Can Africa feed itself?

In 2050, when the population of Africa is two and a half times larger than now, the continent will scarcely be able to grow enough food for its own population. Even if much higher yields are achieved on all current cropland, further expansion into uncultivated areas is likely and very risky due to biodiversity loss and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Based on local data and model calculations, this was the conclusion of a study conducted by a team of researchers from Wageningen University & Research, several African institutes and the University of Nebraska. Their findings were published in the journal PNAS of this week.