Kyari urges Africa to lead agricultural technology innovation for food security
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has urged African countries to take the lead in developing home-grown agricultural technologies, saying the continent must move beyond adopting innovations from elsewhere if it is to achieve food security and sustainable economic growth.
Kyari made the call on Monday while declaring open the 9th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW) and the 10th General Assembly of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa in Abuja.
He said knowledge had become the most valuable resource in modern agriculture, stressing that Africa’s ability to harness science, technology and innovation would determine the success of its agricultural transformation.
“Knowledge has become the most valuable agricultural resource of the twenty-first century. Our ability to harness this knowledge through science, technology and innovation will determine whether we achieve the agricultural transformation we all seek. Africa must move beyond technology consumption,” Kyari said.
The minister argued that the continent should become a global leader in generating agricultural technologies tailored to its ecological conditions, production systems and development priorities.
“Africa must not simply adopt innovations developed elsewhere. We must become a global leader in generating agricultural technologies that respond to our own ecological realities, production systems and development aspirations,” he added.
Kyari said agriculture remains central to the Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, describing food security as critical to national security, economic prosperity and social stability.
He highlighted ongoing federal government reforms, including investments in irrigation, mechanisation, digital agriculture, agro-industrialisation and agricultural financing, while noting that artificial intelligence, satellite technology, biotechnology, digital platforms and data science would shape the future of African agriculture.
