WHAT IS THE FUTURE FOR SMALL FARMS IN AFRICA AND RENEWED ROLE FOR FARMERS?

Mabel Ndakaripa Munyuki-Hungwe (PhD)

Barefoot Education for Afrika Trust

ndakaripahungwe@gmail.com

African smallholders

Africa has shown some impressive growth rate in real GDP (5%)

Growth due to enabling policy and business environment, favourable commodity prices (in some) and improved peace and stability (AfDB, 2013)

Success: central Kenya: coffee, dairy, vegetable; South west Nigeria: tomatoes & peppers; Ghana (Brong-Ahafo) tomatoes achieving higher gross margins from land and labour in commercial enterprises

African smallholder farmers

But this has not translated to jobs, wealth, income growth, poverty reduction & food security needed to transform Africa

388 million Africans still live in poor conditions, 239 million are under nourished and of the 20 least competitive economies, 14 are African (WEF, 2012)

But Africa possesses greatest potential to create wealth and transform especially through agriculture

Africa Real GDP Growth Rates by Sub Region 2000-2060 Source: AfDB Database and Projections

African agriculture

Agriculture still the main stay – employment & livelihoods of many economies

Agriculture contributes to foreign exchange earnings

Investment is therefore crucial African leaders through CAADP have also

in their part placed agriculture on the agenda in development to improve food & nutrition security, increasing incomes in African communities (what is needed is more implementation)

Small holder farmers

Globally there are 450 million smallholder farmers

Africa has about 63 million such farmers Income ranges between $170 -$570 per

annum Many farm on less than 2 hectares Many only market produce within their

locale Less than 10% have entered lucrative

export value chains

But Small farms offers opportunities

Farm size (ha)

% of all farms

Africa

<2 80

2-10 15

10-100 3

>100 0

Can: use land more

efficiently

produce cheaper and more nutritious foods

increase own incomes and productivity

promote equity, hunger, and poverty reduction

Source: Calculations based on most recent data available from FAO Agricultural World Census from late 1980s-2000s

AND average farm size in Africa will continue to decline due to rural population growth therefore: SMALL FARMS HAVE BECOME THE NEW FORCE

FOR AFRICAN AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION

New challenges facing African smallholders

Poor access to inputs (SSA pay high prices for fertilizer hence use less in the world), credit, support services, knowledge to boost production

Smallholders face risks to climate shocks, pest & disease outbreaks, have limited access to risk reduction strategies (safety nets)

Some face poor information, resources and bargaining power

Land scarcity, acquisitions as they compete with the state, multi national corporation, other communities

Challenges & opportunities

Africa increasingly being rapidly urbanised trends show that by 2020-2030 most of Africa will predominantly urbanised (Reardon et al, 2013)

Emergence of an African middle class economy both rural and urban with more non staple foods: wheat, processed foods, milk, meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables

African youths an untapped resource yet 40% of workforce is under 23 years of age (Rukuni, 2013)

Almost every smallholder farmer has a mobile phone

Source: Adapted from Haggblade, 2012

Smallholders opportunities

“Meeting global increases in demand for agricultural products will be difficult without sourcing from African smallholder farmers (GIZ)

Africa has the potential to increase annual agriculture production output from $230 billion to $800 billion by 2030 (McKinsey, 2010)

PPP Partnerships

Mobilizing Private Sector Finance through innovative and targeted Public Private Partnerships is central to unlocking the potential of African Agriculture.

Need for better negotiation skills among African farmers especially farmer organisations

Promote Transformative and Targeted public-private partnerships

innovation –driven

KNOWLEDGE economy

innovation –driven

KNOWLEDGE economy

Innovation & Sophistication factors•Business sophistication•Innovation

Innovation & Sophistication factors•Business sophistication•Innovation

efficiency – driven economy

MANUFACTURING

efficiency – driven economy

MANUFACTURING

Efficiency Enhancers•Technological readiness•Higher education & training•Goods market efficiency•Labour market efficiency•Financial market sophistication•Market size

Efficiency Enhancers•Technological readiness•Higher education & training•Goods market efficiency•Labour market efficiency•Financial market sophistication•Market size

factor driven economy-

AGRICULTURE MINING

factor driven economy-

AGRICULTURE MINING

Basic Requirements•Institutions•Infrastructure•Macroeconomic stability•Health & education

Basic Requirements•Institutions•Infrastructure•Macroeconomic stability•Health & education

The 12 pillars of Competitiveness (Source: World Economic Forum)

New roles for African small farmers Rebuild agriculture production capacity Revamp the agro industry Priority to diversifying into cash and

commercial commodities Target value-chains high end markets Add value locally and own the FARM TO

SUPERMARKET VALUE CHAIN Increase competitiveness of the African

Agricultural Sector from production to manufacturing

Major paradigm shift (transformation) needed More policy/advocacy representation

Prime movers necessary for agricultural development

Human capital development – professional, managerial and technical skills necessary in the sector

Sustained growth of biological capital (improved genetic and crop and animal husbandry) and physical investments in dams, irrigation and roads

Improved performance of institutions (marketing, credit, research, extension and settlements) currently many key agricultural institutions under stress

Favourable economic policy environment and political support for agriculture over long terms (CAADP)

New technology produced by private and public investments in agricultural research

Land/agrarian reform – improved tenure security and wealth creating capacity than before

Thank you! Asante Sana! Merci!