Mr Ernest Aubee, Head, Agriculture Division, ECOWAS Commission says that global food production system has broken down and the very base of agriculture is being destroyed with unsustainable practices.
Aubee made the assertion during an online presentation on the: “Importance of Ecological Organic Agriculture Policies in the Transformation of West African Agriculture”, organised by Journalists Go Organic Initiative on Wednesday.
He said that the current challenges to agriculture occurred by food insecurity and climate change were serious issues.
Aubee, who is also the Chairman of the Regional Ecological Organic Agriculture (EOA) Initiative for West Africa, noted that food producers had resorted to cutting corners by using harmful pesticides for produce/products due to food insecurity.
According to him, limitation to food production area has caused the engagement of all possible alternatives for addressing global food insecurity.
“While some of the approaches to food security are good, some could be very inimical to managing our shared environment,’’ Aubee said.
He said that although there was the need to step up the drive for increasing global food production, consideration should be given to building solid ecosystems.
“This is because sustainable food production and food security can only be achieved through adequate ecosystem management.
“As such, producers of healthy foods should be patronised for them to sustain their production,’’ he said.
He said that some of the global challenges of food production included reduction of available land for farming due to urbanisation and industrialisation.
Aubee also cited shortage of safe inputs for mass food production, ageing manpower incapable of producing enough food, and storage and post-harvest losses in developing countries.
He added that the lack of eco-friendly technologies for easing the drudgery of manual farming and unregulated farming practices in most developing countries had posed dangers to producers, consumers and the environment.
He said that agricultural policies and programmes in Africa had undergone a lot of changes, especially in the millennial era, adding that these changes had been a mere reflection of changes in government.
“We need conducive policies that promote agro-ecological practices and food security,’’ he said.
Aubee called for involvement of all stakeholders across the value chain of agroecology, practitioners in planning and execution of policies.
“These policies must be open, transparent and framed within a context that are based on a consensus board enough to guarantee continuity and freedom of expression of stakeholders’ opinions on decisions taken.
He said Africans should be concerned about sustainable food production that would not only feed them but also take care of the health of the people and their environment.
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