The African Food Equation: Vast Resources, Billions in Imports… and Processing as the Missing Link

Africa possesses approximately 65% of the world’s unused arable land. Yet the continent imports more than 100 million tons of cereals annually and spends nearly $75 billion on food imports, while around 307 million Africans suffer from undernutrition.

This paradox reveals that Africa’s food crisis is not primarily linked to a lack of natural resources, but rather to its limited capacity to transform these resources into an integrated production system extending from agriculture to processing and trade.

The gap begins with agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizers. Average fertilizer use in sub-Saharan Africa is around 22 kilograms per hectare, compared with 146 kilograms globally, which has a direct impact on agricultural productivity levels.

At the same time, the continent possesses resources that could be leveraged to develop a local fertilizer industry, drawing on its reserves of natural gas and phosphate. This would make it possible to connect the energy, mining, agricultural, and industrial sectors within a single production chain.

Increasing agricultural production alone does not appear sufficient to address the food gap. According to the study, the continent also needs to expand agricultural processing and value addition within its own markets, rather than exporting raw materials and importing processed products.

This approach is becoming increasingly important given the dependence of many Central and West African economies on commodities, which leaves them more exposed to global price fluctuations and external shocks.

Market fragmentation remains one of the main obstacles to building an integrated African production system. Intra-African trade accounts for only about 13.2% of the continent’s total merchandise trade, compared with approximately 38% in Asia.

Trade challenges do not end there. Road transportation accounts for around 29% of the price of goods traded within Africa, compared with approximately 7% for goods traded outside the continent. This increases production and trading costs and hinders the creation of regional value chains.

In this context, the African Continental Free Trade Area, “AfCFTA,” stands out as one of the instruments that could contribute to transforming a fragmented African market into an interconnected production network. One country could produce fertilizers, another could grow crops, while a third could specialize in processing and packaging, and a fourth could provide logistics services and access to markets.

Financing represents another crucial link in this system, particularly for smallholder farmers and companies operating in the agricultural sector. This is driving the expansion of financial instruments such as credit guarantees and blended finance, with the aim of reducing risks and encouraging private investment.

According to the study, the objective is not to achieve complete self-sufficiency across the continent, but rather to reduce the vulnerability created by dependence on external sources by increasing productivity, diversifying import sources, expanding food processing, and deepening trade among African countries.

Thus, Africa’s challenge is not limited to its ability to produce food. It also concerns its ability to transform its agricultural and food resources, along with its large market, into an integrated industry capable of generating added value that remains within the continent.