During an international online conference on food security and nutrition held at the end of May, Mr. Rémi Nono Womdim, Chief Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to Vietnam said that the world is witnessing high food prices; poverty is returning and worsening in Africa. FAO statistics show that in 2020, there are 282 million food shortages in Africa, increasing of 89 million people compared to 2014 due to a combination of factors such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; conflict and other urgent humanitarian issues; crop and livestock diseases; the impacts of climate change…
Notably, East Africa is currently facing the most severe and increasing drought in the past 40 years. The consequences for African people are more and more serious.
Mr. Kaloyan Kolev, Representative of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF), said that food insecurity is threatening the implementation of Africa's Millennium Development Goals. He also commented: "Vietnam is the model that Africa is learning to develop, especially in the fight against poverty reduction and agricultural development. With the government's policies over the years, nowadays, Vietnam has become one of the major exporters of agricultural products such as rice, pepper, cashew... and there are still many potential areas for cooperation with Africa."
Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan - who was nicknamed "Doctor Rice" for his contributions to the development of the rice industry, was a pioneer in bringing farmers in the Mekong Delta to guide farmers in some African countries through growing rice. He said that in Africa, food lies mainly in the soil, and there are abundant human resources available, especially young people, who just need to be equipped with skills, tools, and technology to produce.
The expert said: "We have transferred many different varieties of rice from Vietnam to some African countries. In Mozambique, local farmers told us that their land had to be abandoned because they did not know how to exploit it. But thanks to the guidance of Vietnamese technicians and experts, they can grow high-yielding rice varieties.
The biggest challenge for agricultural production in Africa is water. Africa has no irrigation system and relies solely on rainwater. In 2012, we went to Cameroon, where a lot of agricultural lands were abandoned because there was no irrigation water. We promised to transfer knowledge and techniques for them to have water for irrigation. Similarly, in Sudan, when there is water, many beautiful varieties of rice can be grown with a yield of 8.5 tons/ha”.
From his trips to Africa, Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan concluded that if taught, African farmers can do very well in agriculture. Unfortunately, he cannot expand such cooperation because there is no mechanism, the prerequisite is political will.
"By using short-term, high-yield rice varieties with irrigation systems, we can completely produce three crops in a year in Africa. This will make a positive contribution to food security in Africa and around the world.
We don't have money to give aid to African countries, but we have transferable experience, technology, and techniques for growing rice. I look forward to international organizations like OIF and others joining hands to support African countries. If there is one more party involved to support Africa, especially in terms of finance, we can completely accomplish all these efforts", Prof. Dr. Vo Tong Xuan concluded.
According to data from the Institute For Africa and Middle East Studies, over the past 20 years, Vietnam has sent more than 2,000 agricultural experts to help African countries grow rice, corn, and fish in the form of tripartite cooperation such as FAO - Africa - Vietnam, IFAD - Africa - Vietnam or JICA - Africa - Vietnam… This achieved certain successes, improving the productivity of rice and fish farming in some African countries.
Thu Phượng
