With soaring food prices, climate change, and rapid population growth undermining food security in Africa, the continent is in dire need of an agricultural revolution. Fortunately, steps taken by three forward-looking countries show that success is not only possible but well within reach.
The Covid pandemic, compounded by supply-chain disruptions and surging inflation, has highlighted the fragilities of Africa’s food systems, leading to a 60 percent increase in hunger across the continent in 2020 alone. And climate change, which is expected to degrade freshwater ecosystems and arable lands, rendering vast areas of Africa uninhabitable, will only make things worse.
While the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have exacerbated global food insecurity, throwing millions into extreme poverty and reversing decades of progress, the situation is even more dire in lower-income African countries. The continent’s population has reached 1.4 billion and could double by 2050, while agricultural productivity, despite improvement, remains significantly below global benchmarks. This has forced governments to rely more on food imports, pushing up prices.
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What these three countries have in common is a deep understanding of the challenges ahead, a clear vision for meeting them, and a strong commitment to developing the effective governance mechanisms needed to implement solutions. Building on these examples, we have identified four key principles that could help other African countries successfully transform their own agriculture sectors.
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For starters, consistent planning is critical. Governments must establish clear mandates, spell out their priorities, align policies, and mobilise resources. In Rwanda, the PSTA’s mandate was to use market-led growth to overhaul the country’s largely subsistence-based agriculture. In preparing the latest version of its plan, known as PSTA 4, the government worked with development partners to devise a forward-looking strategy that aligned with Rwanda’s commitments under the African Union’s Malabo Declaration and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. PSTA 4 focuses on encouraging private-sector investment and shifting to higher-value agricultural commodities to increase profits and capture productivity gains, in line with the vision that the Rwandan government set out nearly 20 years ago.
Second, to ensure that projects are sustainable over the longer term, policymakers must secure the backing of top political leaders, relevant local governments, and other stakeholders such as development partners and civil-society groups. In Ethiopia, then-Prime Minister Meles Zenawi publicly backed the establishment of the ATA. Subsequent governments have continued to support the plan, even giving the ATA priority access to scarce hard currency to fund imports.
Third, by structuring agricultural plans around a fit-for-purpose organization, governments could create a governance structure that enables skilled staff to work with all stakeholders in leading the transformation effort. The ATA, for example, combines local and international expertise and coordinates with ministries responsible for land, water, agriculture, and industry to develop and implement policy.
Lastly, a results-oriented implementation process could lead to better outcomes. By developing a deep knowledge base of the agricultural sector and then adapting as new data emerge, governments can identify quick wins and programs with high potential for expansion. Morocco, for example, devised specific plans for 16 regions and a roadmap setting out more than 700 projects. To track progress, officials monitored specific performance indicators such as yield and productivity for livestock, poultry, and other sectors.
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Africa, of course, is incredibly diverse. Its countries vary in language, geography, population size, political systems, and economic policies, ruling out a one-size-fits-all approach. But Ethiopia, Morocco and Rwanda, though very different from one another, have managed to improve food security and economic well-being by adhering to the four principles set out here. Their success shows that a sustainable, climate-resilient continent is not only possible but well within reach.—Project Syndicate
