Nairobi, Kenya
February 16, 2007
Source: IRIN News
A drought-tolerant maize seed
has been launched in a bid to boost food security in African
countries.
"Giving more African farmers good seeds that can tolerate
erratic weather patterns and yield [greater] crops will foster
development on the African continent," said Wilfred Mwangi,
project leader with the
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT),
during the launch in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Monday.
The project, which is based at the International Center for
Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) in Nairobi, is working with
other agricultural experts in an effort to supply the new seeds
to farmers in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Benin, Nigeria,
South Africa, Angola, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, according
to Mwangi.
"CIMMYT has been working together with organisations like the
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, other private
and civil society partners, and seed companies to ensure many
more farmers have access to good seeds that yield even under
harsh weather conditions," he said.
Sub-Saharan Africa's recurrent droughts ruin harvests, depriving
people of their livelihood.
"There is no better time to accelerate the development of new
drought-tolerant maize seeds than now as the effects of global
warming become more widely acknowledged," said Daisy Ouya,
CIMMYT's communications officer. The initiative is expected to
boost food security, she said.
The first drought-tolerant, open-pollinated hybrid varieties of
maize and wheat were introduced into eastern and southern
African in 1999.
RELATED RELEASE:
Enhanced,
drought-tolerant maize will give African farmers options, even
with global warming
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