The Agrifood system describes the entire process of production, storage, aggregation, distribution and consumption of food. Often, agrifood is used interchangeably with agriculture, but in the real sense, they are not the same thing because agricultural products are not food until someone can eat them. In Africa, agriculture is the primary source of income, providing about 60 per cent of the total jobs on the continent. However, the challenge is to revitalise the sector and become more economically viable to cater to the growing population’s nutritional needs. This article highlights some of the developments, innovations and technologies deployed to achieve a sustainable agrifood system in the continent and what local and international stakeholders can do to improve the sector in the coming years.
Development of Agrifood systems
The African agricultural sector witnessed a substantial growth of 4.1% between 2000 and 2020. In comparison, within the same time frame, South Asia, Latin America, and East Asia only grew at 3.0%, 2.6% and 3.5%, respectively. Adopting the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in 2015 significantly contributed to this growth in Africa. To accelerate the drive to fulfil SDG 2 – ending hunger and promoting food security – many international actors are investing financially in enabling capacity-building programs for African farmers. There are also investments in innovation and science that foster the development of African agri-food systems. For example, the World Bank-funded One Million Farmers platform in Kenya has served 1.3 million farmers, including 50,000 farmer groups and 500 farmer producer organizations across 19 value chains in 45 rural counties in Kenya. This is done through the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture and the National Agriculture Inclusive Growth Projects. Also, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) formed a partnership on a Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to develop and implement agrifood investment operations across Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Niger and Senegal between 2019 to 2021. Although the African agrifood sector significantly grew between 2000 to 2020 in comparison with other continents around the world, data tells us that the contribution of agrifood to Africa’s GDP specifically dropped from 24% in 2015 to 23% in 2020. Interestingly, this showed that the huge investments that the SDGs ushered into the African agrifood sector in 2015 did not have a corresponding impact on the contributions of the agrifood sector to the continent’s GDP. Whilst we can easily attribute this decline to the outbreak of COVID in 2019, there is more.
According to McKinsey, out of 44 countries in Sub-saharan Africa, only nine countries make up 60% of the total agrifood potential, with three countries—Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Tanzania—comprising half. This implies that not all African countries are able to meet the increasing demands of food insecurity in Africa. Hence, investors and international actors need to strategically invest in African countries that account for a significant portion of agrifood potential in the continent or possess qualities that would aid high returns in agrifood investment. For example, South Africa has the most significant agricultural land area in Africa- corresponding to 96 million hectares. Yet, it records one of the lowest percentages of the GDP generated by the agrifood sector because of challenges regarding land governance in the communal areas, poor infrastructure, lack of access to finance, etc.
Innovations in Agrifood systems management
In addition to strategic investment in countries with significant agrifood potential, agrifood innovation and problem-solving in Africa requires a localized approach that suits the specific needs of each country, as opposed to a one size fits all approach. For example, in Ethiopia, agrifood accounts for 40% of the GDP, 80% of exports, and an estimated 75% of the country’s workforce. Yet, only 5% of the land is irrigated. Also, in Tanzania, agrifood accounts for nearly 30% of the GDP, and employs 75% of the population; but farmers have limited access to enabling infrastructures. While an innovative irrigation system would significantly improve the agrifood system in Ethiopia, adopting the same innovative approach in Tanzania would not solve the infrastructural problem it faces. Hence, the need for a localized approach in African agrifood innovations and problem-solving. Furthermore, agrifood innovation transcends infrastructure innovation and the hybridisation of crops. Research has shown that the growth of agrifood systems in Africa is hinged on three innovative approaches – enabling policies and regulations, enabling environment, and improved input adoption. Ethiopia’s agrifood sector is projected to grow at 6.2% per annum over the next ten years by enacting a comprehensive irrigation law. Also, South African farmers can contribute enormously to the continent’s GDP if provided with an enabling environment – infrastructures, markets, policies etc.
Technological Innovations in the Agrifood system and their benefits to the sector
The African agritech sector has made remarkable progress over the past few years. Reports shows that African agrifood tech startups raised US$482.3 million in 2021, representing a 250% increase from the $185 million that was raised in 2020. Pan-African VC Launch Africa was the most active agrifood tech investor in 2021, followed by Y Combinator and Techstars, alongside Flat6Labs Cairo, LoftyInc Capital Management, DFS Lab, Kepple Africa Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Village Capital and 10 FJ Labs, among others. The importance of supporting innovations and growth in the African agritech space is not far-fetched – Foreign-made farm technologies are unaffordable for small-scale farmers and cumbersome for large-scale farmers. In addition, Africa is projected to house 2.5 billion people by 2050 according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, hence we need to enhance productivity and efficiency in the agrifood sector by leveraging technology to avoid mass hunger.
However, the availability of agritech products in Africa does not automatically guarantee adoption by the farmers. Only 23% of youth farmers across Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Senegal, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe utilize agritech in the form of SMS, Apps, Website, and Software. While Ghana, Senegal and Zambia have the lowest Agritech adoption rate, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Nigeria have the highest adoption rate. Also, according to Goedde et al, 2021, most agridigital technology (applications) in sub-Saharan Africa have less than 30% active users because of low-level e-literacy and digital skills, high cost of technology, poor technological infrastructure etc. Thus, agritech companies need to supplement their innovations with some physical, in-person support or training for African farmers on how to use these technologies – a classic example is the Kenya-based Shemba Shape-Up agriculture knowledge-sharing program. It is also imperative to provide affordable technological infrastructure for African farmers.
According to this data, investors and international actors should invest more in countries with greater agrifood potential on the continent. Evidence also suggests that some African countries outside this list can do better given the proper investment in technology, human capital and infrastructure.
About the Author(s)
Olayide Oyeleke is an associate at The AR Initiative; where Dr Emma Etim is the Head of Research.
