Resource Magazine November/December 2021: The Alliance For Modernizing African Agrifood Systems

Margaret Gitau, Senorpe Asem-Hiablie, Klein Ileleji, Ajit Srivastava 2021-11-02 20:36:52

Africa’s population is expected to grow from close to 1.3 billion to more than 2.5 billion by 2050, almost a 100% increase. Another global trend affecting Africa is rapid urbanization and growth of the middle class. An anticipated 70% of the global population will achieve middle class status due to growth in the global economy, and a similar trend is expected for Africa, with nearly 60% of Africa’s population projected to be living in urban population centers.

According to the Global Harvest Initiative, diet transformation is directly linked to income growth. By 2030, consumption of poultry, eggs, milk, and meat is expected to increase by 44% to 63%. As a result, the demand for livestock, poultry, and fish will drive the global food economy. By 2050, this demand is expected to double, with 70% of the increase occurring in developing countries. Therefore, global agricultural production will need to double by 2050 to meet this growing demand and avoid hunger.

Increased agricultural productivity and resilient supply chains are crucial to food security, economic development, and alleviating poverty. However, African agriculture faces many challenges. Most African farms are small, and most farm work is performed manually or by draft animals. Over the last five decades, agricultural productivity has significantly increased in China and southern Asia. However, it has woefully lagged in Africa. Africa currently imports $35B worth of food products. This number is expected to increase to $100B by 2030 despite the fact that 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land is in Africa.

Modern technologies have had a significant impact on agriculture in many regions of the world, including China and southern Asia. Modern technologies such as mechanization, information and communication systems, sensors and automation, and renewable energy (solar and wind) can also transform African agrifood systems to make them productive and viable engines of economic growth. As agriculture’s contributions mature, it is likely that African economies will transition to services and other industries. However, achieving that vision will require a concerted and collaborative effort.

Agricultural and biological engineers have played a critical role in transforming American agriculture from subsistence farming to the high-tech industry that it is today. Technological innovations are critical to keeping agriculture productive, resilient, sustainable, and profitable. ASABE, the leading professional society for agricultural, food, and biological engineers, has a long tradition of working collaboratively with international partners to address global problems.

During the 2019 Annual International Meeting (AIM), the African Network Group of ASABE (ANGASABE) began a conversation about modernizing African agrifood systems. An ad hoc planning committee was formed and has been meeting over the past two years to lay the foundation for this initiative, now called the Alliance for Modernizing African Agrifood Systems (AMAA).

The planning committee has achieved many milestones for the AMAA initiative. A permanent committee (E-2050 AMAA) was approved by the ASABE Board of Trustees as a subcommittee under the E-2050 Global Engagement committee. The AMAA committee structure and bylaws were also approved by the Board. Additionally, the AMAA effort involves the collaboration of ASABE members with other related organizations such as the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (CIGR), the Pan-African Society of Agricultural Engineers (PASAE) and other national professional societies working in the agricultural landscape.

At the 2020 virtual AIM, the planning committee organized a special session and invited Adesoji Adelaja, the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in Land Policy at Michigan State University, to deliver the keynote address. Dr. Adelaja noted that 80% of Africa’s 51 million farms are smallholder farms, each less than 2 ha in size, and that these farms produce 70% of the food consumed in Africa. He also noted that agriculture is a major employer in Africa and that smallholder farmers could have a higher capacity to create jobs than large mechanized monoculture farms if they practiced mixed cropping, based on information from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Dr. Adelaja also reported that agriculture, rather than manufacturing, was expected to be the engine of economic transformation in Africa, with increased labor productivity in agriculture leading to the development of the manufacturing sector and job creation. Thus, agriculture is the key to transforming Africa.

Although there are other areas of concern, agriculture is at the center of Africa’s transformation. As Dr. Adelaja said: “Agricultural engineering is a powerful profession that has much to offer African agriculture. The land grant mission makes mission-oriented intervention easy for Africa-focused ASABE engineers.”

In concluding his address, Dr. Adelaja noted that there is a need to focus on increasing land and labor productivity and that the focus should be on medium-term technological transformations. A powerful vision is needed to drive such an initiative. And the initiative needs to be fast-tracked, because key decisions about Africa’s agricultural future are already underway.

In the following year, at the 2021 AIM, the planning committee organized a second special session and invited Ms. Ndidi Nwuneli, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Sahel Consulting, in Nigeria, to deliver the keynote address. Ms. Nwuneli’s address, titled “Food entrepreneurs in Africa: Scaling resilient agriculture businesses,” was tightly linked to the AMAA initiative, which is titled “A business case for investment in agricultural technologies in Africa.”

