Australia will pitch in to help farmers in parts of Africa to improve their agricultural practices and increase output.
Senator Bob Carr, Foreign Minister of Australia, announced on Tuesday that Australian International Food Security Centre has established an office in Nairobi, Kenya, reports Bernama. The centre will be involved in reducing countries' reliance on food aid and imports by "building a viable smallholder farming sector."
"Since 2012, Australia has provided more than half a billion dollars to further food security in Africa," said Carr, according to Bernama. "The work of the centre will build on Australia's contribution to food security in Africa by ensuring technology and know-how is put into the hands of smallholder farmers across Africa."
The project will investigate the current practices used in farming and their effects on output, selling of the produce and the use of water. This will help the center figure out which part of Africa requires assistance the most.
Some of the countries benefiting from the new center are Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi and Rwanda, reports Bernama.
Carr believes that the challenges faced by farmers in Australia in trying to turn their dry lands into viable farms will come in handy in Africa. They are more than equipped to help African countries deal with the food shortages which are likely to increase soon, unless steps are taken.
"We have our own history of environmental challenges, insights into irrigation, into how to get the best out of our landscapes, sometimes learned - on this challenging continent - the hard way," Carr told a gathering in Parliament House, according to Nine MSN News.
Food Shortage and Social Unrest in Africa
African countries are at a high risk of civil unrest caused by shortage of food and food price inflation, according to a new Food Security Risk Index by Maplecroft, a risk analysis company.
The report, published Wednesday, states that about 75 percent of the African countries is at "high risk" of seeing civil violence. And nine of the 11 countries at "extreme risk" are in Africa. This list includes Somalia, Congo, Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Countries in the Sahel region, where a drought has been parching the lands for years, are at the epicenter of food insecurity.
"Food price forecasts for 2013 provide a worrying picture," states Maplecroft's Head of Maps and Indices Helen Hodge. "Although a food crisis has not emerged yet, there is potential for food related upheaval across the most vulnerable regions, including sub-Saharan Africa."
The upticks seen in the global food prices will not make the situation any better. The U.N. and several organizations are still trying to raise enough funds to provide aid in these regions.
