Expanding Africa's Agricultural Infrastructure

There is much potential for growth in African farming, if the appropriate framework can be developed

The story of Africa’s development may be promising, with six of the world’s largest growing economies on the continent, but its Achilles heel is infrastructure investment in the agricultural sector. According to the World Bank, the notion that agricultural development is an integral component and catalyst of broader economic and infrastructure transformation is now widely accepted and is continuously supported by evidence observed in Asia and Latin America over the years. In its report, Fostering Inclusive Outcomes in African Agriculture, the bank finds “cereal yields across sub-Saharan Africa to be significantly lower than the yields of benchmark of comparator early transforming countries from Asia and Latin America”. That is, below half of their potential crop yield.

Africa’s agricultural sector has an extensive socioeconomic footprint. According to McKinsey’s report Winning In African Agriculture, "60% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa" are smallholder farmers that contribute 23% to the region’s GDP. While the potential for growth exists, productivity and agricultural yields on the continent are low. According to the World Bank, most African countries have seen the low levels of productivity and yield gaps that have resulted in low and – in some cases – decreasing levels of competitiveness. Low smallholder yields and returns to labour are primarily due to the lack of use of productivity-enhancing inputs, such as modern seeds and fertilizers, and have important implications for household food security and nutrition. These and other challenges have proved to be the main constraints facing small- and medium-scale farmers, as well as agri-business in Africa.