Feeding Africa's Cities

Feeding Africa’s Cities Opportunities, Challenges, and Policies for Linking African Farmers with Growing Urban Food Markets AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2020 1 2 AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2020 Feeding Africa’s Cities Opportunities, Challenges, and Policies for Linking African Farmers with Growing Urban Food Markets AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2020 3 Copyright ©2020by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) All rights reserved. The publisher encourages fair use of this material provided proper citation is made. ISSN: 2313-5387 Correct Citation: AGRA. (2020). Africa Agriculture Status Report. Feeding Africa’s Cities: Opportunities, Challenges, and Policies for Linking African Farmers with Growing Urban Food Markets (Issue 8). Nairobi, Kenya: Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Managing Editor: Jane Njuguna (AGRA) Project Supervisor: Gaitano Simiyu (AGRA) Editor: Anne Marie Nyamu, Editorial, Publishing and Training Consultant Design and Layout: Conrad Mudibo, Communication Specialist Cover Concept: Conrad Mudibo (Ecomedia) AGRA acknowledges the following contributing institutions: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or position of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) or its employees. Although AGRA has made every effort to ensure accuracy and completeness of information entered in this book, we assume no responsibilities for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or inconsistencies included herein. The mention of specific companies, manufacturers or their products, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply endorsement or recommendation or approval by AGRA in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The descriptions, charts, and maps used do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of AGRA concerning the development, legal, or constitutional status of any country. 4 AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2020 Contents Preface 6 Foreword 8 Acknowledgements 9 Acronymns 12 Overview | Feeding Africa’s Cities: Opportunities, Challenges, 1 and Policies for Linking African Farmers with Growing Urban Food Markets 15 2 Opportunities in Africa’s Growing Urban Food Markets 25 Competitiveness of African Food Systems with International 3 Imports 57 Domestic food distribution systems: Linking farmers to growing 4 urban markets in Africa 87 Food safety and public health implications of growing urban 5 food markets 101 6 The role of African cities in strengthening agri-food systems 120 7 Intra-African food trade 155 Improving urban agri-food system governance, performance 8 and opportunities for African farmers to feed the continent’s rapidly growing cities 185 Agricultural Data 218 AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2020 5 Competitiveness of African Food Systems 3 with International Imports Preface Africa’s cities currently provide the largest and diversify their portfolios out of starchy staples and most rapidly growing agricultural markets in Africa. into high financial and health-value products, as Out of total urban food sales of roughly US$200 well as value addition activities in the food system. to US$250 billion per year, over 80% comes from This recognizes both farmer aspirations and the domestic African suppliers. In the coming decades, continent’s increasing burden of unhealthy diets. demographic projections forecast rates of African In addition to the demand-side pull of urban urbanization as the highest in the world. Today food markets, Africa’s cities shape the structure of — and even more so tomorrow — Africa’s rapidly agricultural supply systems in increasingly powerful growing cities and food markets offer the largest ways. Most obviously, cities serve as purveyors of and fastest growing market opportunity available to farm inputs, equipment, and related services as well the continent’s 60 million farms. One-half of these as warehousing and cold storage for agricultural farms involve young people, contrary to widely held outputs. In particular, Africa’s secondary cities — perceptions. AGRA and partners core commitment accounting for one-third to one-half of Africa’s to smallholder agriculture must now focus on urban urban population — have become key suppliers of food markets, to position domestic suppliers as farm inputs, pumps, farm equipment, warehousing, competitive, responsive and safe; to provide the transport, and repair services. Cities also serve as right signals and inputs to those markets; and key governors of land and labor prices in nearby continue growing opportunities for young people in agricultural zones. Because of their growing scale, the agriculture sector. urban land, labor, and input markets generate Demand patterns, reviewed in Chapter 2 of this pronounced spatial gradients in land valuations, year’s Africa Agriculture Status Report (AASR), clearly wage rates and agricultural input prices that, in identify the most rapidly growing urban food markets turn, affect spatial land-use patterns and on-farm as processed, prepared, and perishable foods — technologies used. Given high peri-urban land especially dairy, poultry, meat, fish, and horticulture. prices, and water availability, farming in urban and Given the emphasis on higher value of these peri-urban areas typically focuses on high-value growing market segments, both African farmers — products such as poultry, dairy, small ruminant and supporting partners like AGRA — will need to fattening operations, and horticultural production. 6 AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2020 Historically, ministries of agriculture are normally forward in our ongoing work. We have involved Africa’s primary food and agricultural policy makers. a very diverse set of researchers and disciplines, This has given room to advance technologies, including food safety, city planning, and urban food policies and programs to improve the productivity system governance. AGRA and indeed the AGRF and performance of agri-food systems in Africa. Partners Group hope in the coming years to cultivate Looking forward, as the center of gravity in Africa’s these connections with mayors, city managers, and agri-food systems shifts increasingly towards urban specialists in urban food system governance. They areas, city planners, mayors, district councils, trader are the key conduits for improving the efficiency organizations, and public health professionals are and safety of urban wholesale markets, which in turn becoming key players in shaping and implementing offer the major gateway through which smallholder agricultural policy. Effective governance of urban farmers access Africa’s growing food markets. I food systems needs a marrying of the ‘old’ and the am most grateful to the contributors, and to a new, across the rural and urban space, around food truly exceptional set of external reviewers, for their systems planning, management, and governance. professionalism and guidance about promising pathways forward for improving the competitiveness As in prior years, this year’s AASR is the product of African farmers as well as the safety and efficiency of intense scholarly work on the core chapters of the distribution systems through which they feed that I hope will stimulate intense discussion and Africa’s growing cities. a productive synthesis of ideas that will lead us Dr. Agnes Kalibata President, AGRA AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2020 7 Foreword The population of metropolitan Lagos recently have exacerbated these pressures. As a result, the passed 20 million. Across all of Africa, over the past challenges of feeding African cities have become several decades, rates of urban population growth more difficult, yet at the same time more important, have exceeded those of all other continents. And than ever. those trends are expected to continue for another This year’s AASR comes at an important time, as city several decades, at least. As a result, by 2015 Africa mayors, national governments, and international housed 42 mega-cities of over 2 million people. institutions worldwide are all struggling to rebuild Small towns have grown rapidly as well. Currently, from COVID-19 in ways that ensure the long-term over half of Africa’s urban population reside in towns efficiency and safety of urban food supplies, and and small cities of less than 500,000 population. adequate protections for vulnerable populations. Even towns under 100,000 population account for Given the scale and dynamism of Africa’s urban nearly one-third of the urban people. As a result of food markets, the long-standing commitments of this explosive growth in urban population, Africa’s AGRA and the AGRF Partners Group to smallholder cities currently provide the largest and most rapidly agriculture now requires a focus on the efficiency of growing agricultural markets in Africa. Hence the urban wholesale markets, the smallholder’s primary importance of this year’s Africa Agriculture Status gateway to growing urban demand. Contributions Report (AASR) focusing on “Feeding Africa’s Cities”. to improved urban planning, food markets and food The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted urban food system governance will require building partnerships systems worldwide, affecting food supplies, food and programs to improve the efficiency, safety, and prices, and the purchasing power of especially competitiveness of domestic agri-food systems. the vulnerable populations. Low-income informal I applaud AGRA and its many stakeholders and sector laborers have suffered disproportionally

Load more