- Sustainable agriculture employs 65-70 percent of Africa’s labour force.
- Only two to three percent of African renewable water resources are usable compared to the 5 percent worldwide.
- In 2019 a report revealed that Africa produced more than 50 percent of the world’s cassava.
A severe drought has left millions of people in Africa dependent on grain from Ukraine, a country at war with Russia, yet a number of crops that could support more climate-resilient and healthful food systems in sub-Saharan Africa continue to receive limited attention.
Across Africa, cassava, sugarcane and maize stand out for supporting millions of families in governments’ quest to maintain food security
Sustainable agriculture is one of the highlights that support Africa’s economic development. For decades these cash crops in Africa have accounted for almost 20 percent of the entire continent’s revenue. It has further advanced and introduced concepts such as agritech, significantly teaching better farming techniques.
Despite the sheer scale of agriculture, a number of cash crops stand out at the top. They include; cassava, sugarcane, and maize. These cash crops have supported families and governments as a lucrative way to earn and maintain some sense of food security. This article will highlight the various stride these crops have made to truly live up to the “cash” within their name.
The sheer scale of agriculture in Africa
Since its discovery, Africa has had the world’s most potent natural resources. Having 60 percent of the world’s arable land Africa has the potential to house a global food industry on its owns. Most individuals know that agriculture is a significant economic activity, but they still fail to understand how big an industry it is.
Rivalled only by its human capital, sustainable agriculture accounts for 14 percent of GDP in the entire continent. This is the equivalent of a whole country or two purely using their land as one big farm.
Read: Stoking the cassava economy to boost Africa’s food security.
According to the African Development Bank, agriculture in Africa is steadily improving in scale and techniques. They stated that the industry will experience a 6 percent between 2020 and 2030, making it a significant economic activity for the entire continent. Granted, agriculture alone won’t be enough.
Immense work-force
Unfortunately, its agricultural productivity and export earnings far lag behind the continental mean. Sustainable agriculture employs 65-70 percent of Africa’s labour force, showcasing the vast nature of farms and agricultural fields. According to statistics, more than 70 percent of Africa’s poor live in rural areas, and agriculture is their primary source of food and income.
Unfortunately, agriculture on its own is heavily underutilized, and this is due to various factors that hinder the growth of economic activity. For instance, most of Africa’s land is semi-arid or arid. Due to the underutilization of water resources, these lands either remain barren or produce little yield.
Only two to three percent of African renewable water resources are usable compared to the 5 percent worldwide. Other factors include drastic climate change and inefficient farming techniques. The development of agritech has aided its growth, but it is still lacking. Large-scale farming prioritizes cash crops in Africa, and most go to exports with little left for its citizens.
Forget about tea and coffee; cassava, sugarcane, and maize stand out as the top cash crops in Africa. They are the primary rivers accounting for the bulk of the continent’s revenue in agriculture.
Cassava
Cassava stands at the top as the most-produced cash crop in Africa. According to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture 2021, cassava contributed to the livelihood of more than 300 million people in Africa. It is used both in sustainable agriculture and as a cash crop. Farmers have perfected the technique of growing cassava for years, and now Africa’s agriculture is reaping the fruits.
Read: Kenya’s food imports increase with worsening inflation.
In 2019 a report, Africa produced more than 50 percent of the world’s cassava, a nutritious tuber that is consumed by about 500 million Africans daily. Its drought-resistant property is its main selling point, meaning the crop can be grown in most African fields.
Since directly transporting fresh cassava is uneconomical and complex, most industries process them before exporting. For instance, cassava chips are semi-processed products for animal feed. The procedure is often simple and used by small-scale farmers before distributing them to the global market.
Aside from being a primary export product, farmers use this cash crop in Africa as a key commodity for their intra-regional trading. Cassava processed goods are a local delicacy and a primary human and animal consumption commodity. In addition, most cassava processing industries employ women as they play a vital role in its overall processing. The Food and Agriculture Organization expects cassava production to significantly improve in 2023 over and above the 156 million tonnes produced in 2019.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane is another dominant cash crop in Africa, only second to cassava. Its production is one of the most vital industries in Africa and the globe, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the total sugar produced worldwide. For those who still might not understand, the sugar industry is a vast empire since practically everything sold in the market or processed contains a trace of sugar.
Unfortunately, despite its high rank on the list, Africa only contributes 5 percent of the total world sugar production. In this figure, only a select few contribute almost 80 percent of it. They include; South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Zambia, Mauritius, and Kenya.
Out of this figure, South Africa has been among the top position in Africa for several decades. It is the only African country among the top-cost competitive producers of high-quality sugar. According to the Southern African Customs Union, SA’s sugar industry generates annual revenue of $376 million or (6 billion Rand).
Egypt is also a large producer of sugarcane in Africa, accounting for a yearly production of over 13 million tonnes. The country has a long-standing history of sugarcane production due to its accessibility to fresh water supply from Nile River. In 2019, Egypt exported over $161 million of raw sugar processed from sustainable agriculture.
According to the Foreign Agricultural Service Cairo, refined sugar production in 2022/23 will increase by 2.5 percent, reaching 2.92 million metric tonnes. The Egyptian government has stated that this cash crop has enabled the country to attain 90 percent self-sufficiency in sugar production.
Maize
Maize is the last among the top three cash crops in Africa. The continent produced roughly 89.3 million metric tons of cord in the trading year 2020/21. Aside from being a major cash crop that has led to the expansion of agriculture in Africa, it is also a crucial stable food for most of Africa.
According to the Global Yield Gap, maize is vital for food security in Africa, and the cash crop accounts for 40 percent of the cereal production in Africa. Due to its versatility and adaptability, maize production in Africa has steadily increased yearly.
Since 2021 agriculture in Africa has focused on improving maize production, and it has increased annually by 2.2 million metric tonnes, reaching 91 million metric tonnes by 2020. Some of the top producers of maize are South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria, which mainly use the cereal as a cash crop in Africa. Despite placing last in this list, maize is a significant group in the global viewpoint.
About every year, 2.6 billion tonnes of cereal are produced globally; out of it, 1.3 billion are maize. Maize is the staple food of over 1.2 billion people in Africa and Latin America. In 2020, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, Nigeria stood at the top production of maize, standing at 10.1 million tonnes.
Read: Sweet deal: Tanzania to import sugar, ARVs from Uganda.
South Africa and Tanzania followed with 7.3 and 6.5 million tonnes. Despite being a major cash crop, many countries use maize as a stable food for other East African countries.
Despite these cash crops having a significant say in the industry, economic activity still faces several issues. Desertification and considerable climate changes significantly affect most farmers, and today most seasons are either shortened or prolonged excessively.
In Kenya, some farmers claim that the climate changes in 2023 are entirely different from a decade ago. This has led to significant losses for small-scale farmers that attribute a high proportion of most exports to agriculture. Fortunately, the development of agritech farming and agriculture in Africa is steadily improving.
