In many countries weed control, soil fertility and the lack of effective water management (both drought and flooding) are the most important impediments to farming. Unfortunately, relatively very few agricultural research programs address these issues. Do we need to re-focus our research priorities, in order to achieve higher productivity and sustainability? To be clear, however, I am not implying that current research programs are unimportant. I am just wondering if we hitting the nail on the head here. What do you think?
When I first visited IITA Ibadan in 1973 I was wondering, how the agric. research findings will jump over the 3-m-high fence and how the needs and problems of the surrounding farmers will jump into IITA.
In the meantime a lot has been done ot interlink both parties, but generally agric. research in Sub.Sah. Africa --- like everywhere? --- remains sophisticatedly academic, elite-intellectually, prestigely isolated......and with rather little connections to the basic realities on ground and in remote rural areas.
Many humble researchers have addressed this deficit in the meantime, but a lot more needs to be done to reconcile acute agric. farming needs with research on all levels. Important would be the need that research workers talk systematically and regularly with African farming women, who are the REAL AGRIC-ACTORS ON THE CONTINENT. All research plans and proposals should have a regular feedback-link to the PRODUCERS. There should be no researcher who is not staying at least 1 full day per week on the farms, in the fields....and making his hands a bit dirty. The especially 3 important topics mentioned in the question (soil-fertility, water-managament, weed-control) and most other pressing needs could be be tackled quite quickly with respective adjustments. AND: let us not forget: many topics are already addressed, successfully tackled.....we only need to search carefully and diligently in internet and libraries. RESEARCH-STATUS-CONFERENCES could also be helpful just to compile existing research-findings in a way & system, which fits to the farming-community and extension-services.
Sub-Saharan agricultural productivity growth has been quite slow despite having a number of international organizations doing research for the purpose of improving the situation. Traditional on-station research has had very little impact on the farming communities although a lot of excellent publications have appeared in international refereed journals. The situation is now improving, however, as researchers revisit their research methodologies in sub-Saharan Africa. On-farm research planning and implementation has greatly brought about change among resource-poor farmers who cannot read publications and their extension workers also have no access to international journals in the rural areas. So with the current change in research methodology and outlook, research in sub-Saharan Africa is reaching the smallholder farmers and will no doubt improve the agricultural situation in the near future.
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