Africa Can Feed Itself, Earn Billions, and Avoid Food Crises
by Unblocking Regional Food Trade WASHINGTON, October 24,
2012 A new World Bank report says that Africas farmers can
potentially grow enough food to feed the continent and avert
future food crises if countries remove cross-border
restrictions on the food trade within the region. According
to the Bank, the continent would also generate an extra US
$20 billion in yearly earnings if African leaders can agree
to dismantle trade barriers that blunt more regional
dynamism. The report was released on the eve of an African
Union (AU) ministerial summit in Addis Ababa on agriculture
and trade. With as many as 19 million people living with
the threat of hunger and malnutrition in West Africas Sahel
region, the Bank report urges African leaders to improve
trade so that food can move more freely between countries
and from fertile areas to those where communities are
suffering food shortages. The World Bank expects demand for
food in Africa to double by the year 2020 as people
increasingly leave the countryside and move to the
continents cities. According to the new reportAfrica
Can Help Feed Africa: Removing barriers to regional trade in
food staples  rapid urbanization will challenge the ability
of farmers to ship their cereals and other foods to
consumers when the nearest trade market is just across a
national border. Countries south of the Sahara, for example,
could significantly boost their food trade over the next
several years to manage the deadly impact of worsening
drought, rising food prices, rapid population growth, and
volatile weather patterns. With many African farmers
effectively cut off from the high-yield seeds, and the
affordable fertilizers and pesticides needed to expand their
crop production, the continent has turned to foreign imports
to meet its growing needs in staple foods. Africa has the
ability to grow and deliver good quality food to put on the
dinner tables of the continents families, said Makhtar
Diop, World Bank Vice President for Africa. However, this
potential is not being realized because farmers face more
trade barriers in getting their food to market than anywhere
else in the world. Too often borders get in the way of
getting food to homes and communities which are struggling
with too little to eat. The new report suggests that if
the continents leaders can embrace more dynamic
inter-regional trade, Africas farmers, the majority of whom
are women, could potentially meet the continents rising
demand and benefit from a major growth opportunity. It would
also create more jobs in services such as distribution,
while reducing poverty and cutting back on expensive food
imports. Africas production of staple foods is worth at
least US$50 billion a year. Moreover, the new report notes
that only five percent of all cereals imported by African
countries come from other African countries while huge
tracts of fertile land, around 400 million hectares, remain
uncultivated and yields remain a fraction of those obtained
by farmers elsewhere in the world. Poor roads and high
transport costs blunt progress Transport cartels are still
common across Africa, and the incentives to invest in modern
trucks and logistics are weak. The World Bank report
suggests that countries in West Africa in particular could
halve their transport costs within 10 years if they adopted
policy reforms that spurred more competition within the
region. Unpredictable trade policies a liability Other
obstacles to greater African trade in food staples include
export and import bans, variable import tariffs and quotas,
restrictive rules of origin, and price controls. Often
devised with little public scrutiny, these policies are then
poorly communicated to traders and officials. This process
in turn promotes confusion at border crossings, limits
greater regional trade, creates uncertain market conditions,
and contributes to food price volatility. Establishing a
competitive market will enhance food distribution networks
A competitive food market will help poor people most, the
report notes. For example, poor people in the slums of
Nairobi pay more for their maize, rice, and other staple
food than wealthy people pay for the same products in local
supermarkets. The report underlines the importance of food
distribution networks which in many countries fail to
benefit poor farmers and poor consumers. The key
challenge for the continent is how to create a competitive
environment in which governments embrace credible and stable
policies that encourage private investors and businesses to
boost food production across the region, so that farmers get
the capital, the seeds, and the machinery they need to
become more efficient, and families get enough good food at
the right price. said Paul Brenton, World Banks Lead
Economist for Africa and principal author of the report.
World Bank Group support for trade and agriculture in
sub-Saharan Africa The World Bank is recognized as a key
source of knowledge on trade policy issues, analysis and
investments for trade-related infrastructure at the country
level. The institutions agriculture support for Africa has
grown significantly over the past decade. Concessional
lending totaled US$1.07 billion in Fiscal year 12 (July
11-June 12): a fourfold increase from FY03. The share of
trade-related lending in total Bank lending has also grown
from an average of two percent in FY03 to five percent in
FY12. New trade-related commitments in FY13 are expected to
increase to US$3 billion, 70 percent of which will go to
Africa. Since 2008, World Bank Group lending for
agriculture and related sectors in sub-Saharan Africa total
approximately US$5.4 billion.