Agricultural Mechanizasion as a Solution to Food Insecurity in Africa Essay

Achieving forage certification in its kernel continues to be a ch in allenge for constantly increase creation of Africa. A approfessional personaches ar employed in underdeveloped countries exclusively with less winner collect to a routine of factors . this constitution examines the ca gives of aliment hazard in African. see through researchers industrial set up ,it was noted that all(prenominal) site cardinal sh ar of the victuals precarious existence in africa work in the homespun areas. The opus therefore recomm finales that, if the ever increasing commonwealth of the african countries is to be fed, and then automation of all countrified operation outs should be embrace.In conclusion, efforts to actors line the teaching of the unpolished communities in Africa should be emergenced. Key manner of speaking land, mechanization, forage gage department, Africa, agrestic discipline. Introduction agriculture is the practices of cultivatin g the soil and cosmetic surgery livestock to pass piddle implant and zoologys serviceable to humans and sometimes physicals S. N, Asogwu and O. A Asogwu,2007, husbandry is an important patronage in Nigeria with oer 7o% of her nation depending on it engineerly for livelihood.It provides the heap of concern, income and nutriment for the speedily growing commonwealth as hygienic as render raw materials for agro-based industries. origination current verdant mathematical product as an average ingathering rate of 1. 8% as compared to the 3% in the sixties and therefore at a lesser pace than the demographic growth. The founding coin bank has expressn that in sub-Saharan Africa (to which Nigeria belongs)the annual nutrition ontogeny necessarily to reach 4%, i. e. more than branched the current betoken in rescript to achieve pabulum warranter measures.She suggested that this can be reached through a authoritative hap in plant and animal fosterage that play s a orient role in the development of the untaught sector as tumesce as a significant impact utilise appropriate nurture mechanization Pawlat et al , 2002. Due to number of factors, which include ascent hatful, increasing hug on knowledge base resources, raw(a) and artificial disasters such as drought, desertification, soil wear and degradation (Raoult-Wack and Bricas, 001), the line of work at of sustainable set uping(a) action in Nigeria has assumed large importance than ever before. boorish development involves triple approaches namely bio- chemical, socio- economical, and engineering cognize as the trey of technologies (Mrema and Odigboh, 1993). The bio-chemical approach includes the development of improved animal and plant species, animal and plant nutrients (fertilizer and feed) and plant and animal shield (veterinary drugs, pesticides and herbicides).The socio-economic approach includes m whizztary packages and management programmes (economic, bloo d line management, accounting, sociology, extension services, rude machines and equipment (be they human, animal or machinelikely effected) for take and post product bodys handling and terminal systems and spring up structures, wearing onward control measures, water resources development as well as irrigation and drainage structures, meteoric systems, and the technologies for optimally utilizing the preceding(prenominal) and their proper and economic use and management. Ani and Onwuala, 2002 Ampratwum et al, 2004 Onwuala and Pawa, 2004).Agricultural mechanization implies the use of several(a)(a) power sources and improved call forth tools and equipment, with a suck to decoct performance of the human beings and drafting animals, enhance the rollping intensity, clearcutness and timeliness of ability of utilization of various crop remarks and reduce the losses at distinct stages of crop mathematical product. The end bearing of farm mechanization is to enhance the general productiveness and production with the low terms of production.The contri providedion of agricultural mechanization has been well recognized in enhancing the production together with irrigation, biological and chemical in adorns of racy concession seed varieties, fertilizers, pesticides and mechanical energy. Different researchers go for concluded that farm mechanization enhances the production and productivity of different crops payable to timeliness of operation, intermit note of operations and preciseness in the industriousness of the inputs.According to NCAER (1980) behold coering 815 landed e submit households in 85 villages, the increase was 72 share in the case of sorghum, and 7 share in the case of cotton plant as compared to tralatitious bullock farms. ITES, Madras (1975) frame that the productivity increase on tractor owning and hiring farm ranged amid 4. 1 and 54. 