Safeguarding Africa’s food systems through and beyond the crisis
Publication year
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UNCCD Library
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Web resource
Here’s how governments and private-sector actors can respond to the impact of COVID-19 on African agriculture. There is widespread concern about the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Africa’s agricultural and food systems. 1 This should certainly be a priority for leaders across the public, private, and development sectors: some 650–670 million people in Africa, roughly half of the population, already face food insecurity. Of those, more than 250 million people are considered to be severely food insecure. 2
Agriculture is also one of Africa’s most important economic sectors, making up 23 percent of the continent’s GDP. In sub-Saharan Africa, it provides work for nearly 60 percent of the economically active population. 3 Africa’s exports of food and agricultural products are worth between $35 billion and $40 billion a year, and some $8 billion a year flows through intra-regional trade in these products (Exhibit 1). In addition, Africa’s food and agricultural imports amount to between $45 billion and $50 billion a year—along with $6 billion a year in imports of agricultural inputs.
In this article, we present new McKinsey analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the continent’s agricultural and food systems, along with insights from on-the-ground discussions with agriculture value-chain players, governments, and civil-society institutions. We show how the crisis has disrupted regional and global trade and slowed demand for Africa’s agricultural export products, putting jobs and livelihoods at risk. But we also show that, to date, the impact on the food and agricultural system as a whole has largely been localized and muted. In addition, tailwinds—including good harvests in some African regions at the end of 2019—are helping to minimize the effects of the crisis.
There is no room for complacency, however. Existing vulnerabilities in Africa’s agricultural and food systems, combined with demand and supply shocks likely to flow from COVID-19, could be heightened unless mitigating actions are taken now. Read further from the link above
Agriculture is also one of Africa’s most important economic sectors, making up 23 percent of the continent’s GDP. In sub-Saharan Africa, it provides work for nearly 60 percent of the economically active population. 3 Africa’s exports of food and agricultural products are worth between $35 billion and $40 billion a year, and some $8 billion a year flows through intra-regional trade in these products (Exhibit 1). In addition, Africa’s food and agricultural imports amount to between $45 billion and $50 billion a year—along with $6 billion a year in imports of agricultural inputs.
In this article, we present new McKinsey analysis on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the continent’s agricultural and food systems, along with insights from on-the-ground discussions with agriculture value-chain players, governments, and civil-society institutions. We show how the crisis has disrupted regional and global trade and slowed demand for Africa’s agricultural export products, putting jobs and livelihoods at risk. But we also show that, to date, the impact on the food and agricultural system as a whole has largely been localized and muted. In addition, tailwinds—including good harvests in some African regions at the end of 2019—are helping to minimize the effects of the crisis.
There is no room for complacency, however. Existing vulnerabilities in Africa’s agricultural and food systems, combined with demand and supply shocks likely to flow from COVID-19, could be heightened unless mitigating actions are taken now. Read further from the link above
Keywords
food systems
food security
Africa
environmental crisis
agricultural planning
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