From Torrents to Trickles: Irrigation's Future in Africa and Asia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Ringler
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Resource Economics ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Rural Employment ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Consumptive Water

Irrigation has been a key component of agricultural intensification and transformation in Asia and has the potential to take on the same role in Sub-Saharan Africa. Irrigation has contributed to increased food production, lower food prices, higher rural employment, and overall agricultural and economic growth. At the same time, irrigation—through its large consumptive water use—has contributed to water depletion, degradation, and pollution; moreover, it has benefitted richer farmers more than poorer farmers. This article reviews the contributions and challenges of irrigation and identifies a series of measures to increase the sustainability and equity of irrigation going forward. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Resource Economics, Volume 13 is October 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Poverty, Agricultural Intensification, and the Environment (The Distinguishedl Lecture)

1994 ◽  
Vol 33 (4I) ◽  
pp. 463-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Pinstrup Andersen ◽  
Rajul Pandya-Lorch
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Agricultural Intensification ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Population Increase ◽  
Crop Varieties ◽  
Annual Population ◽  
Cultivable Land ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Technological Constraints

As the world's population increases by almost 100 million people each year during the next two to three decades-the largest annual population increase in history- agricultural intensification, i.e. production of more food on land already being cultivated, is a must. There is little scope for increasing cultivated land in Asia, North Africa, and Central America, while in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America, physical and technological constraints are likely to restrain large-scale conversion of potentially cultivable land [Dram and Hojjati (1994)]. Agricultural intensification is already the main source of increased food production. I Intensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation technology, in combination with higher-yielding crop varieties, has led to enough food being produced in the world such that if it were evenly distributed, no one would go hungry. Global food production per capita increased from about 260 kilograms (kgs) in 1950 to about 350 kgs in the early 1990s [FAD (1992)]. In developing countries the corresponding increase was from 170 kgs to 250 kgs.

scholarly journals COVID‐19 and food prices in sub‐Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Kwaku Agyei ◽  
Zangina Isshaq ◽  
Siaw Frimpong ◽  
Anokye Mohammed Adam ◽  
Ahmed Bossman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Prices ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan

Pastoralism in sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Gifford-Gonzalez
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Human Genetics ◽  
Lipid Analysis ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Southwest Asia ◽  
Sheep And Goats ◽  
Pastoral Mobility ◽  
Sub Saharan

African pastoralism is distinctive from that of Southwest Asia, focusing on dairy production with cattle, sheep, and goats. The latter were domesticated in Southwest Asia and introduced, but debate continues on whether indigenous African aurochs contributed genes to African domestic cattle. Pastoralism emerged in what was then a grassy Sahara and shifted south with the mid-Holocene aridification. Zooarchaeology and genetics show the donkey is a mid-Holocene African domesticate, emerging as an aid to pastoral mobility during increasing aridity. Pastoralism is the earliest form of domesticate-based food production in sub-Saharan Africa, with farming emerging millennia later. Human genetics and lipid analysis of Saharan ceramics shows an early reliance on dairying. With the emergence of pastoralism, new economies and social relations emerged that were carried by pastoralists across the whole of Africa.

Recommendations: The Development of the Agrarian Sector, with Emphasis on Food Production and Distribution

1988 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-33
Author(s):  
Michael F. Lofchie ◽  
Gleb V. Smirnov
Keyword(s):  
Food Production ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Food Distribution ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Debt Burden ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Ecological Problems ◽  
Production And Distribution ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Investment Goods

A critical problem for Africa is that of food production and distribution, highlighted by declines in food production, widespread hunger, and famine. There are several interrelated sources of this problem, both domestic and external. Among them are ecological problems, engendered by climatic and natural conditions; land fertility depletion in many regions of sub-Saharan Africa; the extreme scarcity of financial resources, accentuated by the debt burden and falling terms of trade; a deficit of investment goods and research and development facilities needed for agricultural development; and weaknesses in rural infrastructure, both economic and social. Unbalanced interaction between the rural and urban economies as well as archaic socioeconomic structures play a major role in the problems of food distribution, with consequent effects on food production.

Next-Generation Genetic and Fermentation Technologies for Safe and Sustainable Production of Food Ingredients: Colors and Flavorings

2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Seung-Oh Seo ◽  
Yong-Su Jin
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Food Additives ◽  
Strain Engineering ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Manufacturing Processes ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Sustainable Operations ◽  
Food Ingredients

A growing human population is a significant issue in food security owing to the limited land and resources available for agricultural food production. To solve these problems, sustainable food manufacturing processes and the development of alternative foods and ingredients are needed. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology can help solve the food security issue and satisfy the demand for alternative food production. Bioproduction of food ingredients by microbial fermentation is a promising method to replace current manufacturing processes, such as extraction from natural materials and chemical synthesis, with more ecofriendly and sustainable operations. This review highlights successful examples of bioproduction for food additives by engineered microorganisms, with an emphasis on colorants and flavors that are extensively used in the food industry. Recent strain engineering developments and fermentation strategies for producing selected food colorants and flavors are introduced with discussions on the current status and future perspectives. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Food Science and Technology, Volume 13 is March 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Ancient DNA reveals a multistep spread of the first herders into sub-Saharan Africa

Science ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 365 (6448) ◽  
pp. eaaw6275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Prendergast ◽  
Mark Lipson ◽  
Elizabeth A. Sawchuk ◽  
Iñigo Olalde ◽  
Christine A. Ogola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Multiphase Model ◽  
Later Stone Age ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Pastoral Neolithic

How food production first entered eastern Africa ~5000 years ago and the extent to which people moved with livestock is unclear. We present genome-wide data from 41 individuals associated with Later Stone Age, Pastoral Neolithic (PN), and Iron Age contexts in what are now Kenya and Tanzania to examine the genetic impacts of the spreads of herding and farming. Our results support a multiphase model in which admixture between northeastern African–related peoples and eastern African foragers formed multiple pastoralist groups, including a genetically homogeneous PN cluster. Additional admixture with northeastern and western African–related groups occurred by the Iron Age. These findings support several movements of food producers while rejecting models of minimal admixture with foragers and of genetic differentiation between makers of distinct PN artifacts.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document