By Peter Asare-Nuamah
Di world population don dey grow well-well since di first industrial revolution. By 1950, di world population na 2.5 billion. By November 2022, di global population don reach 8 billion, and dem dey project say e go increase reach about 9.7 billion by 2050 and 10.4 billion by di mid-2080s.
Di fastest population growth dey happen for developing regions, especially for Africa. For 1960, Africa population na 283 million, but now e don reach 1.5 billion. Dem dey project say di continent population go double to about 2.5 billion by 2050. Between 2022 and 2050, more than half of di world population growth go happen for Africa.
Dis population growth dey bring plenty wahala. One of di main challenge na how to feed di growing population. Di global development agenda, like Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), dey focus on how to end hunger and make sure say everybody get food.
Experts dey estimate say di current agriculture and food systems need to double di production capacity by 2050 to fit feed di global population well. Governments and development partners dey find solutions to tackle food insecurity, especially for Africa and other developing regions wey dey face hunger and malnutrition wahala.
For example, Kenya get Food Systems Resilience Program wey dey part of di government Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). Dis program dey help di agricultural sector to dey strong and make sure say food dey available. Rwanda and five other African countries dey run Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) Programme wey dey focus on policies for nutritious food and better agriculture coordination.
For Ghana, di Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme dey help small farmers adapt to climate change by giving dem better seeds, markets, and other farming tools. Di school feeding program for Ghana dey also help children for poor communities get better food.
But climate change dey bring wahala like flood, drought, pests, and land degradation wey dey affect small farmers pass. FAO don project say by 2050, over 90% of di global arable soils fit don spoil. To solve dis problem, di world need to change how agriculture dey work.
Some people dey talk say large-scale industrial agriculture fit be di solution. Dis kind farming dey focus on crops like maize and dey use plenty agrochemicals. E dey increase yield, but e get negative side like pollution, carbon emissions, and soil nutrient loss. Di health risks like food poisoning and di use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) dey also cause debate.
On di other hand, smallholder farmers and traditional farming practices dey help promote sustainable agriculture. Practices like crop rotation, mulching, and using animal manure dey improve soil fertility, reduce erosion, and increase productivity. Dis kind farming dey also help reduce carbon emissions and improve soil health.
But di wahala be say di benefits of traditional farming dey take time to show, so farmers dey prefer quick solutions like agrochemicals. To encourage small farmers, governments fit provide incentives and support like wetin dem dey do for di United States. Dis go help farmers adopt sustainable practices and reduce di use of chemicals.
Governments fit also include traditional farming methods for national policies and educate people about di benefits. Market interventions like buying food from farmers wey dey use eco-friendly methods fit help sustain smallholder agriculture. If di right support dey, smallholder farming fit solve food security and environmental problems.
Di author, Dr. Peter Asare-Nuamah, na Lecturer for di School of Sustainable Development, University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Ghana, and Senior Researcher for di Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany.
