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Africa’s food system has experienced rapid transformation in recent years, driven by widespread urbanization and increasing incomes. In addition, initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area have resulted in changes to market structure and functioning in an effort to spur regional trade and economic growth. These changes present new income-generating opportunities all along the agrifood value chain, from farmers to processors, traders, distributors, and the food service industry.

This post first appeared on Trade for Development News and the ReSAKSS blog.

Despite longstanding recognition of the benefits of trade and the importance of improving competitiveness, Africa is performing beneath its potential in global and regional agricultural markets.

This post first appeared on the D+C Development and Cooperation site and IFPRI.org.

The deadlines to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate goals draw ever closer. The ambitious imperative of the SDGs is to “leave no one behind.” The implication is that we must urgently revitalize rural areas, especially in Africa south of the Sahara. Now is the time for a dramatic, system-wide transformation to make rural areas more productive, more sustainable, more climate-resilient, healthier and more attractive places to live.

Populations around the world continue to struggle with malnutrition – both undernourishment and overweight/obesity – and climate change may exacerbate the problem. In addition to reducing overall agricultural yields, higher temperatures and erratic precipitation could increase spoilage of nutritious and perishable foods like fruits and vegetables. Climate change could even make foods themselves less nutritious; increased CO2 levels can reduce the protein content of certain crops, such as soybeans and grains.

Since the 1990s, the Tanzanian government has striven to transform the country into a semi-industrialized economy supported by productive commercial agriculture. To accomplish this goal, policymakers pursued a policy of trade liberalization and reduced government intervention, including the agricultural sector. As a result, Tanzania has experienced a moderately high agricultural sector growth rate of 4.1 percent per year over the last two decades; this rate is comparable with neighboring countries including Kenya (4 percent growth per year) and Uganda (3.2 percent).