North-West University (NWU) Prof Olubukola Oluranti Babalola recently shared her expertise by editing the book, Food Security and Safety: African Perspectives, published by Springer, Cham.
The book offers insight into the lack of enough, safe, and nutritious food in Sub-Saharan Africa, and highlights the constructive efforts being made to address this shortage by using a comprehensive approach.
It provides numerous ways for improving food security, including food fortification, fermentation, genetic alteration, and plant breeding for increased production and disease resistance.
“The continued growth of Africa's human population will result in increasing food demands, and climate change has already impacted food production in most parts of the continent, resulting in drought, reduced crop yields, livestock and income losses,” explains Prof Babalola.
“For Africa to be food-secure and safe, nutritious food must be available, well-distributed, and sufficient to meet people’s food requirements.”
Prof Babalola says the book emphasises the necessity of cleanliness and food safety in food preparation and preservation; the need to capitalise on the promise of underutilised, resilient "smart crops"; and different ways to improve food security.
“In an era of fast climate change, the book addresses concerns specific to the African continent, while also expanding worldwide knowledge on food security, food safety, and food production.”
More about the expert
Prof Babalola is the vice-president of the Organisation for Women in Science for the Developing World, and is a National Research Foundation-rated researcher and established scientist. She is the research director of the NWU’s Food Security and Safety research niche area.
Prof Olubukola Oluranti Babalola
Prof Olubukola Oluranti Babalola edited the book Food Security and Safety: African Perspectives.
