Seminar: Prospects for cereal self-sufficiency in sub-Saharan Africa
(& some legacy of the A.T. Larsson visiting professorship)
Date: 9 December 2025
Time: 15:00 - 16:00
Venue: Tammsalen, Ekologicentrum och Zoom
Organiser: Institutionen för växtproduktionsekologi, SLU
Location: Online, Uppsala
Some 54 percent of the world’s population increase until 2050 will occur in sub-Saharan Africa, while the region has also the highest incidence of malnutrition. Its food demand is projected to double between 2020 and 2050. Previous assessments of SSA’s potential to achieve cereal self-sufficiency were pessimistic (Van Ittersum et al., 2016).
In the seminar Martin van Ittersum will show latest developments (between 2010 and 2020) as well as a new outlook for 2050, considering demand changes as well as climate change. Implications for crop nutrient requirements for the sub-continent are also discussed.
The presentation will end will with a different topic: during his A.T. Larsson guest professorship over the past three years (officially ending in December), the Ecological Yield Gap concept was developed. We now got a project funded, with partnerships from Sweden, France and The Netherlands, to further elaborate this concept with experimental and farm data. Martin will summarize the set-up of the project, which is a nice legacy of the Larsson fellowship.