Nothing better illustrates the crucial role that science must play in farming in Africa, than the contrasts in agricultural productivity between our continent and the world as a whole. For while food productivity has increased globally by 140 per cent in recent decades, the figures for sub-Saharan Africa over the same period show a fall.

This is not because of any lack of effort by Africa’s farmers. Agriculture remains for far too many an exhausting dawn to dusk occupation for very little reward. Indeed, it is because farming across much of the continent has changed little in generations that the role of science is so important.

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Cassava, one of the most staple foods in Nigeria, has low nutritional content, but this can be improved using biotechnology, a modern approach in improving agricultural yield. Chinyere Amalu, in this piece, examines the issue.

In many countries, economic growth and sustainability depend on the strong performance of the agricultural sector. Biotechnology which has proved to be one of the modern tools of improving agricultural yields, when combined with the science of breeding, has produced varieties that deliver increased value globally.

Application of some scientific processes (like biotechnology) has in recent times helped in improving nutritional content of some stable foods such as cassava, maize and rice, which about 70 percent of the African populace, including Nigeria, depends for survival on daily basis.

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Access to improved seeds by smallholder farmers is a prerequisite to increased maize production in West Africa, as climate change hurts yield from traditional varieties, a study by researchers working under the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa Project (DTMA) has shown.

The study authored by Dr. Abdoulaye Tahirou and others notes that improved maize varieties tolerant of drought are helping farmers in addressing production risks and called for joint efforts to facilitate their wider dissemination across the subregion.

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THE process continues for the implementation of biosafety legislation, under which genetically modified organisisms (GMOs) are covered, the Namibia Agriculture Union (NAU) said in its latest newsletter. The United Nations’ Global Environmental Fund has given money to Namibia to help with the process for the next three years, the NAU said on Friday.

The Bio Safety Act was promulgated in 2006, and regulations to implement and administer the legislation are already drafted and must now be finalised, the union said.

The porcess will be tackled in various stages, namely to establish and strengthen the regulatory and administrative systems, as well as to beef up institutional capacity to handle the administering and decision-taking of live modified organisms.

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Scientists at the National Banana Research Program in Uganda have begun conducting field trials of biotech bananas that can resist banana Xanthomonas wilt. They developed the bioengineered crop by introducing two genes from a sweet pepper plant that can inhibit the spread of disease.

Bioengineered crops are illegal in the country, so the program obtained a special license to grow the crops for research purposes only. Meanwhile, bio-fortified bananas that could reduce blindness, diarrhea and anemia are a step closer, according to the preliminary results of a joint research project between Ugandan and Australian scientists.

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