Building Capacities Towards Sustainable Agriculture: Harnessing Technology and Science
On this World Hunger Day Wednesday, May 28, 2025, the West African Centre for Water, Irrigation and Sustainable Agriculture (WACWISA) joins hands with global and local partners to reflect on the urgent need to eliminate hunger and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over 820 million people worldwide suffer from hunger, with Africa being the most affected region. Therefore, at a time when millions in Africa, West Africa and elsewhere globally, face food insecurity driven by climate change, environmental degradation, lower levels of technology and development, and systemic poverty, we are reminded that hunger is both a consequence and a cause of underdevelopment. In Ghana, despite the nation being largely an agricultural economy, food insecurity persists due to post-harvest losses, irrigation challenges, poor transport and agricultural infrastructure, limited access to markets amongst others. Addressing this food insecurity and hunger risks demands bold, context-specific, and sustainable solutions necessary to propel the agricultural sectors’ growth and increase food security.
WACWISA as a Centre of Excellence, at the University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana, operates within a University whose mandate is rooted in practical, community-oriented education, research for development, and serving marginalized and rural populations. Guided by this mission, WACWISA staff positions its research, training, and outreach to respond directly to the region’s agricultural water and food challenges. WACWISA has responded to this call of ending hunger through its core themes of research and mandate through its research focus which revolves around irrigation and drainage systems, water resources management, sustainable agriculture, climate change, food and nutritional security.
WACWISA’s recent achievements strongly reflect this commitment as it has trained several professionals in the African region with the requisite skills in agricultural water management and its thematic areas aimed at contributing to promoting food security and ending hunger. Through a suite of graduate and professional training programmes, the Centre has supported the capacity building of early-career researchers, agricultural engineers, and practitioners from across Africa region in several areas. Through practical tailor-made trainings, WACWISA has enhanced the capacities of entrepreneurs, industry players, academicians and technicians in climate smart technologies, clean energy for agriculture, field water management technologies and sustainable agriculture as a contribution towards achieving food security and improved nutrition for the region.
These interventions have improved crop yields, strengthened resilience to climate variability, and bridged the gap between academia and industry through innovation-focused partnerships and field demonstrations.
Through interdisciplinary action and strategic partnerships, WACWISA has committed to:
- Advancing climate-resilient irrigation systems and water-smart agriculture to support sustainable food production.
- Promoting inclusive agricultural innovation that empowers smallholder farmers, especially women and youth.
- Supporting evidence-based policy development for food and water security across Africa.
- Strengthening human and institutional capacity to address the root causes of hunger with local solutions.
Today, World Hunger Day reminds us that ending hunger is possible with the right strategies and collective effort and WACWISA is at the forefront of this fight, driving sustainable agricultural development in Africa and contributing significantly to food security and poverty reduction nationally and in the Africa region.
On this World Hunger Day, together at WACWISA, we call for renewed political will, sustained investment, and collaborative partnerships to transform the future of food and nutrition in the Africa continent.
Let us remember: the fight against hunger is not only a humanitarian obligation but a foundation for peace, prosperity, and sustainable development.
It is time to join hands to build a world free of hunger through establishing the fundamental partnerships and taking the right decisions at all levels to END HUNGER! (Click to Download Statement)
By:
Ing. Prof. Felix K. Abagale (PhD)
Director, West African Centre for Water, Irrigation and Sustainable Agriculture
University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana
Email: fabagale@uds.edu.gh
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