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Food Security in the Drylands of South Asia and Sub-saharan Africa: Research Challenges and Opportunities

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Relation http://oar.icrisat.org/5276/
 
Title Food Security in the Drylands of South Asia and Sub-saharan Africa: Research Challenges and Opportunities
 
Creator Nkonya, E
Shiferaw, B
Msangi, S
 
Subject Food and Nutrition
 
Description Despite the significant agricultural research achievement that led to the
green revolution, South Asia (SA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remain the hotspots
of food and nutrition insecurity in the world. One of the reasons behind this challenge
is the failure of the green revolution to increase dramatically rainfed crop and
livestock productivity in SA. The green revolution achievement has also generally
eluded SSA despite the increased availability of high-yielding and risk-reducing
cultivars and agricultural innovations. Many factors are attributable to the lack of
productivity growth. This paper investigates the major factors that have contributed
to the food insecurity in SA and SSA and forecasts the future of the food production
and consumption and their effect on food and nutrition security to the year 2020.
Our projections of food production and consumption show that child malnutrition
in SA is decreasing much faster than the case in SSA, due to increase in per
capita income, female education and female life expectancy. Fast reduction in child
malnutrition is also possible in SSA if the countries invest significantly in improvement
in agricultural production and in addressing the constraints that impede access to
food. The demand for livestock products has been increasing dramatically mainly
due to increasing income and urban population. The livestock sector also has a
large potential to achieve food and nutrition security in the drylands. Unfortunately,
past research and development investments in livestock have not reflected the potential
and opportunities offered by the sector. Harnessing the potential of livestock would
require developing suitable crop-livestock innovations to improve productivity. Even
though returns to agricultural research investments have been high and have shown
a great potential to increase food security in both SA and SSA, government and
donor research funding has generally decreased in the SSA region where national
capacity is weak and underdeveloped. There is an urgent need to increase availability
of funds to address the research challenges and harness the opportunities in the
two regions. Returns to the research investment will also have multiplier effect
on reducing food and nutrition insecurity if the support services – such as extension
services, market services, etc. – are developed. Research also need to take seriously
farmer innovations which have shown great potential in developing technologies
well adapted to the drylands.
 
Publisher Arid Zone Research Association of India
 
Date 2007
 
Type Article
PeerReviewed
 
Format application/pdf
 
Language en
 
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Identifier http://oar.icrisat.org/5276/1/Food-security%20in%20the%20drylands.pdf
Nkonya, E and Shiferaw, B and Msangi, S (2007) Food Security in the Drylands of South Asia and Sub-saharan Africa: Research Challenges and Opportunities. Annals of Arid Zone , 46 (3-4). pp. 1-33. ISSN 0570-1791