Leader of the UN Organisation’s Mechanization task team, Josef Kienzle said this during the second conservation agriculture conference in Nairobi.
Kienzle who made this observation, has said unless African governments adopt new farming techniques, the continent will continue relying on food aid.
The team leader called for a paradigm shift on intensive crop production since the current methods applied cannot meet the challenges of the new millennium.
The Food and Agriculture Organization official said the use of rudimentary hand tools and little access to mechanization and inputs such as
quality seeds and fertilizer is further complicating agricultural productivity in the continent that has
a high population growth rate.
He said the governments must also consider allocating funds towards the improvement of degraded fertile land,
depleted groundwater, pest upsurges, eroded biodiversity, air, water and soil pollution and sustainable
intensification to help increase production.
He recommended the application of tools that offer minimum mechanical soil disturbance, promotes permanent
organic soil cover and diversification of soil crop species grown in sequence.
He called for the formation of smallholder associations that can be formalized and later institutionalized and linked with other institutions to help promote information sharing.
Kienzle said that the majority of smallholders in Africa are women due to the fact that rural-urban migration
has forced youths out of the farms to look for other means of making a living.
Barack Okoba, FAO Climate Smart Agriculture Officer, revealed that FAO offices in Kenya has developed a messaging
system where farmers are sent electronic messages to their mobile phones.
They receive messages on weather patterns and market information to help them make right decisions.
Comments are closed.