Sustainable agriculture in Africa: Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) to the rescue

The continued increase in the world's population is expected to make global food availability as one of the major concerns of our future. Nowhere are the concerns greater than in Africa. With a poor economy, the continent is expected to be home to many people in the next few years. Today, agriculture is faced with critical challenges of land degradation, reduced productivity, and susceptibility to abiotic and biotic stresses. To fight this threat, it is crucial to increase agricultural productivity within the next few decades. Given this, agricultural systems that are more sustainable and eco-friendly are being adopted. Recent insight reveals that plant growth-promoting bacteria, especially those residing in the root region (rhizosphere), may play a role in maintaining sustainable agricultural practices. Issues arising from the use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are discussed alongside recent trends in plant microbiome studies. It is envisioned that PGPR will take over the place of synthetic compounds in agriculture, horticulture, silviculture, and approaches in the cleaning up of environmental pollutants. In this review, the roles of PGPR, utilization challenges in Africa and possible solutions are discussed. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of African Institute of Mathematical Sciences / Next Einstein Initiative.