Israel Africa | Business Guide | 2020

Sowing the Seeds of Cooperation Israeli Agriculture in Africa has come a long way since the first drip irrigation systems were installed By Ori Nadav F amine is the most damaging aspect of Africa’s agriculture and food production scene, but a hungry population is only one side of the story: it usually starts with locusts. Locusts are the main reason why over 42 million Africans are in clear and present danger of hunger – fromUganda toRuanda, Burundi, andCongo, going east to Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. The locust threatens nutritional security. A small flock of locusts consumes the amount of food that 25 thousand people may consume. Political tensions between some countries make it harder to maintain bilateral cooperation in this matter. The worst locust attacks were recorded in Eastern Africa and severely affected countries like Somalia and Kenya. The locust disaster is a direct result of climatic changes caused by global warming. Following eight cyclonic storms in East Africa in recent years, the increasedwater temperature and accelerated evaporation in the Indian Ocean brought in much heavier precipitation. Most of Africa's agricultural land is endangered due to one simple reason: over-use. Rapid population growth does not allow farmers to let the earth have a rest and rejuvenate every few years, which means that every square cm of soil is used intensively, making the crops less rich in nutrition each year. Sustainability then is a distant ideal; even illegal hunting of wild animals causes changes for the worse in the ecosystem. Over 40 million Africans are trying to live off lands of deteriorating quality, and these people are in danger of Israel Africa > Business Guide > 2020 24 > Agriculture > Sector Review