Post by Trade facilitator on Aug 1, 2022 21:02:35 GMT 1
Despite its vast agricultural potential, Africa as a continent has remained a net importer of agricultural products in the last three decades. In 1980, Africa had an almost balanced agricultural trade when both agricultural exports and imports were at about USD 14 billion, but by 2007 its agricultural imports exceeded agricultural exports by about USD 22 billion (FAOSTAT, 2011). For food trade in particular, Africa food trade deficit had started at an earlier time (mid-1970’s) and ever since it has grown fast and exceeded USD 13 billion in 2005. The increase in food imports since the mid-1970s have been particularly striking for basic foodstuffs such as dairy products, edible oils and fats, meat and meat products, sugar and especially cereals, implying that food import has been increasingly important in ensuring food security.
Food import dependency is viewed differently depending on each individual country’s ability to pay its food import bill. For some oil or mineral rich countries (e.g. Botswana, Libya) or for some of the relatively more industrialized countries (e.g. Mauritius), importing some types of food products (like fruits and vegetables) seems more beneficial than producing these products at home, especially since they have enough foreign currency reserves to pay for the food import bills. But for cash-strapped countries (e.g. Burundi, Central African Republic, Eritrea), persistent food import becomes a problem when the high and rising food import bills take money away from other important development agendas without resolving food insecurity. The problem is even bigger for countries where exports rely mainly on agriculture but the revenues from traditional exports such as cocoa, coffee and spices are less certain and at the mercy of volatile international market prices. FAO data show that in 2007, only about one-third (19 out of 53) of African countries had enough agricultural export revenue to pay for their food import bills, and the rest had to draw money from other resources or wait for food donations to ensure a stable food supply. In countries like Burundi, Cap Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Gambia, Sao Tome and Principe and Somalia, the total export revenues of total merchandise (agriculture and non-agriculture) were far short of agricultural (including food) import bills. Detailed investigation of the issue of food insecurity in Africa has already been the object of other FAO reports and is not the focus of the article.
However, the specific concern over the ability of some African countries to afford increasingly costly food imports to improve food security has motivated the search for answers on why Africa has become a net food importer.
AFRICA FOOD TRADE CHALLENGES:
1> FOOD IMPORTS RISING FASTER THAN
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD EXPORTS: Africa lost its status as a net exporter of agricultural products (food included) during the early 1980s when prices of raw commodities (mainly coffee, cocoa and spices), which constituted the bulk of its agricultural export revenues, tumbled and local food production grew sluggishly. Since 1980, agricultural imports have grown consistently faster than agricultural exports and in 2007 reached a record high of USD 47 billion (FAOSTAT, 2011, COMTRADE, 2010), yielding a deficit of about USD 22 billion.
Although for Africa as a continent, agricultural export revenue alone can no longer pay for agricultural imports, agricultural and food-trade balances vary across countries.
AFRICAN FOOD IMPORTS COMPOSED MAINLY OF CEREALS AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS:
Between 1980 and 2007 Africa net food imports in real terms grew at an average 3.4 percent per year (FAOSTAT 2011), and it may be asked ‘what fuelled this rise in agricultural and especially food imports?’ Data show that carbohydrate, the primary staple, is the main driver of this growth and also constitutes the bulk of African food imports. Although the composition of food imports varied slightly from period to period, cereals (including rice, maize, and wheat), and livestock products (dairy and meat) represented at least 50 percent of Africa's total food imports. Imports of cereals and livestock products peaked at nearly 60 percent of total food imports in the early 1980s but have slightly declined thereafter. The value of sugar and vegetable oil imports has remained at about 20 percent of total imports.
2> SLUGGISH AND CONCENTRATED AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS:
Compared with the fast growing food imports, Africa’s agricultural exports have not increased much. Moreover, Africa as a continent has not managed to diversify much its agricultural and food exports since the 1960s. The composition of Africa’s agricultural exports between 1961 and 2007 shows that despite the efforts in recent years to include ‘non-traditional’ export products (such as flowers,semi-processed fruits and vegetables and textile products), the traditional exports (coffee, cocoa, tea, and spices) along with beverages and tobacco still cover an important share (35 percent in 2006-07) of agricultural exports and remain the largest components of food exports (tobacco aside).
