IRELAND CAN play an important role in tackling the issue of food insecurity by helping develop crops which can survive in some of the world’s poorest regions, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin declared yesterday.
Mr Martin said hunger was a harsh reality for 850 million people, while a further 100 million were at risk of hunger each day because of rocketing food prices.
“We must provide food but we must address the underlying causes of food insecurity and in this context top quality pro-poor agricultural research is critical,” said Mr Martin.
He was speaking at University College Cork where he launched a research programme between UCC’s College of Science, Engineering and Food Science and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture which has its headquarters in Nigeria.
He added that the research programme with UCC would offer some of Ireland’s top scientists the opportunity to apply their expertise to tackle world hunger through invaluable field experience in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr Martin noted that the institute has led the way in anchoring its research and choosing its partners specifically to tackle the needs of poor African farmers. The programme would also allow the tropical agriculture institute to access UCC’s considerable expertise and facilities in crop research.
The institute, which has operations across sub-Saharan African, has been a partner of Irish Aid for many years and has demonstrated an impressive ability to translate scientific solutions into impact on the ground, said Mr Martin.
“Irish Aid has deliberately encouraged the linkages between the international agricultural research institutes it supports and Ireland’s own university research institutes, recognising the potential that exists for exploiting synergies and sharing expertise,” he said.
The director general of the institute, Dr Peter Hartmann, said that the organisation has more than 100 international research scientists in stations across Africa focusing on enhancing food security through developing a range of staple crops of the poor.
“Many of these crops are of little commercial or internationally-traded interest yet are vital for the food security of millions of the poor in Africa and worldwide,” said Dr Hartmann.
“We conduct research on crops such as cowpea, soybean, banana, plaintain, yam, cassava and maize.”
Dr Hartmann welcomed the agreement with UCC.
He said that agricultural research has long been undervalued and was essential to move away from a dependence on large producers like the US and Canada to stabilise food supplies.
