ABSTRACT
The Green Revolution (GR) in Asia was made possible by the availability of high yielding pest and disease resistant varieties of wheat and rice from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (the Spanish acronym for which is CIMMYT) developed by Nobel Prize Laureate Dr Norman Borlaug, demonstrating that research when well-focused does pay major dividends. These improved varieties became catalytic to the Green Revolution, but the overall success was achieved due to increased government funding to agriculture, policy development, peace, security and good governance, increased use of inorganic fertilizers (organics were not sufficient), increased irrigation and mechanization through the use of tractors and improved communication and outreach to all relevant sectors. Currently Africa’s socioeconomic status is similar to where Asia was 50 years ago and Africa truly needs an ‘agricultural revolution’ to drive the growth of its agricultural-based economies, transforming cycles of hunger, malnutrition and poverty to economic prosperity. The growing population and its demands are putting enormous pressure on the environment, causing environmental degradation, deforestation and serious loss to biological diversity, even in centres of genetic origin. In Africa, poverty has become the main cause of environmental degradation. Other challenges in Africa include the high incidence of HIV-AIDS sufferers and orphans that need additional resources for support (Wambugu, 2001).
