Call for action

The Africa We Want

By Abdelmonem Fawzi

Isaac Newton is one of the world’s greatest mathematicians. Newton’s first formulation, “bodies that are not pushed tend to rest, unless they are acted upon by a force”, is the painful reality of our dark continent. We can only add that those who do not move forward will inevitably go back.

Africa is the richest continent on the planet, being home to 60% of the world’s agricultural land. The continent’s agricultural sector accounts for about 35% of its gross domestic product. It provides livelihood for more than 50% of the continent’s population. This is more than double of the world average and much higher than in any other emerging region.

Nevertheless, Africa’s agricultural sector is the world’s least developed, with the lowest levels of labour and land productivity. Value addition per worker in agriculture is about a quarter of the world’s average and less than a fifth of China’s.

While Africa was once a major exporter of food, it is now a major food importer. Most African countries export commodities and raw materials and import finished goods.

Average farm machinery use in Africa is the lowest in the world and has increased only very slightly since the 1960s. Ghana, for example, exports cocoa and imports high value-added chocolate. Kenya exports tea leaves and imports expensive branded tea.

Africa has abundant land. Agribusiness might be its foremost source of comparative advantage. The continent’s land size is larger than China; India; the US, and most of Europe combined.

Africa’s dependence on imports for its consumption is the highest in the world as a share of its GDP. The development of agribusiness is fundamental for Africa’s ability to ensure food security.

Upgrading to activities that add more value in agriculture often requires less advanced technology than in manufacturing industries. Compare the technology of producing spare parts for the automobile industry with that needed to produce tea bags.

The African Union Commission’s Rural Development Division (RDD), in consultation with key partners, has planned to organise the African Youth in Agribusiness Forum (AYAF).

The forum will be held under the theme, From Policy Commitments to Action: Shaping the Future of Agribusiness Together. It will be a unique opportunity to bring the knowledge and experience of young agribusiness practitioners to the forefront in fostering agribusiness growth.

The AYAF will become an annual event. It is an initiative under the partnership of the African Union Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (AUC ARBE) and the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), which established the joint African Union Agricultural Policy Dialogue (APD). AYAF’s implementation is supported by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and works in partnership with the UNIDO World Without Hunger conference.

AYAF will create a space that brings together young agribusiness practitioners, decision-makers of various levels, representatives from the investment sector, diverse experts and interested stakeholders, to work on the field between agribusiness policy and implementation.

A special focus is given to the African Agribusiness Youth Strategy (AAYS), while recognising the relevance of other closely linked continental policy frameworks.

By harnessing the voices and experiences of young agribusiness practitioners and linking them to relevant policy levels, AYAF will showcase how opportunities for a strong youth in agribusiness sector may be seized through enhanced cognizance, collaboration and synergetic action of the private sector and policymakers.

The results of this process will be captured in an African Youth in Agribusiness “Call for Action” by young agripreneurs. 

This Call for Action will outline strategies, action points, and self- commitments that contribute to actualising the AU youth in agribusiness objectives through a strong collaboration of all relevant actors.

The Call will highlight areas of intervention and measures of high potential to deliver significant results, including links to current efforts by AU member states to improve business frameworks through continental policies and implementation.

The Forum is scheduled for next Monday and will take place at the AU headquarters. It will be preceded by four online consultations involving youth groups, agripreneurs and youth in agribusiness networks. It will also harness synergies in sync with the AUC-FAO regional consultations of the AAYS, as well as the UNIDO conference “World Without Hunger” Conference which is planned to take place from 5 to 7 November.

The objective will be to highlight how youth agripreneurs can address nutrition and gender inclusivity while serving as entrepreneurial leaders within their communities and being actively involved in the African agribusiness sector that is projected to become a trillion-dollar sector by 2030.

This Forum will give over 180 innovative youth practical agribusiness experience opportunities to get involved in entrepreneurship as an alternative option.

However, these young people, especially those from developing African economies, face a daunting task as they are not equipped with the requisite entrepreneurial skills and fundamental knowledge to establish a venture or grow an already established business.

Thus, it is important to understand how experiential learning – the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience – enhances young people’s entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

It remains to be said that the development of the agribusiness sector holds enormous potential to foster Africa’s economic development. For this to happen, the productivity of Africa’s agribusiness must rise.

Agribusiness offers African countries the most promising path for development and a shift towards higher value-added activities.