Farmerline CEO Alloysius Attah writes that, Africa is a major global ‘breadbasket’ yet is also one of the regions most at risk to food insecurity, with millions undernourished, despite having 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land.
It could, according to McKinsey & Co, increase its production of cereals and grains by a factor of two or three. Over 60% of sub-Saharan Africa’s (SSA) population are smallholder farmers, with many of them at subsistence level. About 23% of SSA’s GDP comes from agriculture, but many parts of its agricultural sector are crying out for the investment that could deliver structural change and massive increases in productivity and income.
Their needs include fertilisers, irrigation systems, mechanised farming tools, storage facilities, agtech solutions and farmers’ marketing co-operatives, as all of these have a role to play in enhancing yields, productivity and increasing farmer income.
