Giving Compass' Take:

• Homi Kharas and Lorenz Noe explore the challenges that prevent progress to end hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa and how policies can address them.

• How can funders work to make changes that are sustainable and culturally appropriate? 

• Learn more about addressing hunger.

For all the efforts to catalyze a second green revolution using technology, the results for staple crop yields speak for themselves. Sub-Saharan Africa lags far behind the other regions. Not only are yields in Africa the lowest in the world, but they have also had the smallest increases. Unlike in manufacturing, where catch-up technology has helped almost all countries, there are no signs of this happening in agriculture.

Without yields of at least 2 metric tons/hectare, smallholder farmers cannot generate any surplus to reinvest in their lands—they have a hand-to-mouth existence. Sub-Saharan African farmers use just over one-tenth of the average global fertilizer consumption. They face issues of water, with frequent drought and little irrigation. They lack power to till the land and harvest and store crops efficiently. Unless yields can be raised for millions of smallholder farmers on the continent, there will be little hope of making progress on ending hunger. This is why the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with other partners, is doubling down on a new agriculture data initiative to help smallholder farmers in South Asia and Africa, and to focus policymaker attention on their situation.

Read the full article about feeding Sub-Saharan Africa by Homi Kharas and Lorenz Noe at Brookings.