Mechanisation critical to achieving food security – AATF

The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) has said mechanisation is critical to achieving food security and prosperity through agriculture.

Dr Canisius Kanangire, Executive Director of AATF, said this in a chat with newsmen in Abuja at the weekend.

Kanangire said despite Africa not doing well in mechanised farming, AATF had been encouraging it in different ways.

“Mechanisation is one area where Africa is not doing well. Sometimes, as Africans we are frustrated when we see things happening the way we have seen it when we were younger. And we know that the hoes and machetes cannot feed this growing population. We absolutely need to mechanise.

“Mechanisation is critical to achieving food security, and prosperity through agriculture. We are encouraging it in different ways at AATF. A decade ago, we piloted what was called the Cassava Mechanisation and Agro-processing Project (CAMAP), which was active in Nigeria, in Zambia, in Uganda, and Tanzania,” he said.

On how far AATF had gone in getting African governments to embrace biotechnology, the ED said: “We have been successful in bringing Pod Borer Resistant (PBR) cowpea, which resists the Maruca vitrata to Nigeria. It changed quite a lot in terms of productivity, and reduced the number of sprays of insecticides that were applied by the farmers; from eight or more sprays to maximum two.

“With the PBR cowpea, productivity is increasing and Nigeria has also released the uptake and utilisation of Tela maize. Tela Maize is also insect resistant maize which resists stem borer that is also in progress.

“Ghana is progressing. They have already released the PBR cowpea; we are expecting quite soon to have it in the hands of the farmers. And we hope that Burkina Faso will come on Tela Maize. Also, biotechnology products are already planted in South Africa, but soon we will have it in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya and Mozambique. So, biotechnology is coming quite well and we are learning and getting encouraged by the successes.”