African Experts Call for Public-Private Partnerships to Boost Agricultural Research

NAIROBI, (Xinhua) – Strategic cooperation between governments, industry, and academia holds the key to tackling under-funding that has derailed the research and development required to transform Africa’s food systems, experts said on Wednesday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

Chris Ojiewo, strategic partnerships and seed systems lead at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), said African governments should reach out to the private sector in their bid to boost the deployment of technologies and innovations that can revolutionize smallholder farming.

“For us to go far in realizing self-sufficiency in agrifood systems development, we definitely need partners,” Ojiewo said on the sidelines of the Africa-China-CIMMYT Science Forum underway.

Convened by the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) and CIMMYT, the forum that runs until Friday brought together more than 100 scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders from China and Africa to brainstorm new areas of collaboration in agriculture and rural development. The four-day forum runs under the theme “Transforming Agrifood Systems in Africa through Scientific Innovations and Partnerships.”

Ojiewo noted that a partnership between African and Chinese research institutions as well as the private sector has the potential to revolutionize the development and uptake of new technologies to promote climate-smart and productive farming on the continent.

Given the uncertainties of donor funding toward Africa’s agricultural research agenda, governments should forge ties with local financial institutions to fill the void, he said.

Christopher Kunda, regional sales manager at AFRISEED, a seed company based in Zambia, said public-private partnerships have proved effective in ensuring Africa’s smallholder farmers have access to improved seeds, fertilizer, and herbicides.

To address endemic challenges in the continent’s agricultural sector, including crop pests and diseases, climatic shocks, under-financing, and lack of research, governments should tap into private sector resources and technical expertise, Kunda suggested.

He stressed that public-private partnerships are key in the research and development of hybrid crops that African smallholder farmers require to boost yield per acreage and achieve food and nutritional security.