ABOUT

	Women in Africa represent nearly 70 percent of the workforce in agriculture and contribute up to 90 percent of the labour.
	Smallholder farms are family farms that are less than seven acres and form 80 percent of Africa’s farmland. There are 33 million family farms that are under four acres in Africa.
	Foreign investment contracts in Africa account for nearly 50 million acres of land.
	One third of Africa’s food spoils after it is harvested.
	All African countries are signatory to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, where they aim to increase public investment in agriculture by a minimum of 10% of their budgets.

Agribusiness

Africa’s economies have mostly been agrarian-based societies since independence. Despite this fact, only 6% of the continent’s land is arable as there are large deserts in North and Southern Afric. Agriculture contributes two-thirds of the continent’s employment and accounts for 30% of the value of its exports.

Agribusiness in Africa is a chief priority for development because notwithstanding the significant advancements that have been made across the continent in the area of food processing, agriculture in Africa has primarily been restricted to subsistence farming. Although in Southern Africa commercial farms have been established in Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, in most parts of Africa inefficient farming techniques such as slash-and-burn and crop shifting technologies are still predominantly employed.

The communal landholding structures of many communities in Africa also have precluded the aggregation of land for the development of more technology-intensive, higher yield producing farms. Furthermore, without land tenure, very little investment in improved technologies has been made. Many nations on the continent have pursued strategies to increase crop yields amongst smallholder farmers by introducing different varieties of planting materials and seeds, increasing the use of insecticides and mineralized fertilizers and promoting mechanization (tillers, tractors, etc.). However for a variety of reasons (limited initiative because of the relative lack of capital in most countries, inadequate resources to sustain initiatives after they have commenced, lack of maintenance training and support, inconsistent water supply where irrigation systems are not established) these initiatives have not always yielded the intended results. As such, in the areas of small-hold cultivation, where draft power could be used for the spraying of natural or chemical fertilizer or for plowing, in Africa, this is predominantly done by hand.

Animal husbandry is also a very important activity across Africa, but the maximization of using animals to farm is thwarted by the fact that historically cultivating communities in Africa (Kikuyu in Kenya, Hausa in Nigeria) have not lived alongside herdsman (Masai in Kenya, Fulani in Nigeria).

Important agribusiness/ agriculture countries in Africa from the standpoint of the production of export-oriented products include: South Africa (wheat and grains, fruits, beef, beverages), Zimbabwe (tobacco, vegetables), Ghana (cocoa, coffee, rubber), Cote d’Ivoire (cocoa, coffee, rubber), Kenya (tea, coffee, silk, cotton), Uganda (tea, coffee, cut flowers), Madagascar (spices), Mauritius (sugar), Mali (cotton), Egypt (cotton), Namibia (cattle); Botswana (cattle) and Tanzania (tea, coffee)

In terms of local production relative to agriculture and agribusiness activity, Africa produces the big four: grains, corn, wheat and rice in abundance in concentrated regions. Corn is the most widely produced product, being grown in almost all regions of the continent. Egypt and Mauritius are the two countries known to produce the highest yields per acre.

Rice has become a major staple in Africa’s urban areas, and as such demand and production have also risen significantly over the past decade. Millet and sorghum are also produced but principally in the savanna region. Rice production and consumption have become increasingly important and are associated with areas of rapid urbanization. The most important rice-producing countries are located predominantly in West Africa – Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sierra Leone. In other parts of Africa, Egypt, Madagascar, and Tanzania are also important rice producers.

Wheat production has spread across the savanna region of Africa, including parts of northern Nigeria, and is most actively produced in Southern (particularly South Africa) and North Africa and upcountry in Kenya and Ethiopia in Eastern Africa.

Fruits and Vegetables:

Bananas, pineapples, dates, figs, olives, citrus fruits, onions, tomatoes grow in most of the tropical belt that straddles the equator. Key fruit production countries include: Angola, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Dates, figs and olives are predominantly found in Mediterranean-esque climates such as Libya, Tunisia, Sudan and Egypt. Citrus production is greatest along the northern coastal regions in North Africa.

Cassava, Potatoes, Yams, Plantain:

These crops are primarily grown in West Africa but are also found (primarily for consumption purposes in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Madagascar and Ethiopia. In the more moderate climates of North Africa and Southern Africa, tubers are also being grown. Plantain is a popular staple crop produced in the tropical regions of Central and West Africa.

