Agribusiness in East Africa: Cases of Success
Why do we need to boost the Agribusiness sector in East African countries?
Agriculture and its potential to enhance Africa’s local economies
Agricultural production is one of the most important economic drivers of the majority of African countries. Nearly 75% of the African population rely on agriculture for their livelihoods (UN, 2021). Moreover, it is known that developed agribusiness and agro-industry sectors have impulsed economic growth in countries all over the world. Therefore, in Africa, agribusiness and agro-industries represent more than 30% of the national income as well as a great source of employment (UN, 2021). For this reason, scaling up agribusiness could be the next growth step, while exploiting forward and backward connections with the rest of the African economy (ADBG, 2018).
“Such improvement in the agri-business sector would lift many rural dwellers out of poverty conditions by offering higher jobs on the value chain and it will boost nutrition and food security” (ACET, 2018).
Nowadays, new research and information have emerged on sustainable agriculture, and entrepreneurship plays a key role to contribute to sustainable development. Entrepreneurship and the agribusiness sector have been recognized to improve more than just the local and regional economies. To achieve this, entrepreneurs in agribusiness should balance financial health, social equity, and environmental resilience through their entrepreneurial behavior toward sustainability (Richardson, 2013).
Consequently, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ideas to address environmental, societal, and economic challenges have increased due to the pressure towards the sustainable development of enterprises. Therefore, sustainable development and agriculture entrepreneurship are gradually gaining focus in public discourses and receiving greater attention and consideration in academic research and practice (Sargani et al., 2020).
“The global economy, the economic, sociocultural, political, institutional, and environmental concerns need to be solved; and, at the same time, entrepreneurship has a significant role in the development of disruptive innovations and market change through education” (Sargani et al., 2020).
A sustainable shift in society’s development is required to enhance the sustainable development of the agricultural sector. It is essential not only for the environment but also for the long-term well-being of society and the economy (ASARECA, 2019; Sarangai et al., 2020). Nevertheless, a new type of agricultural entrepreneur must now achieve a more significant focus on the research and practice of sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship and development trends. An economy that is ecologically and socially responsible is inherent, and sustainable development must constitute the basis of a new field of sustainable agricultural entrepreneurs.
Developing a comprehensive entrepreneurship program that integrates the economic, sociocultural, and environmental sustainability domains of entrepreneurship and agribusiness (Sarangai et al., 2020).
On top of that, the governments and international organizations such as the FAO and the World Bank, have joined forces to design and plan strategies to boost the agribusiness sectors in the rural and marginalized countries of East Africa, which rely primarily on agriculture. Here are examples of programs and projects that have been implemented in some countries in East Africa:
1. “Strengthening Forest Management for Improved Biodiversity Conservation Resilience in the Southern Rangelands of Kenya”, case of Kenya
Agriculture plays a major role in Kenya’s economy: it contributes to 26 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and another 27 percent of GDP indirectly through linkages with other sectors. The sector employs more than 40 percent of the total population and more than 70 percent of Kenya’s rural people. Agriculture in Kenya is large and complex, with a multitude of public, parastatal, non-governmental, and private sectors. (FAO, 2022 a; IFAD, 2022).
Nevertheless, the growing productivity of food crops in the region has been exceeded by population growth, The growth of agricultural outputs in Kenya’s southern rangelands is pressed by many problems, including soil erosion, low crop productivity, loss of agro-biodiversity, soil nutrient depletion, and climate change-related issues (IFAD, 2022). Further, the institutional and governance obstacles, lack of information to support decision-making, and poor returns to livestock and crop production are limits to effective rangelands and biodiversity management in the southern Kenya drylands (FAO, 2020).
Hence, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a program named “Strengthening Forest Management for Improved Biodiversity Conservation Resilience in the Southern Rangelands of Kenya” to support a function and resilient dryland forest landscape that supports a sustainable economic and food production through integrated natural management. This project is improving sustainability by ensuring effective institutional and governance regulations, technical and social innovations, and scaling out positive results. The project is supporting the functionality of local institutions and is providing the appropriate resources to sustain ecological integrity and improve local household livelihoods.
The project is driven by three components:
Strengthening the environment for the sustainable management of the natural resources drylands. This will improve the effectiveness of the governance of land resources through strengthening the technical and institutional capacities at community and county levels for sustainable land and resources management.
Investment in scaling up sustainable dryland management. This goal is focused on developing and strengthening the connections along the value chain, they will enhance the sustainable manner to create profitable products, thereby providing opportunities for people to generate improved income while ensuring environment conservation.
Programmatic coordination, monitoring, and knowledge management. By establishing and institutionalizing robust and integrated monitoring systems, they will determine the status of land degradation, climate change trends, forest cover change and connectivity, the status of wildlife populations, and the socioeconomic status of the people that use the landscape. The project is building on existing platforms and knowledge hubs to implement dynamic knowledge management.
