Diversity the future of Africa’s farming

In Africa, we like to celebrate our diversity — the rich variety that can be found in our many cultures, languages, fashions, flora and fauna.

That is why it is perplexing to see such a large segment of the African population depending on a very small number of food crops, such as maize, rice, and wheat.

And this is more than just boring to the palate; it severely diminishes the quality of our diets and makes our farming systems more vulnerable, especially during severe droughts like the one that hit southern Africa this year.

There has been a lot of talk lately about how Africa’s agriculture is primed to become a new economic engine for a continent that has become too dependent on commodities such as oil.

Heads of state and top officials from across Africa and around the world are in Nairobi this week for the African Green Revolution Forum, where there could be millions of dollars in new commitments for Africa’s smallholder farmers.

But Africa is unlikely to achieve its agriculture potential, or be prepared to deal with challenges such as drought that climate change will make more frequent, unless we change our thinking about crop diversity.

For the past two decades, my work has revolved around developing and promoting nutritionally enhanced sweet potato. It has convinced me that, with the right approach, farmers can cultivate a wider variety of crops and consumers can embrace the new additions to their dinner table.

Africa is blessed with a wealth of crop diversity. Much of it — including sorghum, yam, and cowpeas — is native to the continent. But many other crop types have arrived via trade, for example banana, pigeon pea, and wheat from Asia and beans, cassava, and maize from the Americas.

But rather than capitalise on this full basket of food options, we have bet too heavily on just a few crops.

Take the case of maize in eastern and southern Africa. Yes, it can grow in different farming environments and supply large amounts of calories, but the crop is susceptible to drought and pests and its nutritional quality is mediocre.

ERRATIC RAINFALL

And while recent research has delivered more resilient and nutritious maize varieties, these are not sufficient. The fact remains that in many regions, rising temperatures and increasingly erratic rainfall will cause maize yields to fall — by up to 22 per cent in many areas and up to 60 per cent in South Africa and Zimbabwe, according to a 2015 report from the Montpellier Panel.

There is a strong body of research showing that farmers are much less likely to suffer catastrophic losses from pests, disease, or drought if they planted a broader array of crops. The devastation caused by outbreaks of lethal necrosis in maize and stem rust in wheat is greatly intensified by the lack of alternative crops.

In Malawi, while drought ruined maize and bean crops this year, farmers growing naturally hardy, nutritional crops such as chickpea and sweet potato fared much better.

If the benefits are so clear, then why don’t farmers just spontaneously diversify? The answer is that they may want to diversify, but often do not due to policy and institutional barriers. When crops such as maize started to dominate, governments and the private sector accelerated their takeover by providing subsidies, research, and other support.

Other potentially useful crops such as cassava and sorghum were neglected, sometimes acquiring derogatory labels as the “poor man’s crop” or “crop for marginal lands”.

It does not have to be this way. I have learned from my work with sweet potatoes that we can turn Africa’s “Cinderella crops” into the belle of the ball.

First, we need research that is focused on adding value to these crops and further enhancing their natural resilience.

Second, farmers need a reliable source of healthy seed. This is not easy for crops typically ignored by local and multinational seed companies, especially if they are propagated with bulky and perishable plant parts such as sweet potatoes.

Finally, marketing and branding have to be part of the picture.

The theme of the African Green Revolution Forum is “Seize the Moment”. I cannot think of a better time for influential leaders attending this meeting to make crop diversity a central part of their plans for African agriculture.

Maria Andrade, a plant breeder at the International Potato Centre, is among the four winners of the 2016 World Food Prize. She is a member of the board of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.