Agribusiness players urged to find actions to increase food production
As Africa’s net food import is projected to reach US$ 110 billion by 2030, actors within the agribusiness space are being encouraged to leverage on the Africa Continental Free Trade Area to help find urgent actions to increase food production whiles optimizing profits.
According to Professor Godfred Bopkin, the growing population of the continent needs strategic interventions from the private sector to turn the arable lands of Africa into a hub that can supply its food need and cut down on its food imports.
Economist at the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Godfred told Citi Business News that;
“If you look at the social accounting matrix, the income multiplier: the employment multiplier effect of agriculture productivity is the highest. So if we really want to start the transformation then agriculture is very important,” he explained.
“If you look at the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, one of the few things Ghana can leverage is in the food value change and the market is huge,” he noted.
“Africa spends approximately 44 percent of household expenditure on food and Africa’s net food import in 2015 was US$ 35 billion and this is projected to reach US$ 110 billion by 2025, and we are moving beyond just agriculture to Agribusiness and agro processing,” he concluded.
Source: Ghana Business