In her address, Ms. Nwuneli lamented the common narrative that “the face of Africa is a hungry child,” and she argued that there was no reason why Africa, which is richly endowed with agricultural resources, should be a net importer of food and suffer a high rate of malnutrition. This passion drives her to transform African agriculture and nutrition.

“Africa, as a region, is gradually becoming an important stakeholder in global agriculture,” Ms. Nwuneli said. “From 1.3 billion people in 2020, Africa’s population is predicted to nearly double to 2.5 billion by 2050.” Ms. Nwuneli also outlined critical realities and some promising trends in African agriculture.

Technological innovation is critical to African agriculture and food, and technology requires talent. “Entrepreneurs who succeed must invest in talent,” Ms. Nwuneli said. She noted that African agri-businesses need qualified personnel to address the challenges they face. Ms. Nwuneli also advocated for good policymaking and for entrepreneurs, the private sector, and professional societies to work together to amplify their voice and shape the future.

The AMAA initiative envisions modern, productive, profitable, and resilient agrifood systems in sub-Saharan Africa that ensure food security, provide economic growth, foster environmental protection, and improve the quality of life in a sustainable, equitable, and responsible manner. The mission is to promote the modernization of African agrifood systems from production to consumption through development and deployment of modern technologies.

The overall goal is to create a framework that brings together innovators, investors, financial institutions, academic institutions, and policy makers to promote modernization of African agrifood systems. Four foundational pillars have been identified for the AMAA initiative:

Pillar 1: Technology, methodology, and innovation: To promote technological development, assessment, and deployment appropriate for African agrifood systems.

Pillar 2: Entrepreneurship and business development: To promote public and private sector partnerships to enhance entrepreneurship and business development.

Pillar 3: Capacity building and workforce development: To identify training needs and build capacity to promote and sustain modern agrifood systems in Africa.

Pillar 4: Infrastructure and policy development: To identify critical infrastructure and necessary policy frameworks for modern agrifood systems in Africa.

Sustainability emphasizes the effectiveness of technologies and practices for improved productivity without adverse effects on the environment. Resilience is the ability to absorb and recover from shocks. In agrifood systems, these shocks include natural hazards and climate-related disasters, transboundary threats (including pest, diseases, and food safety issues), social crises such as violent conflicts, and pandemics such as COVID-19, which the world is still experiencing.

Climate-related shocks are on the increase, disproportionately affecting the world’s poor, most of whom depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Temperature increases are expected to result in reduced crop yields, particularly in Africa where agrifood systems tend to be more vulnerable than in other parts of the world. Water availability is also related to climate change. Extreme weather events have become more common, with greater risk of flooding and more severe dry seasons, all of which can lead to significant reductions in crop yields.

Small-holder farmers are particularly at risk from disasters that can destroy their livelihoods. In developing countries, communities are less able to absorb, recover from, and adapt to shocks. Therefore, monitoring risks, providing alerts, and informed decision-making are imperative so that shocks do not turn into humanitarian crises. Tools to monitor climate change and transparent disclosure of climate information are needed to promote informed decision-making.

Africa has begun to adopt some agriculture technologies, providing greater access to information, financial and market services, and better decision-making, all of which can be extended to the entire value chain. Big data analytics and similar advances are needed to enable faster analysis of perturbations, resource utilization, and productivity. Digitizing African agrifood systems will be disruptive because it will not necessarily align with existing business models, but it will allow farmers to get more value for their products by enabling informed decision-making and better connection to markets.

There is a need to modernize educational curricula to match the trend toward digital innovations, particularly given the rapidly increasing youth population in sub-Saharan Africa, for whom traditional agriculture may not be appealing. Data privacy and ownership, and IP rights associated with digitalization, need to be addressed at the policy level. Sustainable and resilient agrifood systems must also consider human, animal, and environmental health. This includes controlling diseases (as we have seen with the disruptions related to COVID-19) and reducing environmental degradation.

Water and agriculture are intricately linked. Without adequate water, improved production is impossible. Even though only 6% of Africa’s cultivated area is under irrigation, agriculture is by far the largest user of water, responsible for up to 88% of the total water used on the continent. Improved agricultural production could lead to increased demand for water. Lack of adequate clean water for domestic use will impact public health and livelihoods, with resulting negative impacts on agricultural production.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the burden to obtain clean water for domestic and agricultural use often falls on women. Thus, lack of adequate water can severely limit women’s involvement in agriculture, including their access to modern technologies and the training needed to use technologies effectively.

Water quality impairments due to agriculture continue to present environmental and health-related challenges. On an annual basis, the economic impact of water quality impairments can run to billions of dollars. In addition to the direct economic impacts associated with water quality impairments, agriculture bears related costs of lost productive land and the need for additional inputs, both of which can be substantial.

