NAIROBI, May 22 (Xinhua) -- African experts on Wednesday called on farmers and investors in agribusiness to embrace technological innovations to improve efficiency of food production and eliminate hunger.
The agro-trade experts told Xinhua that technology will open vast untapped potential for farmers, investors and entrepreneurs to not only define agriculture in the continent but also to be a major player in global food markets.
"There is enormous potential for innovation to transform African agriculture bringing jobs, and strengthening food security," Kevin Kyle, managing director of the Agri-Food Trade and Investment said on the sidelines of a regional forum in Nairobi.
"This is an important platform for those wanting to capitalize on those opportunities within the eastern Africa's agri-food sector," Kyle said.
Kyle said Africa intends to feed 1.5 billion people by 2030 and 2 billion by 2050, adding that to keep up with the demand, adoption of innovation was vital within ten years.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) in its latest report has expressed concerns over the growing trend of Africa spending too much on food imports, saying that currently, the continent was spending 3.5 trillion shillings (about 35 billion U.S. dollars), a situation that he is worried that if left unchecked will surge to 110 U.S. dollars by 2025.
"However, modern technology-driven agriculture that is resilient to climate change, job and wealth creation and health promoting is the cornerstone of the continent's transformation," AfDB says in its latest on food security.
