Agriculture

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INFOCUS|INDIA-CHINA|AGRICULTURE

Will India and China be fed by Africa? Africa normally isn’t the major focus of attention for most food and agribusiness strategists and it is true that in the short–term horizon, Africa will not make any news. However, in the next twenty years, Africa with multi-pronged changes will come to play an important role. Several African countries are full of production resources and majority of African land available will be brought to production. In the coming years, African help will be required to feed the Chinese and even the Indian people. Marcos Fava Neves

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frica has had a continuous, but not homogeneous development in the last years. It is well recognized that the countries that retreated from the socialist economic models are performing better. Most African countries are now democracies. There has been empowerment of private business by Governments and in several countries violence is declining, due to the end of “Cold War” and increased media attention. There is awareness among society owing to access to information through the internet and development of institutions. Besides re-visiting policies related to education and improvement of living patterns, some countries also went through disarmament policies. This continuous improvement has attracted foreign investors to the African continent. In 2002, foreign direct investment (FDI) accounted for close to $ 15 billion. Ten years on, in 2012, these investments rose to $ 46 billion; accounting for an increase of more than three times in ten years. A very important amount of these foreign investments are coming from China. Africa normally isn’t the major focus of attention of most food and agribusiness strategists, and this is a huge mistake from two points of view: consumption and production. |52| India-China Chronicle March 2014

From the point of view of consumption, it is important to say that Africa, together with the Middle East, is the largest food importer of the world. So in the short term, my answer to the question is no, Africa will not be able to supply to China. At present, Africa holds 16 per cent of the entire world population, accounting for something around 1 billion people. According to the UN, by 2050 this proportion will rise to 23 per cent. The growth of Africa DV D IRRG LPSRUWHU LV MXVWL¿HG E\ WKH large economic growth of several countries (continuous growth of 6-10% in GDP per year) followed by some income distribution and growth of middle class. African countries are also witnessing urbanization and we must remember that some countries have very large populations like Nigeria (165 million inhabitants). Countries like Ethiopia, Egypt and Congo’s population range from 75 to 90 million, while that of South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Sudan range from 35 to 50 million. Mozambique, Cameroon, Ghana, Cote D’Ivoire, Morocco, Algeria, Madagascar and Angola have population ranging between 20-30 million. Africa has 55 cities with more than 1 million inhabitants and 40 per cent of urban population. According to Rabobank, in the last


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