This has led to the consensus that conventional agriculture does not provide all the solutions to these challenges and there is a need for collaborative agricultural research throughout the agricultural value chain in a bid to strengthen the food system, improve production, enhance food security and improve livelihoods. The virtual meeting dubbed Transforming agricultural research funding towards sustainability, aimed at providing substantial inputs on the status of funding flows to agricultural research in sub-Saharan Africa and how they shape food and farming pathways. Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Biovison Foundation, Dr. Frank Eyhorn said research institutions, government, and donors need to find alternative models to agricultural research especially on funding. Dr. Eyhorn believes that to have sustainable agricultural research we need well-coordinated resources, longer funding cycles, and structured investment in agricultural research. “To contribute towards food security, improve nutrition and improve livelihood maize flour blending with underutilized high-value crops is vital,” said Wambugu.

Source: Standard Digital April 26, 2021 08:48 UTC