Agricultural Productivity – Experiences of different African countries

Agricultural transformation in Africa has accelerated remarkably since the 1990s. For instance, agricultural productivity, cereal yield per capita and agricultural income have all gone up. Most countries doubled their average rates of transformation following the launch of the cadet flagship programme of the African Union for agricultural development that was established in 2003. Specifically, on average, Africans witnessed an increase in agricultural productivity measured by both value-added agricultural workers and by contributions to gains in productivity. However, the overall performance marks significant variation among countries, both in terms of the level of productivity and pace of progress.

Dr Samba Kawa referred to the Feed the Future Initiative, which was set up by President Obama’s administration in 2010 to “invest in food security and agricultural development activities in a select group of developing countries in an effort to reduce hunger, malnutrition, poverty and food insecurity” (Lawson et al, 2016). Of the 19 focus countries, 12 were African, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia. The FTF prioritised implementation through strategic partners in the selected focus countries, with emphasis on multi-sectoral engagement across government, civil society and the private sector to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. Success of the programme has been attributed to this cross-sectoral approach, a commitment by focus countries to implement multi-year strategies and complementary activities that promote the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program through Regional Economic Communities (RECs), which include Southern African Development Community (SADC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) (Lawson et al, 2016). This model for transformative industrialisation in agriculture is one that policymakers should continue to support.

Mr Ziad Hamoui noted the challenges of doing business across West Africa. Amidst lengthy trade regulation steps between borders, which are costly, trade in the region is threatened by a lack of implementation of the regulations, security threats and smuggling.

Dispute resolution remains a concern in West Africa, and the AfCFTA addresses this challenge across Africa’s different RECs. Attention dispute resolution frameworks will ensure that regional regulations are implemented fairly and countries’ rights are observed and upheld, whilst other stakeholders are also protected. The AfCFTA provides for dispute resolution under part IV, article 20 of the greement, the Protocol on Rules and Procedures on the Settlement of Disputes (“Protocol on the Settlement of Disputes”). Although the agreement provides a framework for stateto-state disputes, it is vague when it comes to investor-state dispute settlements. This is a critical area, which needs to be addressed to boost investor confidence under the AfCFTA (Ewelukwa Ofodile, 2019).