Strengthening Africa’s capacity for innovation in animal agriculture: the agriculture–mining conundrum of grass or brass, bread or stones
No hay miniatura disponible
Fecha
Autores
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
Resumen
Descripción
In spite of its abundant mineral resources and the activities
of many mining companies extracting those resources
from only a very small part of the total land area, much
of Africa is still in penury. Animal agriculture is a major
contributor to the economy of many African countries,
especially in the arid and semi-arid areas where it occupies
about 80% of the land. The sector employs some 50%
of the total agricultural labour force, contributes about
10% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and accounts
for 40% of agricultural GDP. An estimated 100 million
people work in the pastoral economy alone. Yet the
livestock sector receives less than 2% of the national
budgetary allocation for development, in spite of facing changing conditions
and needing innovative thinking. African governments need to find the will
to insist that mining companies contribute to country revenues, so that
development of mineral wealth can provide financial resources to support
agricultural development and innovation. Through their sense of corporate
social responsibility mining companies already contribute to improved
infrastructure and local community well-being. African governments
need to adopt an ‘Innovation Platform approach’, to understand how to
use mineral-derived revenue to overcome technological and institutional
constraints in dealing with the ever-changing needs, environments and
advances in agriculture, including the livestock sector, to achieve economic
benefits.