Technology in Africa

With global population on the rise, many are looking for answers regarding the ever-increasing demand for the essentials of life. However, Africa is particularly at risk of losing much of it's productivity potential due to climate change in the next fifty years. Some believe that biotechnology can save many African nations from this catastrophe. Experts suggest that farmers use a blend of traditional practices and current technology to maximize efficiency. Suggestions include drip irrigation, conservation tillage, drought-resistant corn and disease-resistant bananas.

The next hurdle is actually getting this technology into the fields of the farmers themselves. Many of the countries in Africa feel that the new technology is unsafe and unregulated. While these same technologies have been used for several years around the world, they still seem unstable when compared to their ancient cultural ways. This fear is also based on a non-existent scientific regulatory system to test and approve such advancements.

I believe that this issue is quite complex and needs to be looked at from a wholistic viewpoint in order to be fully grasped. If technology does enter the picture in a big way, what will happen to the traditional ways of life which have sustained life on the continent for so many years? But the modernization cycle has already begun and in order to keep up with the globalized world, Africans will be forced to give up more and more of their culture. While this technology is not necessarily destructive in itself, it is a further extension of the path of change brought on by outside influences.

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