30/05/2016
Feeding innovation in Africa
The story of one Ethiopian innovator illustrates the far-reaching benefits and importance of investing in bright African solutions, writes Walter Fust, African Innovation Foundation's Board Chairman.
Food insecurity is one of the major challenges the world will have to overcome in the next decade. Even though Africa is said to have the capacity to be the world’s food basket, it continues to face obstacles when it comes to producing enough food for an ever-growing population, despite unprecedented economic growth in some parts of the continent.
It is vital, therefore, that solutions are created and implemented rapidly to ensure that the “Africa rising” story is one that is reflected in the everyday lives of ordinary African citizens. Working with the African Innovation Foundation, an organisation that supports innovation for Africa by Africans, I have witnessed first-hand that Africans themselves are capable of solving issues such as food insecurity on the continent.
In 2011 the AIF, whose board I chair, launched the Innovation Prize for Africa as a platform to further recognise and support African innovators. For the past five years, the IPA has awarded cash prizes worth around US$800,000 to African innovators that are transforming Africa and solving the continent’s challenges.
The impact of just one of these awards is illustrated by the story of Dr Melesse Temesgen, an Ethiopian innovator and entrepreneur whom I recently visited in Addis Ababa. Temesgen is one of the 2014 winners of the Innovation Prize for Africa. He won the special prize for innovation with the highest social impact for his Aybar multi-purpose broad bed and furrow maker.
The Aybar BBM is a low-cost farming device that drains waterlogged fields and makes them arable. It is a game-changer for farmers in Ethiopia, who have adopted the technology on a wider scale than any other tool previously available on the market. Where previous wheat yield for a smallholder farmer was approximately 0.5 tons per hectare, it is now 3.8 tons per hectare.
Growing ground
Since 2007, Ethiopia has achieved strong economic growth, making it one of the highest performing economies in sub-Saharan Africa. However, it remains one of the world’s least developed countries in terms of GDP. According to the 2015 Global Hunger Index, 32 per cent of the country’s population is undernourished.
As we all know, hunger is a major stumbling block for sustainable development. Food is also closely linked to health. A healthy population is one that can work hard to put an end to poverty. Agriculture, therefore, is a key sector that drives growth, increases living standards and creates economic prosperity.
With 80 to 85 per cent of Ethiopians involved in agriculture, it is by far the most important economic activity in the country. Yet, the quality of soil in Ethiopia threatens productivity.
According to the Holetta Research Centre Institute of Agricultural Research in Addis Ababa, vertisols (clay-rich soils that shrink and swell with changes in moisture content) are abundant and important to Ethiopian agriculture. They account for 24 per cent of all highland soils that are cropped, but their high yield potential has not been realised.
Production constraints are related to the physical properties of vertisols and their moisture regime. The heavy texture and expanding clay minerals narrow the range between drought stress and excess moisture. Workability of these soils is hampered by their stickiness when wet and hardness when dry, and waterlogging and erosion greatly affect crop production.
As a researcher, Temsegen recognised that success in farming is inter-connected and dependent on natural factors, including soil, precipitation, water availability and climate.
The Aybar BBM builds on two thousand years of Ethiopian farming technology. It is an easy-to-use, cost effective tool that is giving smallholder farmers in Ethiopia the opportunity to make a better living by feeding more people. Close to 50,000 units have been sold in Ethiopia alone to date.
In Ethiopia, only 25 per cent of the land is cultivated due to waterlogging. The Aybar BBM has been developed to be lightweight (unlike its predecessors) and appropriate for Ethiopian farmer needs. It has the potential of feeding not just more Ethiopians, but Africa and the world.
Temesgen also creates employment by manufacturing the Aybar BBM for wider consumption. His workforce is primarily made up of women, as he insists on gender equality and parity as part of his business model.
Wise investments
Finding, investing in and supporting innovators and entrepreneurs such as Temesgen is a priority for the AIF. We recognise that needs-based innovation is a catalyst to growth on the continent and we believe in the capacity of African innovators to solve problems that are particular to their environment.
With increased investment and support, the Aybar BBM could expand its reach to other regions in Africa. With innovations such as these, the goal of feeding Africa is realistic and attainable. In the long term, Africa could very well become the bread basket of the world, if we focus our energy and resources in the right place: Innovations by Africans that can transform the continent and the global community for years to come.
However, an imperative question for me is whether government and agricultural authorities have recognised that technologies such as the Aybar BBM should be more widely and quickly used to see real change in the agriculture landscape.
The question of marketing such products is not just an issue for the producer of the innovative product, but of organising access to credit or providing leasing solutions.
It is also necessary to share the technology’s use amongst farmers. Ethiopia could move much faster in solving its food security issues when full-fledged support is given to such innovations and their use is widely promoted. Mobilising support including relevant innovations for farmers is key, as is the political will to move fast.
Since food insecurity is a global problem, it is imperative that initiatives such as the Aybar BBM are supported, funded and distributed to ensure that hunger is no longer an issue the next generation will have to worry about.
Walter Fust is chairman of the board of the African Innovation Foundation, which gives out the annual Innovation Prize for Africa. The 2016 IPAs will be announced in Gaborone, Botswana, in June 2016.
NB: This article first appeared on | http://bit.ly/1sGFpDf