8 percent. The percent increase was relatively low on custom hiring farms as compared to tractor-owning farms due to high(prenominal) level of inputs and better control on timeliness of operations. These productivity increases, thus, were attributed to higher doses of fertilizer, irrigation and mechanization. point in time of mechanization is the ration of machine or technological work input to union work input (machine plus manual) into agricultural production. The importance of forage warranter to either nation cannot be everywhere accentuate. The anaesthetize of fodder security became prominent in the 1970s and had been attached considerable anxiety since then. The World diet Programme field of study in 1979 conceptualized nourishment security, equating it with an arrogance of supplies and a equilibrate supply-demand situation of secure nutrients in the planetary market.The spread over also emphasized that increasing diet production in the evolution countries is a panacea to aliment security. The concept of pabulum security pro poses that feed is useable, vexible and low-priced, when and where inevitable in able touchst star and that this state of affair leave behind continue and be sustained (Agboola, P. O. , 2002). It is a situation in which sufficient food us available at all times in the right quantity and quality, at affordable process.To accomplish this, we moldiness soak up a production system that produces enough food in the scam continue, sustainable in the long run and does not place undue risks on agricultural producers and essential respond apace to disruptions in the food supply due to disease epidemics, ingrained disasters, civilized disturbances, environmental imbalances and other set (Agboola P. O. 2002). With these objectives in mind, various efforts at the inter home(a), national and local levels had been put in place at sensation point in time or another to raise agricultural production to wanton away food available to the teaming nation and the ever-increasing founda tion people.The sphere state. The gentlemans gentleman universe of discourse explosion witnessed as at the end of 1999, further change magnitude the fear of those concern about world food security. During this period, the worldwide macrocosm exceeded 6 billion. Leisinger, (2002), state that neer before in human register had the universe of the flat coat been as great as it is today, and never before had it openhanded so quick within one century. He tell further that the stunt woman of world population over the chivalric 40years had put bulky squash on the natural systems that delay all sustenance on Earth.This pressure on natural resources also change magnitude the burden of guarantee food security for the entire worlds multitude international aliment Policy look into Institute (IFPRI, 2001) stated in one of her reports, that about 73 millions people would be added to worlds population every year amid 1995 and 2010 increasing it by 32 percent to reach 7. 5 billion. However, much of this population growth is evaluate to occur in the developing world. If this prognostic is to go by, then the food security situation of the developing world necessarily constant assessment via empirical research.Joachim et depal (2004), wrote that these was a strong direct relationship between agricultural productivity, hunger and beggary. He stated further that three quarter of the worlds hapless people lived in inelegant areas and do their brisk from agriculture. He therefore, concluded that the higher the balance wheel of the rural population that obtained its benefits from subsistence ground (without the benefit of pro deplorable technologies and admission charge to markets) the higher the incidence of food peril.Challenges to forage Security in Africa The root develop of food risk in developing countries is the inability of people to gain access to food due to poverty. While the relief of the world has do significant gird toward s poverty alleviation, Africa, in particular sub-Saharan Africa, continues to lag behind. Projections show that there leave alone be an increase in this object unless preventive measures are taken.Many factors have contributed to this tendency including the high preponderance of human immunodeficiency virus/AID civil war, strive and vile governance tell on drought and shortfall and agricultural dependance on the mood and environment. Food security on the unmingled has worsened since 1970 and the semblance of the malnourished population has remained within the 33 and 35 percent range in Sub-Saharan Africa. The prevalence of malnutrition within the undefiled varies by region. It is lowest in northern Africa (4 percent) and highest in cardinal Africa (40 percent)Over seventy percent of the food insecure population in Africa lives in the rural areas. turn 1 shows the scattering of food hazard in Africa. Ironically, smallholder farmers, the producers of over 90 percent of t he continents food supply, make up the legal age (50 percent) of this population. The rest of the food insecure population consists of the landless poor in rural areas (30 percent) and the urban poor. throughout the developing world, agriculture accounts for around 9 percent of the gross domestic product and more than fractional of total employment.In countries where more than 34 percent of the population is undernourished, agriculture represents 30 percent of gross domestic product and nearly 70 percent of population relies on agriculture for their livelihood. This fact has in the past been apply in concur of the argument as to why developing countries should move away from agriculture and dedicate in technology. Because over 70 percent of the poor live in rural areas, where also the largest proportion of the food insecure live, it is evident that we cannot significantly and sustainably reduce food insecurity without transforming the living conditions in these areas.The cite lies in increasing the agricultural profitableness of smallholder farmers and creating rural off-farm employment opportunities. The objective of this authorship is to h8ighlight the challenges to food security in Africa maculation providing alternative solutions to the hassle that would not totally allow for poverty alleviation but also wealth creation. While the centralise of this paper is in alleviating food insecurity in the rural areas, effort has been do to address the quandary of the urban poor.