The United Nations (UN) has called upon the African continent to establish integrated food corridors to connect different African production areas to main national and regional markets, in an effort to reduce post-harvest losses and improve food systems across the continent.
In a statement at the Annual Summit of the African Food Systems Forum, UN Secretary-General Mr António Guterres, who was represented by Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ECA Mr Claver Gatete, said climate shocks, biodiversity loss, high capital costs, and over-indebtedness are converging to slow agricultural transformation.
He said for many countries, these pressures translate into higher borrowing costs, reduced fiscal space, and underinvestment in agriculture, infrastructure, and human capital.
Mr Guterres said Africa is not only facing a simple food production problem, but a development challenge — a situation where food insecurity is directly competing with the investments needed to stimulate economic growth, employment, innovation, and resilience.
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” We need to establish integrated food corridors to connect the different African production areas to the main national and regional markets,” said Mr Guterres.
“By modernising roads, ports, storage facilities, and the cold chain, accelerating the connectivity of electricity interconnection power pools, and simplifying border procedures, we will be able to reduce post-harvest losses, ensure the timely delivery of various products, and strengthen the foundations of intra-regional trade.
“We must fully implement the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which means harmonising standards, eliminating non-tariff barriers and unleashing regional value chains.”
Africa has identified 94 promising value chains, many of which relate to agriculture and which, if properly developed, will anchor private investment, increase competitiveness, and enable African products to compete in regional and global markets.
Mr Guterres said Africa holds more than 60 percent of the world’s arable land and has the potential to build an agribusiness industry worth US$1 trillion by 2030.
Unfortunately, despite this immense potential, he said Africa still imported food worth up to US$115 billion last year.
