Traditional foods key to Africa’s food crisis solution, says Annan

By Kenneth Oduor,

NAIROBI, Kenya- Former United Nations Secretary General Koffi Annan has faulted claims that Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) were key to solving Africa’s perennial food problems.
Annan said that for Africa to solve its perennial food crisis, it must go back to traditional foods that Africans were used to growing in the past.
The former UN boss further said that the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) of which he is the chairman will put emphasis on the use of traditional crops and foods to solve the continent’s food problems.
“We will not engage in Genetically Modified Organisms. Our focus will mainly be on traditional crops and foods”, said Annan.

Annan was speaking at the Serena Hotel in Nairobi where his organization held a media briefing on agriculture.
The former global leader reiterated the need to put emphasis on quality seeds saying African countries cannot expect quality crops without quality seeds. He urged African governments to take care of their farmers seriously.
“We can’t afford to neglect our farmers. They hold the key to our food progress”, said Annan.

He said the challenges facing agriculture in Africa were too complex to be addressed only by the advocacy for the use of GMOs.
“What contributes to Africa’s food crisis are low prices, poor markets and inadequate infrastructure”, he said.
Saying his organization will neither dictate what each country grows nor put emphasis on GMOs, the former UN boss said, “We will use only the known conventional methods of food production. We can never tell what science will have for us in the next decade. We must be ready to learn and apply new technologies”.

Annan has been in Kenya since last week in a move to popularize the goals of his organization, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.
Also present at the media briefing ceremony were Kenya’s Permanent Secretary for Agriculture Romano Kiome and Dr. Joseph De Vrier, the Director of the Green Revolution for Africa’s seed systems.
The new organization chaired by Annan will have its headquarters in Nairobi.