Tea, Potatoes to boost Intra-Africa Agricultural Trade
The United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD) analysis of
African food trade identified tea and potatoes as good examples of how
agricultural “value chains
Tea, Potatoes to boost Intra-Africa Agricultural Trade
The United Nations Conference on Trade And Development (UNCTAD) analysis of
African food trade identified tea and potatoes as good examples of how
agricultural “value chains” can be built on the continent.
The analysis published on the organisation’s website said basic crops grown
in Africa can be made into higher-value products, whether it’s by bagging tea
or turning potatoes into frozen French fries, creating jobs and fueling growth
in the continent, according to a recent UNCTAD assessment of the continent’s
|A potato farm|
of basic crops to form such agricultural value chains remained untapped in several
The assessment is part of the report From Regional Economic Communities to a
Continental Free Trade Area.
Also looked at highly-traded commodities in Africa such as avocados,
cashews, onions, pineapples, beef and poultry.
The analysis has it’sThe findings provide useful insight for trade
negotiators ironing out agricultural policies for Africa’s Continental Free
Trade Area (CFTA) ahead of a March 2018 summit of African leaders in Kigali,
Rwanda, where the deal is due to be signed.
Many leaders see the continent-wide free trade agreement as necessary to
boost intra-African trade, which for manufactured goods dropped from 18 percent
in 2005 to about 15 percent in 2010-2015, according to the African Development
If fully implemented, the agreement would free up the movement of people and
goods across the continent, currently grouped into trading blocs such as the
East African Community, the Economic Community of West African States and the
Southern African Development Community, to name a few.
“Intra-African trade will not truly take off until the walls come down,”
said Bonapas Onguglo, in charge of UNCTAD’s trade and analysis branch, 80
percent of trade between countries on the continent happens within these
“The economies of many importing countries of African goods are still
struggling to pick up, and this has been hindering Africa’s growth.
“If the continent wants to achieve its development objectives, it needs to start
trading more with itself.
“This is particularly true for agricultural products, given that food
insecurity continues to threaten Africa, the region of the world with the
highest rate of population growth.
“One out of four Africans more than 15 years old faces hunger every day,
according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.” Onguglo said
He said part and parcel of the new opportunities in the CFTA will be
building agricultural value chains across the continent, so that the activities
that add value to food as it moves from the farm to fork happen in Africa.
He also said at present food production on the continent was characterized
by low productivity and high unit costs.
“This is why, for example, frozen poultry from Brazil outcompetes fresh
poultry from Mozambique in regional markets.” he said
Between 2004 and 2014, chicken imports to sub-Saharan Africa tripled,
according to figures from the US Department of Agriculture.
Regional value chains would allow African producers to upgrade their skills
and production processes, a key step to improving their ability to compete more
“It’s not just a question of boosting trade in, say, potatoes and
pineapples. It’s also about getting African countries to produce and trade more
pineapple juice and potato chips,” Henrique Pacini, one of the report’s
“The hope is that the