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MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA – The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) has urged the Pan-African Parliament to embrace technology for improved agricultural productivity on the continent.
Speaking to parliamentarians during a committee meeting at the PAP headquarters in Midrand, South Africa today, the Head of the Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Innovation at AUDA-NEPAD, Prof. Olalekan Akinbo, said there is a need to embrace technology to improve Africa’s agricultural productivity.
“Embracing technology brings benefits to our continent. Using technology leads to improved pest and disease resistance. When plants are healthy, their productivity is increased. The benefits that technology brings to us in Africa include improved plant stature in the way that the physiology of the plant, which is the functionality of its productivity, can be enhanced. The quantity and the quality of land use can also be managed. And the essence of it is to enhance food security,” Prof Olalekan said.
He said AUDA-NEPAD is spearheading a biotechnology called genome editing that seeks to achieve food self-sufficiency. Technologies like genome editing can promote labor efficiency. The percentage of the population that is working on farms can be reduced with efficiency.
“Another thing that is of importance which I think globally, is the improved decision-making through data analysis. Technology has helped us and we also help the continent when we start using information based on data so that decisions made are based on science-based information, not on technophobia that is going around.
“Another thing in the global space is the increased crop yield and productivity. Our technology is a complementary tool that helps crops to increase yield. Technology leads to resource conservation. A lot of resources are wasted because they are not properly managed but with biotechnology in farming, there is a lot of resources that can be conserved.”
Hon Sbongile Mamba from Eswatini said there is a need for more time to be allocated to the training of stakeholders at the national level to ensure that information about genome editing is embraced.
“We have talked about the training on the development of genome editing at the national level. My problem is that is one year enough for the training of a people?” she quipped.
The legislator called for close collaboration between the Ministries of Science and Technology and Agriculture because the two sectors are intertwined.
Hon Awatef Cheniti from Tunisia said Africa cannot improve its agriculture without collaborating with science and technology.
“If we look at our countries, we have agricultural methods that have not changed. Faced with the impact of climate change, we often encounter challenges. We feel that only science and technology, combined with good policies, will enable us to improve our agriculture and to better respond to the concerns,” she said.
