Achieving nutrient security in its entirety continues to be a challenge for of all time increasing population of Africa. A attacks are employed in developing states but with less success due to a figure of factors. this paper examines the causes of nutrient insecurity in African. Scaning through research workers plants. it was noted that over 70 per centum of the nutrient insecure population in africa live in the rural countries. The paper therefore recommends that. if the of all time increasing population of the African states is to be fed. so mechanisation of all agricultural operations should be embracing.

In decision. attempts to words the development of the rural communities in Africa should be increased. Cardinal words: agribusiness. mechanisation. nutrient security. Africa. rural development. Introduction: Agribusiness is the patterns of cultivating the dirt and raising farm animal to bring forth works and animate beings utile to worlds and sometimes animate beings { S. N. Asogwu and O. A Asogwu. 2007 } . Agriculture is an of import business in Nigeria with over 7o % of her population depending on it straight for support.

It provides the majority of employment. income and nutrient for the quickly turning population every bit good as providing natural stuffs for agro-based industries. World current agricultural production as an mean growing rate of 1. 8 % as compared to the 3 % in the sixtiess and hence at a lesser gait than the demographic growing. The universe bank has shown that in sub-saharan Africa ( to which Nigeria belongs ) the one-year nutrient addition needs to make 4 % . i. e. more than double the current figure in order to accomplish nutrient security.

She suggested that this can be reached through a important advancement in works and animate being genteelness that plays a cardinal function in the development of the agricultural sector every bit good as a important impact utilizing appropriate farm mechanisation { Pawlat et Al. 2002 } . Due to figure of factors. which include lifting population. increasing force per unit area on land resources. natural and semisynthetic catastrophes such as drouth. desertification. dirt eroding and debasement ( Raoult-Wack and Bricas. 001 ) . the job of sustainable agricultural production in Nigeria has assumed greater importance than of all time before. Agricultural development involves three attacks viz. bio-chemical. socio-economic. and technology known as the three of engineerings ( Mrema and Odigboh. 1993 ) . The bio-chemical attack includes the development of improved animate being and works species. animate being and works foods ( fertiliser and provender ) and works and animate being protection ( veterinary drugs. pesticides and weedkillers ) .

The socio-economic attack includes fiscal bundles and direction programmes ( economic. concern direction. accounting. sociology. extension services. agricultural machines and equipment ( be they human. animate being or automatically powered ) for production and station crop systems managing and storage systems and farm constructions. eroding control measures. H2O resources development every bit good as irrigation and drainage constructions. meteoric systems. and the engineerings for optimally using the above and their proper and economic usage and direction. Ani and Onwuala. 2002 ; Ampratwum et Al. 2004 ; Onwuala and Pawa. 2004 ) .

Agricultural mechanisation implies the usage of assorted power beginnings and improved farm tools and equipment. with a position to cut down plodding of the human existences and draught animate beings. heighten the cropping strength. preciseness and seasonableness of efficiency of use of assorted harvest inputs and cut down the losingss at different phases of harvest production. The terminal aim of farm mechanisation is to heighten the overall productiveness and production with the lowest cost of production.

The part of agricultural mechanisation has been good recognized in heightening the production together with irrigation. biological and chemical inputs of high giving seed assortments. fertilisers. pesticides and mechanical energy. Different research workers have concluded that farm mechanisation enhances the production and productiveness of different harvests due to timeliness of operation. better quality of operations and preciseness in the application of the inputs.

Harmonizing to NCAER ( 1980 ) study covering 815 farming families in 85 small towns. the addition was 72 per centum in the instance of sorghum. and 7 per centum in the instance of cotton as compared to traditional bullock farms. ITES. Madras ( 1975 ) found that the productiveness addition on tractor owning and engaging farm ranged between 4. 1 and 54. 8 per centum. The per centum addition was relatively low on usage engaging farms as compared to tractor-owning farms due to higher degree of inputs and better control on seasonableness of operations. These productiveness additions. therefore. were attributed to higher doses of fertiliser. irrigation and mechanisation.

Degree of mechanisation is the ration of machine or technological work input to entire work input ( machine plus manual ) into agricultural production. The importance of nutrient security to any state can non be over emphatic. The issue of nutrient security became outstanding in the 1970s and had been given considerable attending since so. The World Food Programme Report in 1979 conceptualized nutrient security. comparing it with an “assurance of supplies and a balanced supply-demand state of affairs of staple nutrients in the international market” .

