AATF Inaugural Report - African Agricultural Technology Foundation

A New Bridge to Sustainable Agricultural Development in Africa
of the population – nearly 200 million people
– lack food security (defined as having enough
food to lead healthy and productive lives).
Significant investments in infrastructure and
new agricultural technologies contributed to a
dramatic increase in agricultural productivity
in Asia and Latin America, but investment and
innovation were much more limited in Africa
and agricultural productivity suffered as a result.
Sub-Saharan Africa is in fact the only region in
the developing world in which per capita food
production has actually declined over the past
two decades. Between 1980 and 1995, yields of
staple crops fell by an average of 8% compared
to an increase of 27% in Asia and 12% in Latin
America.
Nearly two-thirds of Africa’s poor people live
in rural areas and depend on agriculture for their
survival. Low and often declining farm-level
productivity is a major cause of persistently low
incomes and hunger. Agricultural science and
improved technologies have, over the past 50
years, made a huge positive impact on poverty
and hunger in the developing world, but mainly
in Asia and Latin America – Africa has yet to
realise anywhere near the full potential that
agricultural science has to offer.
While this potential is very real, neither public
nor privately owned agricultural research and
development organisations can, on their own,
readily exploit it. The top five international life
science companies hold the majority of new agricultural
intellectual property, and have developed
innovative technologies, processes and products
that can be readily adapted to improve the productivity
of African farmers. But they have little
commercial incentive to do so. These companies
are compelled to focus on larger markets, due to
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