Enhancing agribusiness through improved markets, market linkages and partnerships

Abstract

The African governments have downplayed the role of agriculture in kick-starting transformation through agricultural based revolution, despite the public declaration and evidence that yields can be dramatically increased if farmers had access to improved technologies and product markets. Agricultural produce markets play a significant role of driving agribusiness and therefore should be developed and managed appropriately. Market development should focus at addressing the glaring obtaining structural, financial and infrastructural challenges through: Exploiting market development opportunities in export–import balance, product transformation and diversification and accelerating input markets through dynamic research; Enhancing market linkages through regional integration and, exploiting opportunities that come with information and communication technology, supply chain management and adoption of pro-poor market access models and; Promoting public-private partnerships and venture mergers to increase operational volumes for better market access. Revolution through agribusiness would generate many progressive jobs in agriculture and move large populations out of poverty. Securing family food supplies through higher yields would enable smallholder farmers to free up land and labour for more profitable agribusiness uses and thus increase farm level revenues. The same would increase local level demand for higher value foods and non-farm goods and services, create additional productive employment in rural areas and improve livelihoods of people depending on agriculture. Agriculture would play its rightful role in financing African economic development, poverty alleviation and enhancing food security for majority of such dependent economies.