Africa's agrifood systems are facing a crisis and require urgent financial addressing to eliminate hunger and food insecurity, finds a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the African Union Commission (AUC)
The report has highlighted a sharp gap between current public and private financing of agriculture, pointing to the need for substantial and consistent economic support to transform Africa’s agrifood systems. While increased government investments have been observed on agriculture, forestry and fishing in Africa, it still has a long way to go in bringing visible transformation on the face of multiple fiscal pressures on the nation.
External flows such as official development assistance reflected less than 27% allocation to food security and nutrition. Private investment also remains low, with bank credit to agriculture accounting for less than four percent of total credit. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in food and agriculture remains poor, with annual flows hardly crossing US$2bn.
Finance still remains inaccessible for small and medium agricultural enterprises, as their requirements exceed the capacity of microfinance and also falls short for banks.
Titled, Africa Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition, the report foreward read "financing for agrifood system transformation in Africa should provide the financial resources that contribute to the eradication of hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition in all its forms".
“The findings call for urgent actions and increased financing for a sustainable transformation of agrifood systems in Africa.”
The foreward has been penned by FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa Abebe Haile-Gabriel; the Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of ECA Hanan Morsy; the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment of the AUC, H.E Moses Vilakati; and the Assistant Executive Director of WFP Rania Dagash Kamara.
To make meaningful progress, the report calls for a strengthened policy and institutional environment that encourages public-private collaboration and de-risks agrifood investments. It outlines a roadmap that includes enhancing access to affordable credit, building the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises, and leveraging climate finance and blended finance solutions.
Public-private collaboration key to Africa's agrifood systems
Finance still remains inaccessible for small and medium agricultural enterprises. (Image source: FAO)