Since 2000, the shares of these traditional export products have slightly fallen, slowly giving way to fruits and vegetable exports. These are average figures for the continent, so the actual export composition varies across countries. There are countries (e.g. Kenya) where the ‘non-traditional export commodities such as fruits and vegetables and flowers have become the backbone of agricultural exports. It is also important to note that cereals are among Africa’s other main agricultural exports but cereals’ export shares have been fluctuating. However, most of the cereal exports are for markets within Africa, while exports of fruits and vegetables, as well as coffee, cocoa, and spices, are for markets outside the continent mostly .
3. > AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS NO LONGER THE MAIN SOURCE OF FOREIGN CURRENCIES:
African agricultural exports as a fraction of total merchandise exported have fallen sharply over the years indicating that the revenues from other export categories (e.g. apparel and textile, fisheries, mining, oil) have risen steadily.Between 1960 and 2007, the share of agricultural exports out of total merchandise exports fell from 42 percent to less than 6 percent. The falling share has been mostly pronounced in West Africa. This is perhaps due to the rise in export of fossil oil and minerals as well as the rise in textile export under free export processing zones in that region.
4.> LOW LEVELS OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE
BOTH WITHIN AFRICA (INTRA-TRADE) AND BETWEEN AFRICA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD (EXTERNAL TRADE :
In general, the values of agricultural imports to and exports from Africa are only small portions of the world’s total agricultural trade. For instance, between 2005-2007, African agricultural imports and exports each represented less than 5 percent of the world’s agricultural imports and exports. The dismal performance of African agricultural trade reflects the high levels of internal and external trade barriers despite the continent’s vast agricultural potential.
The level of African intra-trade in agriculture and food products is low in comparison with its total trade volume. According to COMTRADE (2010) data, between 2004-2007 only one-fifth of African food exports stayed in Africa, whereas 88 percent of Africa’s total agricultural imports originated from outside the continent. However, the share of intra-trade of food over the total food trade varied greatly among commodities and was high in some cases. Cereals, live animals, meat, and dairy products were the most intra exported food products, representing 67, 61, 58 and 55 percent respectively out of Africa’s total export of these products. Conversely, 92 percent of the exports of fruits and vegetables, 90 percent of coffee, cocoa, and tea, and 89 percent of spice went outside the continent. Likewise, the most intra-imported products were coffee, cocoa, and tea (41 percent in total), and spices (29 percent). While some African countries have been importing their cereals, oils and fats, and dairy products from other African countries, such intra-imports have remained less that 10 percent of Africa’s total imports for these products; the rest, about 90 percent, has to be imported from outside the continent, especially from North America and from Europe. Africa’s main agricultural import origins and export destinations have been the European Union and Asia, especially China, India, and Japan.
It is noted that official trade statistics may not include some cross-border trade, especially on live animals and some basic foodstuff.
5.>AFRICAN FOOD IMPORTS COMPOSED MAINLY OF CEREALS AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS:
Between 1980 and 2007 Africa net food imports in real terms grew at an average 3.4 percent per year (FAOSTAT 2011), and it may be asked ‘what fuelled this rise in agricultural and especially food imports?’ Data show that carbohydrate, the primary staple, is the main driver of this growth and also constitutes the bulk of African food imports. Although the composition of food imports varied slightly from period to period, cereals (including rice, maize, and wheat), and livestock products (dairy and meat) represented at least 50 percent of Africa total food imports. Imports of cereals and livestock products peaked at nearly 60 percent of total food imports in the early 1980s but have slightly declined thereafter. The value of sugar and vegetable oil imports has remained at about 20 percent of total imports.
