NDIKO LUDIDI: SOYBEAN CAN STILL BE A VALUABLE PROTEIN SOURCE FOR THE RURAL POOR
Soybeans can help combat Africa's agriculture and food security woes... 5 MARCH 2020 Today, some 87% of global soybean production is converted into animal feed and soy oil, while the rest is consumed by humans as a protein source and used for other industrial applications; that offers major opportunities for both farmers and the food-insecure in Africa , according to writers at Plant, Cell & Environment. But there will be substantial hurdles to clear. Smallholder farmers, who produce 70% of food in Africa, are constrained by their lack of resources and new technologies. Economic returns on their crops are poor. They constantly face a trade-off between growing subsistence crops and crops for cash. They very rarely manage to achieve the legume yields they theoretically should. Training and finance are hard to come by. In addition, many are beset by issues of soil quality, water availability, market access and land tenure, among other troubles. "Within that conte...