Thus, in modernizing African agrifood systems, interrelated biological, physical, ecological, and socio-economic processes must be considered to protect the environment, animals, and human communities. Many African countries are quite water poor, and there can be substantial disparities among regions within a country. Sustainability and resilience depend on effective management of water resources. Investments are needed to enable community-based irrigation, modernize existing systems, and develop solutions for long-term water storage and more efficient use of water.

In addition to water, soil is also essential for agriculture. Healthy soils, protected against erosion and nutrient losses, can help build resilience in African agrifood systems. Restoration of lost carbon, using practices such as crop rotations, cover cropping, and conservation tillage, could help compensate for the effects of climate change.

To develop sustainable and resilient African agrifood systems, data-driven policies, institutional structures, capacity building, and financing are needed to shelter the systems from shocks, enable faster recovery from shocks, and reduce the root causes of vulnerabilities. Financing for cost-effective conservation practices will insulate farmers against the shocks of increasing weather extremes and climate variability. Financing is also needed to enable water quality improvements, water resources education, and research.

Financing for climate and environmental action is particularly important. The African Development Bank is leading the financing effort to support climate action in Africa, including low-carbon and climate-resilient development. According to the African Financial Alliance on Climate Change, climate action, including investment in climatesmart projects, appropriate climate-smart technologies, and enhanced internal capacity to prioritize climate action, provides a good return on investment.

Gender equality and youth engagement apply to all four foundational pillars of the AMAA initiative. Both are necessary for transforming African agrifood systems. On average, women constitute 40% to 50% of the agricultural labor force in sub-Saharan Africa. With limited access to inputs (such as fertilizers, improved seeds, and tools) and resources (such as land and financing), farms that are managed by women tend to have lower yields than farms managed by men. Crop yields for women’s farms could increase by 20% to 30% if women received access to the same resources as men. Transformational tools include policy interventions, such as land ownership, basic education for girls, and extension services and market information.

Two of the guest speakers at the 2021 AIM special session were Ms. Maria Jones, Associate Director of the ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss at the University of Illinois, and Ms. Cynthia Mene, Co-Founder and CEO of Inspire Africa, a non-profit that delivers entrepreneurial leadership education to African youth. Both speakers provided insights from their work on gender equality in African agriculture.

In general, adoption of technologies is often hindered for women due to women’s lack of access to financing. Mechanization is often seen as an option only for men. In some cases, mechanization has displaced women who worked for hire in agriculture; thus, mechanization can have unintended impacts. Both speakers noted that women’s cooperatives have been very effective in providing access to financing, markets, and tech support, and for purchasing inputs. The speakers noted that female extension agents have been very effective in training women, adding that programs must evaluate what women already have and what they need.

Regarding youth engagement, about 60% of the population of Africa is less than 25 years old. This generation is driving current technological innovations in Africa, particularly smartphones, that provide solutions such as digital banking, weather forecasts, extension services, and market information. This makes a business case for promoting youth engagement. At the 2021 AIM special session, young people from Africa and other parts of the world showcased some of their solutions, including applications of machine learning to reducing post-harvest losses, smart cultivation systems, financing models, digital learning platforms, and smart cooling systems.

The AMAA team will facilitate the establishment of a network of AMAA Innovation Hubs in the east, west, central, and southern regions of Africa. These hubs will be tied to the foundational pillars and will work directly with AMAA leaders to accomplish their mission. These hubs will be located on the campuses of progressive universities or at research centers with a record of innovation. These hubs will collaborate with various entities in their regions and across regions to achieve AMAA’s goals. To start with, each hub will:

Healthy and affordable food is essential, and it is one of the first concerns in the event of a crisis. Over the past two years, we have experienced a shock to our global food system, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Concerns are looming about the impact of climate change on global food production, water availability, and the environment. By addressing the ability of sub-Saharan Africa to feed itself, the AMAA initiative will serve one of the most vulnerable parts of the world, and in so doing the AMAA initiative will ultimately serve everyone on Earth.

In her keynote address at the 2021 AIM, Ms. Nwuneli expressed a sense of urgency, and she outlined some practical steps to take now, including:

In her closing remarks, Ms. Nwuneli reflected on the need to change the common narrative, so that “the new face of Africa is that of a well-nourished child.”

The AMAA initiative could be one of the most noble, most challenging, most impactful, and most rewarding efforts that has ever been undertaken by ASABE. It can define our Society for years to come. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.” Our goal is to apply ASABE’s unique expertise to the challenges of food production for the most vulnerable among us. We welcome your partnership and support.

ASABE member Margaret Gitau, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, mgitau@purdue.edu; Senorpe Asem-Hiablie, Assistant Research Professor, Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA, sza135@psu.edu; ASABE member Klein Ileleji, Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA, ileleji@purdue.edu; ASABE Fellow Ajit Srivastava, P.E., Professor, Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA, srivasta@msu.edu.