The growing rhetoric on the need for African countries including Nigeria to be self sufficient in food production is resonating now more than ever, as the continent’s population grows exponentially with that of Nigeria expected to more than double by 2050, consequently expanding on the responsibilities for the millions of small holder farmers to produce enough to feed the continent.
The Africa Agriculture Status Report which was released at the end of this year’s African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Cote d’Ivoire, emphasised that the power of entrepreneurs and the free market is driving Africa’s economic growth from food production, as businesses wake up to opportunities of a rapidly growing food market in Africa, that may be worth more than $1 trillion each year by 2030 to substitute imports with high value food made in Africa.
The emphasis is however not just on crop production, but involvement of SMEs and other entrepreneurs in developing smart, innovative solutions to provide processing capabilities for the African food market.
“The prospects for African agriculture looks favorable, despite the recent slowing in economic growth across much of the continent mainly due to the sharp drop in the global prices of oil and minerals,” noted Agnes Kalibata, president, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
The AGRF report particularly highlighted that the African food market continues to grow with World Bank estimates showing that it will be worth US$1 trillion by 2030 up from the current US$300 billion. Demand for food is also projected to at least double by 2050.
These trends, combined with the continent’s food import bill, estimated at a staggering US$30–50 billion, indicate that an opportunity exists for smallholder farmers—Africa’s largest entrepreneurs by numbers—who already produce 80% of the food we eat to finally transition their enterprises into thriving businesses
World Population prospects published by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, noted Nigeria’s population, currently the seventh largest in the world, is growing the most rapidly, and it is projected to be 411 million by 2050. Invariably, the amount of food produced as a matter of urgency, will need to start increasing rapidly particularly as the country country’s food import bill (of $22.5 billion according to the ministry of agriculture) is no longer sustainable.
Kabiru Ibrahim, president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria told BusinessDay by phone that presently, Nigeria contributes a lot to the food supply in Africa, and this is expected to grow further with the renewed emphasis on agriculture in the country as a way of deemphasising focus on oil revenue.
“In the next couple of years, and with the interest Nigeria is showing in agriculture, we will be able to feed most of Africa,” said Ibrahim.
Ibrahim also emphasised the importance of government-private sector collaboration in driving, saying; present collaborations between private sector and the government need to be enhanced to create more enabling environment for agriculture to thrive, as well as support through policies that will enable Nigerian smallholder farmers adequately take advantage of the growing food market.
This view was reiterated by Onyeka Akumah, co-founder/ CEO of Farmcrowdy who said in an emailed response to BusinessDay questions that; “government needs to adopt an all-encompassing strategy to making better the business condition for the entire agricultural value chain, that is, from the farm to consumers.
“Some effort has gone into this and we must commend the government’s effort, but there is still work to be done. Championing the agriculture movement must continue from the Head of State to every parastatal involved in making decisions around the nation’s economy.”
Akumah also expressed the view that “there are several sectors in the Agriculture value chain that requires smart-investments from the pre-production, production and post-production stages of producing what we eat. This cuts across input supplies for farmers, extension services, agro-logistics, warehousing, processing, exporting, packaging/marketing, funding and more.
“Every part of the value chain has the potential of becoming a billion-dollar opportunity for not just the Government of Nigeria but the private sector as well,” said Akumah.
He described as Nigeria’s 1st Digital Agriculture Platform focused on connecting farm sponsors with real farmers in order to increase food production while promoting youth participation in Agriculture.
AASR’s report also acknowledged that the private sector holds the key to the transformation of the food system so far. “Impressive value addition and employment is being created by SMEs along value chains in the form of increased agricultural trade, farm servicing, agro processing, urban retailing and food services. Large agribusinesses like seed companies, agro processors and supermarkets are also playing an increasing role in the food value chain in many regions,” said Peter Hazell of IFPRI, the technical director of the report.
CALEB OJEWALE