Cocoa and Coffee:

Cocoa is produced primarily in tropical West Africa, particularly Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria produce high volumes of the crop. Coffee is also grown in the Central and East African highlands: Cameroon, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.

Cotton, Sisal and Kenaf:

Fibre products are also important commodities produced for textile manufacturing throughout the continent. Cotton is produced in Mali, Egypt, Zimbabwe, and Sudan. Sisal is used for making string and rope and produced in large quantities in Angola, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa and Tanzania. Kenaf is an excellent fibre from a tree which produces a fibre that can be used to make paper.

Cashews, Coconuts, Kola Nuts, Pam Nuts:

Cashews are produced along the coast of West Africa and in various regions of East Africa, particularly in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, and Tanzania. Coconuts are produced primarily in the Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. Kola Nuts are primarily grown in West Africa, in Ghana, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Palm Nuts are widely produced in the tropical region. The nuts are processed to make oil. Large palm plantations exist in Cote d’Ivoire, Congo and Nigeria.

Sugar Cane and Rubber:

Sugar Cane is grown in many countries across Africa. The leading countries in the commodity are Egypt, South Africa, Mauritius, and Sudan. Rubber is found in a smaller range of countries but predominantly in Liberia and Nigeria.

Cattle, Goats, Ostrich, Poultry and Sheep:

Livestock in Africa is predominantly comprised of cattle, goat, sheep, and poultry. Cattle are primarily raised for their meat and milk, while sheep are raised in Northern and Southern Africa for their wool. South Africa in aggregate produces more than 50% of the continent’s wool.

Poultry:

Poultry production exists almost everywhere on the African continent, although Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Sudan are countries with the greatest level of activity. Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe have a growing contingent of ostrich farmers.

Fish:

Africa has abundant oceanic and freshwater resources. The continent has significant inland waterways and 38 of the continent’s 55 countries have access to the ocean. Fishing is a very important activity all over Africa. Commercial fishing on the continent’s oceans is however not practiced universally. Key countries where fishing forms a prominent part of economic activity include Angola, Ghana, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria and Senegal. Countries with well-developed inland fisheries include Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Malawi, and Uganda.

To stimulate increased value-added production and improvement in the technologies employed in Africa, institutions such as the World Bank and African Development Bank have been introducing the concept of ‘Agro-food Systems Development’ in a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The estimation is that the agribusiness sector (value-added processing of agricultural inputs) in Africa, even at its current, relatively low level, is worth 50% of the overall manufacturing sector in Africa, or 20% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP.

The primary aim of Agro-food Systems Development focuses on the farm auxiliary services. This addresses two main challenges which impede the growth of agriculture on the continent, namely a) the lack of growth in the areas of market access, market development, sector investment and processing capacity, and b) the need for increased productivity via technology transfer, greater access to inputs, research and information.

Given the strong need for food security, job creation, and optimal land utilization, it is forecast that the focus on improving agricultural techniques /technology and agribusiness development plans over the medium to long term can assist with this. Also, by the year 2030. It is estimated that the African agricultural sector will be worth US$1 trillion.

In support of this effort, the African Union Development Agency – NEPAD launched the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). The CAADP was formed in 2003 and was established to address four key issues: 1) land and water management, 2) infrastructure and market access, 3) food supply and hunger reduction; and 4) agricultural research and technology dissemination and adoption. Important partners and stakeholders in the implementation of the CAADP initiative include: the United Nations’ FAO, the World Bank, AfDB, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the World Food Programme.

RELATED INDUSTRIES

Manufacturing

LEADERS

INDUSTRY LEADERS

With its mature commercial farming value chains, deep agribusiness sector, and strong export orientation, South Africa ranks among the continent’s top food producers. Cote d’Ivoire’s place among Africa’s top agribusiness nations stems from its dynamic plantation sectors, including cocoa, coffee, and rubber production. The country accounts for 41% of global cocoa bean production, which is estimated at USD 9.94 billion in 2018. Consolidation, aggregation, and value addition through cooperatives (such as the Githunguri Dairy in Kenya that serves close to 40,000 farmers in East Africa) has helped position Kenya among the top agribusiness leaders on the continent.