The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has told a meeting of world’s top agricultural scientists that governments and the private sector must increase commitment to agricultural science and technology research.
The UN agency said on Tuesday in a statement that investing in agriculture was necessary to achieve world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of defeating hunger and poverty by 2030,
In a report issued last week, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific warned of the danger if investment in agricultural research is not increased, particularly in Asia, home to 60 per cent of the world’s hungry people.
The FAO report said that global efforts to achieve the zero hunger target by 2030 – Goal 2 SDGs – could fall short.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Goal 2 SDGs is: “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”.
In addition, the agency said that investment in agricultural sciences had been on the decline for years worldwide at the same time that advances against hunger have been slowing, particularly in Asia.
“With nearly 800 million hungry and undernourished people in the world, we need scientific and technological advances, and perhaps more than ever before.
“The role of science and technology to reduce hunger and poverty is not only achieved by boosting agricultural productivity but also in delivering the innovation benefit to people who need support as well as conservation of what we should pass down to the next generation.
“We owe that to our children and their children,” Kundhavi Kadiresan, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific said.
Kadiresan spoke at the Fifth Global Forum of Leaders for Agricultural Science and Technology, hosted by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, co-organised by FAO, according to the statement.
The FAO official added that innovation happens when individuals and groups adopt new ideas, technologies or processes.
FAO estimates that by 2050 the world population will top nine billion, and nearly 60 per cent more food will be needed to feed everyone.
“Most of that food will need to come from smallholder farmers, who produce a majority of the world’s food.
“Therefore, it is important to put a great deal of effort to leverage science and technology in the field of agriculture, and everyone must be involved.
“We need to develop the capacity for innovation in smallholder farmers. The skills and capacities of individuals involved in all aspects of the agricultural innovation system.
“These include farmers, extension service providers, researchers, etc. All of these must be upgraded through education and training at all levels,” she said.
Kadiresan said small holder farmers needed an enabling environment for innovation, including good governance, stable macroeconomic conditions, transparent legal and regulatory regimes, secure property rights, risk management tools and market infrastructure.
He underlined the importance and potential of women and girls in the field of agriculture as well as youth in general, who have a greater inclination to innovate than elder farmers, and represent the future of the field.
