Five Big Challenges Facing Africa’s Food Systems

Published on 21st June 2015

Each day – all around the world – farmers face the same common threats to their productivity and livelihood. In Africa, however, the challenges go beyond damaging weather, pests and disease. And, with 80 percent of Africa’s farmers cultivating less than two hectares (five acres), getting to know small-scale farmers is essential to understanding the hurdles facing the continent’s food system.

As Africa’s population grows from 1.1 billion to an estimated 2 billion by 2050, what critical factors will need to be overcome?

1.Critical inputs

Fertilizer costs are a big challenge for African farmers. Fertilizer in some African countries can cost up to 10 times more than in other developing nations. (Source: FAOSTAT 2015)

Farmers at all scales of production need access to the inputs required to produce a successful crop – high-yielding seeds, effective fertilizer and sufficient water. Even when these are available, input pricing is often too high for smallholders – resulting in fertilizer use in Sub-Saharan Africa of just one-tenth the world average.

2. Access to financing

African farmers need access to financing. 70% of Africans work in agriculture, but only 10% of the total portfolios of commercial banks goes to agriculture. (Source: World Bank 2009)

Challenging legal and financial environments are constraining growth in African agriculture. For smallholders, especially, credit is often inaccessible or unaffordable. Without appropriate financing, farmers are not only less able to invest in their operations but also much more vulnerable to market volatility and unpredictable weather.

3. Property rights

Clear land rights are a must for a healthy agriculture sector. Ownership of more than 90 percent of Africa’s rural land is undocumented. (Source: World Bank 2013)

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN, secure land tenure and property rights can drive poverty reduction, rural development and global food security in developing countries. Farmers with clear land ownership are motivated to reinvest in their operations and increase production beyond subsistence farming, selling the surplus. Yet in many parts of Africa, farmers are unable to own their land and pledge it as collateral, limiting their incentive to reinvest in their businesses.

4. Infrastructure for market access

Infrastructure is a crucial element of food systems. 10% improvement in roads, energy, IT and storage could increase developing countries' agriculture exports by 30%. (Source: OECD 2013)

Farmers generally can earn higher prices outside of harvest season – yet few African smallholders have access to proper storage to take advantage of price fluctuations. Furthermore, many smallholders live in isolated, rural areas. Infrastructure like paved roads, reliable energy, warehouses and cold storage not only benefit farmer livelihoods but improve food security by reducing post-harvest loss. According to FAO, 40 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa lives in landlocked countries, versus just 7.5 percent in other developing countries. That means farmers in this region require greater access to primary cross-border markets – access that is made slow and costly by poor roads, long delays at borders and other issues.

5. Off-farm income

Higher incomes for new urban consumers benefits farmers. Farmers benefit when urban workers have higher incomes to purchase food at prices that encourage farmers to produce more.

It may sound counter-intuitive, but off-farm income is critically important to agricultural development. The first migrants from farms to cities often send money back to their family members. Those remittances can fund better farm inputs – seed, fertilizer and machinery, for example. The resulting improvement in productivity enables more people to leave the countryside for cities where their incomes, and their diets, tend to improve – boosting demand and prices for farm output. In short, farmers and farm output benefit when urban workers have incomes sufficient to purchase food at prices that encourage farmers to produce more.

This is one in a series Cargill's posts exploring the food system in Africa in celebration of the institution's 150th anniversary.

Courtesy: Cargill


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