West and South African banana crops have approximately one more decade of prosperity.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Climate change is seriously affecting the agriculture in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. According to the researchers, it’s bye-bye bananas if African agriculture isn’t revolutionized and global warming continues to wreak havoc on the planet’s temperatures.
Farmers from the sub-Saharan regions of Africa must take drastic measures soon or else they are going to have to face the fact that they will not be able to grow food on their crops.
A researcher from the CGIAR Agriculture Climate Change Research Program and Food Security, Julian Ramirez, analyzed nine crops from the African region. That is approximately half of the total number of fertile ground crops.
According to his results, more than sixty percent of the beans-producing areas will lose their viability by 2100. The same fate awaits roughly thirty percent of the bananas and maize crops.
Ramirez stated that scientists are aware of the problem, and they have also come up with a solution. And they must implement it as soon as possible because time is ticking and the farmers could lose their only source of income, and a large portion of the population could lose its primary source of food.
Climate change, or global warming, has increased the levels of temperatures. Crops die because the water is even scarcer than it was before. And if the heat continues to rise, farmers will either have to plant millet or sorghum (that are resistant to the drought) or abandon their crops altogether.
Corn, bananas, and beans will no longer be available for farming. And the time is passing rapidly. According to the estimates, the entire banana growing region of West Africa will no longer be viable for farming by 2025.
The estimates are shorter in this region of the continent because the western parts of Africa are the most vulnerable to global warming. These are also the areas that will require the most extreme measures in order to adapt to the changing climate.
The situation is not pretty in the southern parts of the continent, either. It’s bye-bye bananas if African agriculture isn’t revolutionized. The inhabitants of these regions have roughly one more decade before the crops start fading.
According to a statement made by a Leeds University professor, Andy Challinor, farmers will have to learn to be flexible when it comes to agriculture. The key is planning ahead and meeting the changes in climate head-on unless they want to abandon the practice altogether.
Image source: www.wikipedia.org
Tara Hamilton
