Policy shift needed to tap Africa's farm potential-World Bank
WASHINGTON, March 4 | Mon Mar 4, 2013 9:29am EST
(Reuters) - Africa's agricultural sector could become a $1 trillion industry
by 2030 if governments and the private sector radically rethink policies and
support for farmers, a World Bank report said on Monday.
Africa's food market, currently valued at $313 billion a year, could triple
if farmers modernized their practices and had better access to credit, new
technology, irrigation and fertilizers, according to the new report "Growing
Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness."
The World Bank said African farmers have a unique opportunity to tap into
growing demand from a burgeoning middle class with more expensive tastes, an
expected four-fold increase in urban supermarkets in Africa and higher
commodity prices.
Rice, poultry, dairy, vegetable oils, horticulture, feed grains and
processed foods for local markets were likely to be the most dynamic areas
of agribusiness in Africa, the World Bank said.
Countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Malawi and Zambia were already
tapping buoyant agricultural markets, the Bank said.
"Africa is now at a crossroads, from which it can take concrete steps to
realize its potential or continue to lose competitiveness, missing a major
opportunity for increased growth, employment, and food security," the report
said.
Despite a decade of strong economic growth and a surge in private sector
investment in the region, Africa's share of global agriculture exports has
fallen. Countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and Thailand export more
agriculture products than all of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Bank said.
Meanwhile, the region is home to more than 50 percent of the world's
uncultivated agriculture land, with as much as 450 million hectares that is
not forested, protected or densely populated, the report said.
The Bank said boosting agriculture should become the top priority of
governments so that farmers can take advantage of the increase in global
demand for food and higher prices.
They should also look at ways to boost regional integration to promote more
cross-border food trade by reducing check points, tackling bribery along
main freight corridors, and cutting bureaucratic red tape and transaction
costs. Harvests routinely yield far less than their potential and food is
often spoilt because of poor storage facilities, it added.
But while there is a need to expand agriculture across Africa, the World
Bank warned there needs to be careful analysis and governments should guard
against land grabs for investment.
The 2008-2009 global food price crisis prompted a scramble for land in parts
of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and widespread fears of land grabbing.
Madagascar's president was toppled in 2009 after he negotiated a deal with a
South Korean company to lease half the island's arable land to grow food and
ship it to Asia.
"The challenge is to harness investors' interest in ways that generate jobs,
provide opportunities for smallholders, respect the rights of local
communities, and protect the environment," the report said.
"A key challenge is to curb speculative land investments or acquisitions
that take advantage of weak institutions in African countries or disregard
principles of responsible agricultural investment," it added. (Reporting By
Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
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Received on Mon Mar 04 2013 - 17:15:56 EST
