AFRICA: AGRICULTURE:
Chinese methods may not work for Africa

5/5/2012 11:17:57 AM
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ST PAUL - Experts are pushing hybrid seeds and chemical inputs to increase food production in sub-Saharan Africa, but the strategy could backfire. The region is struggling to feed people as high food prices and famine put strain on resources. - Many Chinese and Western observers say stunning productivity increases in the 40 years until the turn of the century in China were due to hybrid seeds from the West and a massive increase nitrogen fertiliser production. For most food-insecure households in Africa, there are at least two problems with this strategy. The approach to farming is energy-intensive, as most fertilisers and pesticides are petroleum-based. Inducing poor farmers to adopt energy-intensive farming methods is short-sighted, if not unethical, if experts know that global energy prices are likely to rise. Second, irrespective of energy prices, the "New Green Revolution" approach requires farmers to purchase seeds and inputs, which means that it will be inaccessible to the poorest of the poor … the most likely to suffer from periods of hunger. (END/RADIO BULLETIN EDITOR/2012)

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