Modernising African agriculture will require policies to boost farm productivity and strengthen the sector’s links with the rest of the economy. To achieve this, African countries must overhaul their land tenure systems and support farmers by making new technologies accessible, reducing business risk and educating them as businesspeople. These reforms could trigger an economic transformation with benefits far beyond the sector, stimulating growth in manufacturing and related services, whilst driving down food prices and raising disposable incomes.
“With a uniquely diverse climate and more than half the world’s uncultivated arable land, Africa has the natural resources to drive a boom in agriculture that can lift millions out of poverty. But we have not yet created the right economic conditions. This excellent report shows how we can do that – and underlines why we must,” said Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General and Chair of the Africa Progress Panel.
Transforming agriculture would enable the continent to feed its own people whilst growing its economies. African countries currently spend $68bn a year on food imports, a figure likely to keep rising. Meanwhile global food demand is forecast to double by 2050, by which time the continent will be home to 1 billion young people.
“This is not just an economic argument. The steps needed to transform Africa’s agriculture make excellent social policies too. Eighty percent of African farmers are small holders and half of those are women. With more secure access to land, they can operate modern farms that produce more, and raise their incomes. These reforms could feed our people and fuel our economies, but we must act quickly,” said Rosine Coulibaly Sori, Finance Minister of Burkina Faso.
Drawing on comprehensive data and analysis from across African economies, the report highlights key opportunities and challenges to reform. Growing private sector involvement in agriculture and developments in technology offer opportunities to rapidly accelerate agricultural transformation, but must be balanced with measures to ensure the benefits are shared and sustainable. Strategic investments and innovative programs from governments are urgently needed to support existing farmers and bring in new investors in agriculture and agri-business.
Key recommendations include:
“This is not just about agriculture. This is about how you transform the whole economy, with agriculture as the catalyst and a driver,” said Yaw Ansu, Chief Economist at ACET, and lead author of the report. “There are lessons to learn from East Asia, but they need to be adapted to the African context, including our historical land ownership system, which is currently acting as a brake on transformation.”
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Contacts:
DC: Dede Amanor-Wilks on damanor-wilks@acetforafrica.org +233 246 050 788; Rob Floyd on rfloyd@acetforafrica.org +001 202.641.0336
London: Oliver Courtney on oliver@digacommunications.com, +44 (0)7815 731 889