Where: Joaquim Chissano Conference Center, Maputo, Mozambique
After two decades of declining per capita output, agriculture in the region as a whole has shown positive growth rates over the last 10 years, "suggesting that the stagnation in sub-Saharan African agriculture may be over," according to the World Development Report 2008. New investments in agriculture and political will are needed to make African agriculture more productive and resilient. The CGIAR warns that unless the world addresses these challenges, the livelihoods and food security of millions of poor people, as well as the economic, ecological and political situations of many African countries, will deteriorate.
According to a new 88-country report by a CGIAR center, nine of the ten countries with the highest level of hunger are in sub-Saharan Africa.
For more than 35 years, CGIAR scientists in over 100 countries have studied every critical component of the agricultural sector in developing countries. This includes research on agroforestry; biodiversity; food, forage and tree crops; fisheries; livestock; the varied agro-ecological zones that farmers operate in, and the food policies that underlie agriculture in developing nations.
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| Contact: Jeff Haskins jhaskins@burnesscommunications.com 254-729-871-422 Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research Source:Eurekalert |