Experts say farming in Africa needs to be modernized and “transformed” to make it more appealing to young people as a way of life, Reuters reports. According to the FAO, the average age of farmers on the continent is 60, while 60-percent of the population is under 24.
At stake is the continent’s ability to feed itself. “Smallholder farmers produce more than 70 percent of the world’s food and to make sure there are enough of them to feed the growing global population, farming needs a makeover to attract young people,” Reuters says.
David Suttie, a policy analyst at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), told Reuters: “If agriculture is to be attractive it can’t be the same agriculture we’ve seen in previous generations. This means looking at it as a business and investing in modern technologies.”
Suttie and others quoted by Reuters pointed to needed improvements in rural infrastructure, such as reliable supplies of electricity and access to subsidies and credit. Limited access to seeds, fertilizer and other chemicals, and to markets also are problems. And there are land-security issues. If farmers own their land, they have an incentive to invest in it and boost its productivity. But the rights group Landresa says “90 percent of land in rural Africa is not officially registered.”
Aging farmers a problem worldwide. In the U.S., the average age of farmers is 58, and has been steadily rising for years.