ICRISAT to boost research in Africa

• A total of $5 million to be spent on research
• The investment will be across several Sub-Saharan African countries
• It will also focus on empowering women

Hyderabad: The governing board of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) on Thursday decided to boost its research in Sub-Saharan Africa by investing USD 5 million towards upgrading research infrastructure and building scientific skills in the African continent.

The ICRISAT, in a statement, said that it was committed to improving food security, making small holder farming profitable through an Inclusive Market-Oriented Development (IMOD) approach, tackling malnutrition by focusing on more nutritious crops and helping overcome environmental degradation in SSA (Sub-Saharan Africa). This investment would be across SSA where ICRISAT has its offices in Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Ethiopia, it said. “Food security is a major challenge at both the national and the household levels in SSA where many countries are below subsistence levels for calorific and protein intake levels per capita on a world basis.”

“There is an acute urgency to identify the best means of harnessing the required resources to further advance the productivity of smallholder agriculture in SSA for greater self-reliance and resilience, particularly in light of climate change, and for increased participation in the market economy,” said ICRISAT governing board chairman Chandra Madramootoo.

On the positive side, GDP growth in many countries in SSA has been quite strong in recent years and there is a new generation of highly motivated and educated young Africans eager to meet the many developmental challenges of the continent.

However, the challenge is to motivate youth to contribute to the goal of enhancing agricultural productivity and food and nutrition security. “Our focus will also be on empowering women along the value chains,” said ICRISAT Director General William D Dar.