The 2022 Africa Food Prize winner, Prof. Eric Danquah, has a message for African governments: invest in the agricultural sector. He believes that there is a lack of investments by African governments in agricultural science due to short-term thinking by visionless leaders.
Prof. Danquah, who is the founding director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) at the University of Ghana, emphasized the importance of investing in agricultural science, stating that Africa cannot afford to keep importing so much food. He believes that spending foreign exchange on crops that could be grown locally is both perverse and unsustainable.
He stressed the need for African crop scientists to use efficient methods and advanced technologies to develop better seeds for farmers, in order to improve smallholders’ resilience and boost productivity.
The Covid-19 pandemic served as a reminder of the fragility of African food supply chains, and Prof. Danquah emphasized the need for African countries to meet their own needs locally and not depend on imports.
Additionally, he called for efforts to tackle brain drain on the African continent, highlighting the value of international experience and the importance of creating high-quality organizations and facilities to encourage Africans to stay and work at home.
Prof. Danquah’s message is clear: African governments must prioritize investments in the agricultural sector to ensure food security and sustainability for the continent.
