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India
& Africa Can
Feed
Entire World:
UNIDO Chief
India-Africa cooperation
in agriculture
has the potential
to feed the entire
world, especially
in the current
global context
of rising prices
and stagnant productivity,
the chief of a
United Nations
agency has said.
"A collaboration
between India
and African countries
can create granaries
for the entire
world," said
Kandeh K. Yumkella,
Director-General
of the United
Nations Industrial
Development Organisation
(UNIDO).
"This is,
indeed, possible.
India has the
capacity and technology
and Africa has
land and labour,"
Yumkella, who
was in New Delhi
recently for an
international
conference on
agro-industries
and its role in
development and
poverty reduction,
said.
According to the
UNIDO Chief, the
Indian green revolution
of the 1970s and
1980s had demonstrated
how technology
can boost productivity
and could push
production of
foodgrain in a
short period of
time.
"But the
huge advances
brought about
by the continuing
green revolution
must be accompanied
by similar advances
in processing
efficiency, reductions
in post-harvest
losses and improvements
in quality levels
of products."
Accordingly, he
said, the importance
of agro-industry
in terms of post-harvest
activities of
processing and
preserving agricultural
products for intermediate
or final consumption
should be self-evident.
"If half
the harvest is
spoilt in transit,
the result will
be gross inefficiency
in processing
and low-quality
products - a socio-economic
and business failure,"
he added.
Speaking about
the current scenario
where world was
facing food shortages
and rising commodity
prices, Yumkella
said the reason
for this was a
sharp decline
in global food
stocks that were
the lowest since
1980.
"One way
to go is to definitely
reduce post-harvest
losses,"
said the former
Trade Minister
of Sierra Leone
and a PhD in agricultural
economics from
the University
of Illinois.
Yumkella, who
is also chairperson
of UN-Energy,
an initiative
of the agency
to address energy
security, said
the UNIDO was
proposing to jointly
host with the
Indian government
a global conference
to address all
concerns in the
area.
"This conference
will see the participation
of as many as
18 UN organisations.
It is proposed
either next year
or in 2010 and
will look at issues
like energy efficiency,
conservation,
new technology,
green energy,"
he said.
The UNIDO chief
also maintained
that there was
also the need
for econometric
modelling to examine
the relationship
between food and
fuels to find
out how much and
how adversely
the land use patterns
were changing.
"There is
a close link between
'energy poverty
and 'income poverty'.
We need to find
that out,"
Yumkella added.
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