boost food production to fulfil the demands of a fast-rising population remained crucial. In an attempt to do so, food production increased with constant usage of a large expanse of land, adopting fertilisation application to boost production. This resulted mainly in post-harvest losses due to the mass production. Indigenous storage practices were adopted, cutting across a storage of crops, using warehouses crops to use salt for preservation.
The Last Stage
The increased usage of equipment’s and modern machinery began to crop in. Thou minimal, it contributed hugely to the growth of agriculture. More attention was given to how best modern farm tools can be used to work on the farm efficiently.
Africa Needs Green Revolution
This is the “technology package” credited with raising agricultural productivity to encourage African governments to focus on boosting agrarian yields at the expense of hunger and poverty, including centuries of exploitation of the continent’s people and natural resources that have not benefited Africans.
This ‘bundle of techniques’ would replace ‘conventional’ technology and be embraced as a whole. The following are some of the critical elements of the revolution: 1. use of the most up-to-date technological and capital inputs, 2) adoption of modern scientific farming methods, 3) use of high-yielding seed varieties, 4) proper use of chemical fertilisers, 5) consolidation of land holdings, and 6) use of various mechanical machinery for value addition.
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