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AU wants 10% of Covid-19 funds reserved for agricultural research

Africa risks moving ‘from a health crisis to a food crisis’ if it fails to act

The African Union commissioner of rural economy and agriculture has said that a tenth of the resources raised to fight the Covid-19 pandemic on the continent should be ploughed into agricultural research.

Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko made the remarks during a virtual meeting on 20 May featuring various African agriculture development and research organisations. The outcomes of the meeting were released on 25 May.

“I’d like to call for the allocation of at least 10 per cent of the emergency financial resources being mobilised for Covid-19 to support [agricultural] science, technology and innovation in Africa,” Sacko told the meeting.

She warned that the continent risks moving from a “health crisis to a food crisis” if it does not invest in agricultural research before it is too late.

Agricultural research during the pandemic should focus on technical interventions in bulk storage, nutrition, and post-harvest technology, a post-meeting report says.