Agriculture is a crucial
economic activity,
providing employment and livelihoods for many and serving as the basis
for many industries. About 203 million people, or 56.6 percent of the
total labor force, were engaged in agricultural labor in 2002. In most
African countries, agriculture supports the survival and well-being of
up to 70 percent of the population. Thus, for many, their livelihoods
are directly affected by environmental changes, both sudden and gradual,
which impact on agricultural productivity.
Livestock and environmental goods offer some security from such shocks.
About 70 percent of the rural poor in Africa own livestock,
contributing significantly to household and community resilience to
disasters, particularly in arid and semi-arid zones. More than 200
million people rely on their livestock for income (sales of milk, meat,
skins) and draught power. Overall, livestock contributes about 30
percent of the gross value of agricultural production in Africa.
According to the International Livestock Research Centre (ILRI),
opportunities exist to commercialize livestock production to target
regional deficits in livestock products where they can be produced
competitively.
The irony is that, despite the majority of the total labor force working in
agriculture, the region is still unable to feed its growing population. For example, between 20 and 75 percent of the
population in 29 countries in Central, Western, Eastern and
Southern Africa
were reported in 2004 to be undernourished. In the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC), where 75 percent of the total population of 51
million people were reported to be undernourished, 50 percent of infant
mortality is related to malnutrition. Poor nutrition impacts on health,
education and the opportunity to participate fully in community and
public affairs. Most often
women and children carry a disproportionate burden from food insecurity.
Africa spends between US$15 and 20,000 million on food imports annually, in addition to the US$2,000 million it receives in
food aid
annually. These are vast amounts of money that the region can ill
afford to externalize, and which could be used to revitalize
agriculture, particularly the low-input agriculture whose yields are
limited, and thus
increase productivity.
About 70 percent of Africa’s poor, and at least two-thirds of its
population, live in rural areas depending mainly on agriculture and
natural resources for their livelihoods.
Agriculture provides the opportunities to address extreme
poverty in Africa,
where the proportion of people living below the poverty line, of less
than US$1 a day, increased from 47.6 percent in 1985 to 59 percent in
2000. As a result, more and more people in Africa have limited access to
food and other basic amenities such as potable water, minimum health
care and education, effectively limiting the opportunities available to
them. Poverty and nutritional status are closely linked. About 26
percent of the people in Africa – more than 200 million people,
particularly women and children – are undernourished; this is a
reflection of poverty. It deepens other aspects of poverty such as
incapacity to work and resistance to disease. It also affects children’s
mental development and educational achievements.
Agriculture is not limited to subsistence food crops and livestock
production but includes crops grown for sale, such as tobacco, cotton
and flowers. Most agricultural households rely to some extent on sale of
agricultural products. Thus, access to markets, finance and supporting
infrastructure are crucial.
Horticulture,
which includes vegetables, fruits and cut flowers, has become a major
activity. It has grown to be the single largest category in world
agricultural trade, accounting for over 20 percent of such trade in
recent years. While in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), horticultural exports
now exceed US$2,000 million, this is only 4 percent of the global total.
Significant opportunities for expansion, therefore, exist in Africa to
boost employment as well as foreign currency earnings. The challenges
would be to adequately deal with environmental problems, which include
pollution from chemicals.
An opportunity which is yet to be fully exploited is irrigated
agriculture. Only six percent of the total cultivated land is under
irrigation in Africa, compared to 33 percent in Asia. In a region where
droughts are prevalent, often destroying crops and exacerbating food
insecurity, irrigation could be a key factor in enhancing food security.
Irrigation increases yields of most crops by between 100 and 400
percent, and it has been projected that in the next three decades, 70
percent of gains in cereal production globally would be from irrigated
land. According to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), little
progress towards
sustainable development can be achieved until Africa reaches a minimum level of developing and managing
water resources for secure food and agricultural production.
In order to maximize the potential of the
agricultural
sector, institutional and governance reforms which increase
opportunities for rural people, such as better access to finance, and
support the development of small and microenterprises is essential.
Agricultural opportunities are closely linked to global trade policies
and practices.
