ABSTRACT
The so-called ‘green revolution’ that resulted in significant increases in agricultural production, was led by the development of high-yielding varieties of maize, wheat and rice, produced largely through conventional breeding. In combination with modern agricultural practices, including use of synthetic agricultural chemicals and fertilizers, world agricultural production doubled. In Western Europe, cereal yields more than doubled in the period from 1960 to 1990. However the green revolution largely bypassed African countries. African production increased over the same period, but this was largely through an increase in area harvested while yield remained static (FAOSTAT, 2015). This was in part because breeding strategies were not focused on Africa’s needs, but also because the strategy of agricultural intensification was not appropriate where population densities were low and/or market infrastructure was poor (Pingali, 2012).
