Abstract

Oladele A. Ogunseitan

Can we produce sufficient food to satisfy Africa’s population without incurring irreversible “damage” to the environment? What is the appropriate role of biotechnology in supplementing subsistence agriculture that still dominates food production on the continent? What are the tradeoffs in balancing productivity, technology, and environmental sustainability? These are questions raised by the 2009 World Food Prize awarded to Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia (World Food Prize. 2009 Laureate Gebisa Ejeta. http://www.worldfoodprize.org/press_room/2009/june/ejeta.htm. Accessed on 17 October 2009). Dr. Ejeta was formally recognized on 15th October for his research to produce sorghum hybrids that are drought-resistant, and that survive against the scourge of parasitic witchweed, Striga asiatica. Withweed literally sucks the life out of food crop plants such as sorghum, causing $6 - 7 billion loss in harvests in Africa.