Current Issues in African Agriculture

SECOND TERM: E-LEARNING NOTES

JS3 (BASIC 9)

SUBJECT: AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

Subject : Agricultural Science

Class : Basic 9 JSS 3

Term : Second Term

WEEK 9

Date:……………………………………..

TOPIC: CURRENT ISSUES IN AFRICAN AGRICULTURE

CONTENTS: 1. Food crisis in Africa; Hunger and poverty in Africa;

2. Meeting the challenges of African food crisis:

– Hunger and poverty;

– Newprogrammes in African Agriculture

Sub-Topic 1: THE FOOD CRISIS IN AFRICA

Factors affecting the ways by which farmers produce food in Africa

1 .Poor soil

2. Unfavorable weather conditions.
3. Pests and diseases.

4 .Poor storage facilities.

5 .Poor transportation systems.

6 .Poor marketing systems: Markets are not well developed.

7 .Inadequate loans and credit facilities.

8. Rebels activities and civil wars e. g civil wars in Somalia ,Sudan ,Sierra Leone Cote’ d Ivoire and Republic of Congo.

HUNGER AND POVERTY IN AFRICA

Africa is referred to as a rural continent .Over 70 percent of the labor in Africa engaged in Agricultural activities. This means that most Africans in the rural areas are farmers, but what they produce is not enough to feed all the people in Africa. Survey in 1997-1999 has shown that about 200 million people {28%) of the entire population of Africa are facing serious shortages of food and therefore they are hungry.

Many African governments spend a lot of money to import food from other countries. Also the governments of rich countries such as USA, England, Canada, France, Germany, and Australia help to supply food free to several chronically hungry African countries especially during emergencies such as drought, famine, floods and civil wars.

The major programmes for supplying free food to hungry countries are known as International Food Aid.

Nations World Health Organization (WHO) as part of international humanitarian relief efforts to address North Korea’s chronic food shortages.

Many African countries receive a lot of food aid. The International Food Aid programme is coordinated by the World Food Programme (WFP).In the year 2000, WFP records shows that Africa received 2.8 million tones of international food aid. Also, south of Sahara desert imported 17 million tons of food to feed its people. Africa Heads of States held a world meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa in the year 2000.They signed a declaration called the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).One of the goals unitedly agreed upon which concern agriculture, is that the number of hungry people in Africa must be reduced  by half (50%) by the year 2015.

EVALUATION: 1. Mention factors affecting the ways by which farmers produce food in Africa.

Sub-Topic 2: MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF AFRICAN FOOD CRISIS: HUNGER AND POVERTY;

NEW PROGRAMME IN AFRICAN AGRICULTURE.

Various programmes organized by African countries to improve food production and remove hunger and poverty include the following:

1 New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD)

2 National Poverty Reduction Strategies.

3 The Special Programme for Food Security: It is organized by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations.

4 International Funds for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

5 Science, Information and Communication for Agriculture.

6 Nigeria’s programmes for reducing  hunger and poverty e.g. National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)and States Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS)

CAUSES OF POVERTY

i] Over population.

ii] Unequal distribution of resources.

iii] Inability to meet high standard of living and cost of living.

1. iv) Environmental degradation.
2. v) Inadequate education and employment opportunity.
3. vi) Economic and demographic trend.

vii) Individual responsibility and welfare dependence.

EFFECTS OF POVERTY

-Malnutrition and starvation

-Infectious diseases and exposure to

-Crime and violence

-Mental illness and drug dependence

EVALUATION

1. Mention causes of poverty.
2. Mention four programmes organized by African countries to improve food production.

ASSIGNMENT

Objective Test:

1. The major programme for supplying free food to countries in need is A. Food Aid International B. Food International supply   C. Feeding Aid International   D. International Food Aid   E. Food Aiding International.
2. The abbreviation WFP of United Nations means…… A. World Food Proposal B. World Feed Project   D. Word Food Programme   E. West Food Programme.
3. One major problem in African agriculture is ……. A. no land B. heavy rains   C. poor soil   D. many people   E. no animals.

4 .Food production in some African countries is also seriously affected by……a. too many school books  b. political parties  D. too many farm workers in farms   D. rebels activities and civil wars  E. many persons in the countries

5. In the year 2000,the WFP provided ……… of international food aid to Africa.  A.2.8 million tons  B. 200 million tons  C. 10 million tons D. 2.6 million tons E. 2.8 million kilogrammes.

SCHEME OF WORK

WEEK     TOPIC

1.  Revision of first term work.
2. Cooperatives Societies in Agriculture: (a) Definition of an Agricultural cooperative society (b) Objectives of Agricultural cooperative Society (c) Types of Agricultural Cooperatives  (d) Importance of Cooperative Societies
3. Management of Cooperative Societies in Agriculture: (a) How Cooperatives societies are formed (b) Management of Cooperative societies (c) Qualities of a good cooperative member.
4. Export Promotion in Agriculture: (a) Meaning of export promotion (b) Examples of Nigerian export produce (c) Importance of export promotion

     5.Employment Opportunities in Agriculture : Self-employment in farming, Buying and selling farm produce, processing of farm produce, Paid employment in Government ministries or establishments, in Agro-based industries, in Banks and in Educational industries, etc.