'High grain prices hit Africa hard'

If one continent suffers from the high grain prices, it is Africa. In addition, the Horn of Africa, with countries such as Somalia and Sudan, is experiencing the worst famine in years. Marco Schouten (52), CEO of development organization Agriterra since October last year, has just returned from an African trip. With him we go deeper into the problems. "Unfortunately, I am pessimistic about the future of this beautiful continent, although the agricultural sector has the potential to offer great opportunities." 

You just came back from Africa, what have you done?
"I visited our agricultural projects in Kenya and Ethiopia. It was wonderful to be crammed back into the countryside after two years of the corona crisis. economy class to sit and people face to face to meet. In these countries, among others, we support agricultural cooperatives with the aim of stimulating food security and economic growth. In Ethiopia it is currently restless due to tribal conflicts, you could speak of a civil war. You don't notice that so much in the cities, but in the countryside it is dangerous. By helping farmers of all tribes to organize into cooperatives, we try to contribute to social cohesion and ultimately a more peaceful society."

The high grain prices due to the war in Ukraine are especially dire for African countries, it is said. How do you see that?
"The high grain prices are indeed hitting hard. As Louise Fresco of WUR says: 'It is not a food crisis, but a purchasing power crisis.' African countries are losing out compared to the West. Besides the grain has become too expensive, physical trade flows have come to a standstill. This also applies to fertilizers. This also has unexpected effects. From Agriterra we support a compost factory in Kenya, with the high fertilizer prices is that suddenly a good thing business case become. Seeds and seed potatoes have also become expensive. This has a major effect on such a poor continent. The supermarkets in many African countries are still full, but mainly for the richer people. This widens the differences between rich and poor, with all the consequences that entails."

And then there is also the worst drought in years in the Horn of Africa, resulting in a terrible famine…
"That is dramatic indeed. Several harvests have failed, and there are often violent conflicts in those countries. So complex problems. We are not active there at the moment, because that is too dangerous. We are also not a party that facilitates emergency aid, that is something for the Red Cross, for example. There are 35 to 40 million people living there whose lives are at stake. I am quite pessimistic and expect it to become serious. The people there are looking for a better life and thus humanitarian flows, as was often the case in the past, or the flight to Europe, or to the more southern African countries where the situation is less dire."

Nevertheless, Africa is still believed to have great potential in the field of food production. Is that true?
"Nothing more. About 60% of the unused agricultural area worldwide is located in Africa. If you drive through it, you see many opportunities. You cannot lump Africa together, in many places things are going well. From Western perspectives, there is no However, there is a lack of scale, farmers are too small and poorly organized. Many countries also lack an agricultural value chain. For example, coffee beans are grown in Africa, but often roasted in Europe. The infrastructure is also a major limitation. Sufficient storage, especially refrigerated storage, and transport are often not available. The roads are often too bad and the energy supply unreliable. This affects the mindset of people. The big difference with here in Europe? We have a lot of confidence in the system and expect, by way of that the train is on time. Africans do not have that confidence. At the same time, there is a lot of resilience among the population to deal with the problems. and we approach the solutions as practically as possible. This is best suited to the problems and demand of the population. Such as training staff, or sharing knowledge with farmers about new agricultural methods."

In which countries do you see progress?
"Just before the corona crisis, there was a lot of economic growth in countries they call: the tigers of Africa. Ghana, for example, realized a growth of more than 10%. If there is money, then things can be developed. If not, countries often come in a negative spiral. The greater the poverty, the more corruption there is. All in all, African countries have too few buffers to absorb setbacks. That is why corona was such a big problem, because it caused tourism to disappear. that crisis has now faded into the background, but the challenges remain great."

Wouter Job

Wouter Baan is Head of Meat & Dairy at BoerenbusinessAt DCA Market Intelligence, he focuses on dairy, pork, and meat markets. He also monitors (business) developments within agribusiness and interviews CEOs and policymakers.

w.baan@boerenbusiness. Nl

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