2. “Fostering Sustainability and Resilience for Food Security in the Karamoja Region (SURE-Karamoja)”, case of Uganda
In Uganda, the agriculture sector is vital to the development goals of promoting and alleviating poverty in rural areas. This sector contributes 25 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employs around 72 percent of the working population (UBOS, 2017). Moreover, about 73 percent of households primarily depend on agriculture (UBOS, 2014). However, despite its importance, agriculture in Uganda is recognized by low productivity levels due to poor land management, depleted soils, and total dependence on rainfall. The production system is predominantly small-scale and is limited by rudimentary production tools and low use of improved seeds, agrochemicals, and fertilizer (Mubiru et al., 2017). In addition, these impacts are strengthened by the impacts of climate change and variability, including severe droughts, floodings, storms, and epidemics of pests and diseases (FAO, 2022 b).
As a consequence, the Government of Uganda is pushing for greater commercialization of agriculture by encouraging the use of irrigation and mechanized farming (UIA, 2022). The opportunities for investment in the agribusiness sector are commercial farming in both crops and livestock industries as well as aquaculture; value addition (agro-industries and agro-food industries); manufacturing of inputs such as improved and profitable seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides; cold storage facilities and logistics; farm machinery manufacturing and assembly; packaging and new irrigation schemes (UIA, 2022).
For this reason, in 2018, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Government of Uganda launched a new five-year initiative for food security and ecosystem resilience for the Karamoja region in North-Eastern Uganda. This project entitled “Fostering Sustainability and Resilience for Food Security in the Karamoja Region (SURE-Karamoja)”, is focused on rehabilitating ecosystem services through restoration, agroforestry, natural regeneration, and sound pasture management, among other activities (FAO, 2022 b). Moreover, this is an integrated multisector initiative targeting smallholder farmers and is expected to enhance long-term environmental sustainability and resilience of food production systems in the region.
The SURE-Karamoja project is mainly focused on the drivers of environmental degradation to reduce the loss of ecosystem services and enhance sustainable food production by:
Strengthening institutional frameworks for improving food security.
Scaling up integrated approaches at sub-national and landscape levels.
Monitoring and assessing the global environmental benefits generated.
The project has been implemented by the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry & Fisheries (MAAIF), FAO, and UNDP, along with the support from the four District Local Governments and several other partners from the private sector and civil societies (FAO, 2022 b).
3. “Integrated Gender and Nutrition within Agricultural Extension Services (INGENAES)”, case of Burundi
Burundi is a small, landlock country in central Africa with the second densest population in the region. Due to a harsh decade dealing with the civil war (1993-2003), Burundi is still facing severe effects on the economic and social conditions of the population, with around 90 percent of the population currently living under USD $2 per day (FAO, 2015). However, Burundi has the potential to be self-sufficient in food production, counting on advantages such as abundant rainfall, a large farming population, an extensive network of lakes and rivers, and the possible market expansion within the context of the East African Community (IFAD, 2012).
As a result, through the Bureau of Food Security (BFS) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support the Presidential Feed the Future Initiative launched the project “Integrated Gender and Nutrition within Agricultural Extension Services (INGENAES)”. This project aims to increase agricultural production and the incomes of both men and women in rural areas who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods (USAID, 2015).
The INGENAES project supports the development of improved extension and advisory systems to minimize gender gaps in agricultural extension services, increase empowerment of women farmers, and improve gender and nutrition integration along with extension services by assisting multiple types of stakeholders in Burundi, such as farmers, producer groups, cooperatives, policymakers, technical specialists, development non-governmental organization (NGO) practitioners, and donors (USAID, 2015). Moreover, the INGENAES efforts will strengthen the capacity of key stakeholders and provide the network's connections to coordinate and reach agreement on policies and strategies to implement improved advisory systems to meet the demands of men and women farmers. Though the INGENAES project will not directly monitor beneficiary impact, it will focus on changes in institutions that directly impact men and women who access agricultural information, training, technologies, and nutrition information to empower women and engage men. The INGENAES program strengthened institutions by identifying their needs and strengthening their capacity to effectively integrate gender and nutrition-sensitive information and activities into agricultural extension systems to promote gender equality, improved household nutrition, increase women’s incomes, and, subsequently, household food security (USAID, 2015). The program identified four main gaps in extension services in terms of gender and nutrition integration, and the INGENAES activities were divided into the following action areas:
Build more robust, gender-responsive, and nutrition-sensitive institutions, projects, and programs capable of assessing and responding to the needs of both men and women farmers through extension advisory services.
Identify and scale proven mechanisms for delivering improved advisory systems to women farmers.
Disseminate technologies that improve women’s agricultural productivity and increase household nutrition.
Apply effective, nutrition-sensitive, extension approaches and tools for engaging both men and women.
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References
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ADBG (2018). Africa agribusiness, a US$1 trillion business by 2030. Africa Development Bank Group. Retrieved from: https://www.afdb.org/en/news-and-events/africa-agribusiness-a-us-1-trillion-business-by-2030-18678
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This is so insightful.