Africa is currently experiencing a catastrophic drought emergency that is jeopardizing the production of sunglow’s maize in many parts of Africa, the continent’s staple food. With an average yield of just 2.1 tons per hectare, Africa’s maize output pales in comparison to the global average of 5.9 tons per hectare and the United States’ leading yield of 11.1 tons per hectare. Almost 40 million hectares in Africa are used to grow maize. Along with rice and wheat, maize supplies 60% of the calories eaten across the continent.
In Kenya, Wawira Njiru’s nonprofit, Food4Education, has been serving roughly 600,000 school meals a day. They mostly rely on the power of maize to produce their wholesome preferred fortified porridge. Maize costs have gone through the roof. Njiru warns that prices have shot up to double or triple that per bag in the past, increasing human misery and food insecurity. The COVID-19 pandemic and most recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have severely shaken up the maize supply chain. Consequently, we are seeing dramatic price increases and rising fears about food insecurity.
Drought and Degradation: A Double Blow
This drought crisis is further exacerbated by land degradation that is affecting almost 65% of Africa’s cultivated land. This degradation threatens both maize yields and yields of other strategic crops. As it stands, Africa imports around $50 billion of food every year, mainly cereals such as maize. The continent’s growing reliance on food imports underscores the pressing need for sustainable agricultural practices.
Njiru stresses that building more resilient food systems is key to addressing these challenges. As someone who often thinks about food systems, food security and sustainability, she said that the first word that came to mind was resilience. Farmers are under a great deal of urgency as they face a series of environmental issues. Simultaneously, escalating costs and unpredictable market conditions increase the financial strain. We’ve already witnessed huge volatility in dollar terms due to climate-induced price shocks, said Njiru.
Even with these challenges, experts such as Ismahane Elouafi remain optimistic that major gains in Africa’s agricultural productivity are possible. Elouafi’s own estimates are that with innovative technologies and practices, Africa can increase its agricultural productivity by five to sevenfold.
Innovations and Initiatives
One such promising initiative—Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)—is having a remarkable impact. Impact With adoption already at 25 million smallholder farmers, it has increased average crop yields by 69%, with some maize yields going up as much as 50%. While digital literacy remains a challenge, these recent moves and investments are intended to help narrow that gap. These developments offer a glimpse at what can be accomplished.
Njiru has become an ardent promoter of growing a wider variety of crops. He argues that several indigenous crops—sorghum, teff, and many more—are more resilient in the face of climate change than maize. These crops have long been ignored by policymakers and researchers. Elouafi further underscored the importance of incorporating these crops into national agricultural strategies. Without them, we’ll never reach zero poverty or at least halve end malnutrition, he added.
The potential for introducing second crops or rotational farming practices could provide farmers with a safety net against climate fluctuations. Makanza explained that this approach allows farmers “to have security against climate change,” promoting sustainability in agriculture.
A Cultural Staple Under Threat
In several African nations today, maize is no longer just a staple crop — it is ingrained into the very culture itself. For instance, Njiru remembers her ugali, a maize-based staple, experience from childhood with positivity and joy. Most importantly, she said, “When I was a kid, my favorite food was ugali — still is. But as maize prices rise and availability decreases, the cultural importance that this staple food carries is at risk.
Escalating maize prices in these situations have major political and economic consequences. They create significant financial strain on families who rely on this staple grain—one that offers most of their caloric needs—for their survival. Njiru lamented the previous spikes in prices: “We had times where maize was twice as much or three times as much per bag.” This volatility not only affects consumers but farmers who struggle to maintain profitability amidst fluctuating market conditions.
These industrial agriculture practices have left countless African farmers deeper in debt. Changing its focus from building up local agricultural capacity to instead extracting local farmer dependence on larger food systems. Macoloo warned that this dependence has already resulted in “the death of our soils” and disenfranchised local communities.