The study besides emphasized that increasing nutrient production in the development states is a Panacea to nutrient security. The construct of nutrient security proposes that nutrient is available. accessible and low-cost. when and where needed in sufficient measure and that this province of matter will go on and be sustained ( Agboola. P. O. . 2002 ) . It is a state of affairs in which sufficient nutrient us available at all times in the right measure and quality. at low-cost procedure.

To carry through this. we must hold a production system that produces adequate nutrient in the short tally. sustainable in the long tally and does non put undue hazards on agricultural manufacturers and must react quickly to breaks in the nutrient supply due to disease epidemics. natural catastrophes. civil perturbations. environmental instabilities and other cause ( Agboola P. O. 2002 ) . With these aims in head. assorted attempts at the international. national and local degrees had been put in topographic point at one point in clip or another to hike agricultural production to do nutrient available to the teaming population and the ever-increasing universe population.

The universe population. The universe population detonation witnessed as at the terminal of 1999. further increased the fright of those concerned about universe nutrient security. During this period. the planetary population exceeded 6 billion. Leisinger. ( 2002 ) . stated that ne’er before in human history had the population of the Earth been every bit great as it is today. and ne’er earlier had it grown so quickly within one century. He stated further that the doubling of universe population over the past 40years had put tremendous force per unit area on the natural systems that support all life on Earth.

This force per unit area on natural resources besides increased the load of guaranting nutrient security for the full world’s people international Food Policy Research Institute ( IFPRI. 2001 ) stated in one of her studies. that about 73 1000000s people would be added to world’s population every twelvemonth between 1995 and 2010 increasing it by 32 per centum to make 7. 5 billion. However. much of this population growing is expected to happen in the underdeveloped universe. If this anticipation is to travel by. so the nutrient security state of affairs of the underdeveloped universe needs changeless appraisal via empirical research.

Joachim et depal ( 2004 ) . wrote that these was a strong direct relationship between agricultural productiveness. hungriness and poorness. He stated further that three one-fourth of the world’s hapless people lived in rural countries and made their life from agribusiness. He hence. concluded that the higher the proportion of the rural population that obtained its benefits from subsistence agriculture ( without the benefit of pro hapless engineerings and entree to markets ) the higher the incidence of nutrient insecurity.

Challenges to Food Security in Africa The root cause of nutrient insecurity in developing states is the inability of people to derive entree to nutrient due to poverty. While the remainder of the universe has made important advancement towards poorness relief. Africa. in peculiar Sub-Saharan Africa. continues to dawdle behind. Projections show that there will be an addition in this inclination unless preventative steps are taken.

Many factors have contributed to this inclination including the high prevalence of HIV/AID ; civil war. strive and hapless administration ; frequent drouth and dearth ; and agricultural dependence on the clime and environment. Food security on the continent has worsened since 1970 and the proportion of the malnourished population has remained within the 33 and 35 per centum scope in Sub-Saharan Africa. The prevalence of malnutrition within the continent varies by part. It is lowest in Northern Africa ( 4 per centum ) and highest in Central Africa ( 40 per centum )

Over 70 per centum of the nutrient insecure population in Africa lives in the rural countries. Figure 1 shows the distribution of nutrient insecurity in Africa. Ironically. smallholder husbandmans. the manufacturers of over 90 per centum of the continent’s nutrient supply. do up the bulk ( 50 per centum ) of this population. The remainder of the nutrient insecure population consists of the landless hapless in rural countries ( 30 per centum ) and the urban hapless. Throughout the underdeveloped universe. agribusiness histories for around 9 per centum of the GDP and more than half of entire employment.

In states where more than 34 per centum of the population is ill-fed. agribusiness represents 30 per centum of GDP and about 70 per centum of population relies on agribusiness for their support. This fact has in the past been used in support of the statement as to why developing states should travel off from agribusiness and put in engineering. Because over 70 per centum of the hapless unrecorded in rural countries. where besides the largest proportion of the nutrient insecure live. it is apparent that ; we can non significantly and sustainably cut down nutrient insecurity without transforming the life conditions in these countries.

The cardinal prevarications in increasing the agricultural profitableness of smallholder husbandmans and making rural off-farm employment chances. The aim of this paper is to h8ighlight the challenges to nutrient security in Africa while supplying alternate solutions to the job that would non merely let for poorness relief but besides wealth creative activity. While the focal point of this paper is in relieving nutrient insecurity in the rural countries. attempt has been made to turn to the predicament of the urban hapless.