Author: Gregory Mensah (ir), MSc,
Agro-ecologist and Theophilus Zottorgloh (ir), MSc, Plant Science.
I would like to start my presentation with some questions emanating from
unhidden facts published by renowned research institutions. Did you know for a
fact that more than one of three Americans is obsessed? On the other hand did you know for a
fact that one in a thousand adults and one in ten thousand children do not eat
for a whole day on an average day? Did you also know for a fact that
almost a third of a million Americans die annually of obesity? Obesity is the
second leading cause of preventable deaths. However, deaths from hunger (due
primarily to eating disorders) are too rare to be recorded in mortality
statistics (Journal of American Medical Association, USDA Economic Research Service, S-9, and West Virginia Health Statistics
Centre). This shows that the global hunger campaign or lobby in
America from organisations such as “Feeding America” tells a quite different
story for the above facts.
Personally, I
believe that “the availability of food to all” aspect of the FAO definition of
food security is not a problem at all but rather the problem lies in the
accessibility of it. It is no denying fact that the global food production is
more than enough and should feed everybody in the world. However, the current
global food system from seed to market has become increasingly monopolised by
giants agro-food supply chains which has led to the overproduction of food to
feed unfairly some specific population while simultaneously leaving more than
half a billion people hungry worldwide. This means the large food surpluses produced in
agri-business sector have not lowered the number of people who are hungry.
It is therefore
apparent that the question of feeding the world can easily be answered when global
food distribution and for that matter accessibility is fairly policed. In
addition, it is not a hidden fact that the more than 50% of global food
production is emanating from smallholder farmers. However, it not a hidden fact
that the majority of smallholder farmers are located in developing regions and
more so Africa where the greater numbers of global undernourished people live. Therefore, if we
want to solve the so-called global food security issue, it needs to be tackled
from where the real problem is situated. On December, 14 2012, CNN published on its
health news a
report from the British medical journal, The Lancet. The report revealed that
every country, with the exception of those in sub-Saharan Africa, faces
alarming obesity rates -- an increase of 82% globally in the past two decades.
This means sub-Saharan Africans are not getting enough food to eat and that
food security problems need to be looked at from this region. Dr Majid Ezzati,
one of the lead authors of the report continued and said: “We have gone from a
world 20 years ago where people weren’t getting enough to eat to a world now
where too much food and unhealthy food – even in developing countries – is
making us sick.”
A report published
by FAO in 2011 indicated that 80% of the food in the developing world comes
from smallholder farmers such as those in Africa who are using local
inputs and no or less synthetic inputs to produce this enormous amount of food.
With a more than 100% increase in food production in these traditional
and small-scale farming systems, I am personally advocating for agro-ecology as
a solution to Africa’s food security and for that matter hunger problems and
even the global nutrition security issues. A typical example can be studied and
followed is the “Zero Hunger” policy which was introduced in Brazil to support
family farmers in sustainable agro-ecological production. This policy has
pushed Brazil to achieve its MDG on ending hunger without the policy mentioning
an increase in yields. This was achieved within a shortest time frame after its
inception. In Africa however, it is very obvious that most smallholder farmers
are sort of into agro-ecology or organic production by-default and that a
strong awareness on agro-ecology to support family farmers would be easily
achieved to be able to feed the majority of people who go to bed without food
in the continent. For Africa not to struggle in order to implement and achieve
a successful agro-ecological production if it comes to that, which according to
an agro-ecology professor from the Wageningen University, Pablo Tittonil, said
it needs a strong knowledge, integration and dialogue involving all production
actors and stakeholders. It is therefore obvious that the way to go in Africa
is never the status quo in agriculture production in the developed world where
obesity and environmental issues are now a major concern because Africa is fed-up
with diseases and other health related problems. One would therefore say that
if we want to solve the food security issues in Africa, we should ask or learn
from Brazil rather than global giant agribusiness industries.
As a Ghanaian, I
would like to throw a little light on our food production issues while we
struggle to achieve food security. A very recent research report published by
the Ghanaweb business news on the 19, November, 2014 from The Urban Association
Limited (TUAL) and sponsored by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
on post-harvest losses in Africa showed that we are throwing more food away
than the amount of food reaching the consumer. For instance,
according to the report, as much as 60 percent of Yam produced in Ghana, for
instance, does not make it to the consumer. The level of losses occurring in
maize production, for instance, ranges between 5-70 percent while between 11-27
percent of rice cultivated never makes it to the consumer. The amount of
millet/sorghum lost after harvesting ranges from 5-15 percent, with 18 percent
of cassava lost after harvesting, the report added.