6.> SLUGGISH AND CONCENTRATED AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS:
Compared with the fast growing food imports, Africa’s agricultural exports have not increased much. Moreover, Africa as a continent has not managed to diversify much its agricultural and food exports since the 1960s. The composition of Africa’s agricultural exports between 1961 and 2007 shows that despite the efforts in recent years to include ‘non-traditional’ export products (such as flowers,semi-processed fruits and vegetables and textile products), the traditional exports (coffee, cocoa, tea, and spices) along with beverages and tobacco still cover an important share (35 percent in 2006-07) of agricultural exports and remain the largest components of food exports (tobacco aside).
Since 2000, the shares of these traditional export products have slightly fallen, slowly giving way to fruits and vegetable exports. These are average figures for the continent, so the actual export composition varies across countries. There are countries (e.g. Kenya) where the ‘non-traditional export commodities such as fruits and vegetables and flowers have become the backbone of agricultural exports. It is also important to note that cereals are among Africa’s other main agricultural exports but cereals’ export shares have been fluctuating. However, most of the cereal exports are for markets within Africa, while exports of fruits and vegetables, as well as coffee, cocoa, and spices, are for markets outside the continent mostly .
7. > AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS NO LONGER THE MAIN SOURCE OF FOREIGN CURRENCIES:
African agricultural exports as a fraction of total merchandise exported have fallen sharply over the years indicating that the revenues from other export categories (e.g. apparel and textile, fisheries, mining, oil) have risen steadily.Between 1960 and 2007, the share of agricultural exports out of total merchandise exports fell from 42 percent to less than 6 percent. The falling share has been mostly pronounced in West Africa. This is perhaps due to the rise in export of fossil oil and minerals as well as the rise in textile export under free export processing zones in that region.
Food import dependency is viewed differently depending on each individual country’s ability to pay its food import bill. For some oil or mineral rich countries (e.g. Botswana, Libya) or for some of the relatively more industrialized countries (e.g. Mauritius), importing some types of food products (like fruits and vegetables) seems more beneficial than producing these products at home, especially since they have enough foreign currency reserves to pay for the food import bills. But for cash-strapped countries (e.g. Burundi, Central African Republic, Eritrea), persistent food import becomes a problem when the high and rising food import bills take money away from other important development agendas without resolving food insecurity. The problem is even bigger for countries where exports rely mainly on agriculture but the revenues from traditional exports such as cocoa, coffee and spices are less certain and at the mercy of volatile international market prices. FAO data show that in 2007, only about one-third (19 out of 53) of African countries had enough agricultural export revenue to pay for their food import bills, and the rest had to draw money from other resources or wait for food donations to ensure a stable food supply. In countries like Burundi, Cap Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Gambia, Sao Tome and Principe and Somalia, the total export revenues of total merchandise (agriculture and non-agriculture) were far short of agricultural (including food) import bills. Detailed investigation of the issue of food insecurity in Africa has already been the object of other FAO reports and is not the focus of the article.
However, the specific concern over the ability of some African countries to afford increasingly costly food imports to improve food security has motivated the search for answers on why Africa has become a net food importer.
AFRICA FOOD TRADE CHALLENGES:
1> FOOD IMPORTS RISING FASTER THAN
AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD EXPORTS: Africa lost its status as a net exporter of agricultural products (food included) during the early 1980s when prices of raw commodities (mainly coffee, cocoa and spices), which constituted the bulk of its agricultural export revenues, tumbled and local food production grew sluggishly. Since 1980, agricultural imports have grown consistently faster than agricultural exports and in 2007 reached a record high of USD 47 billion (FAOSTAT, 2011, COMTRADE, 2010), yielding a deficit of about USD 22 billion.
Although for Africa as a continent, agricultural export revenue alone can no longer pay for agricultural imports, agricultural and food-trade balances vary across countries.
AFRICAN FOOD IMPORTS COMPOSED MAINLY OF CEREALS AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS:
Between 1980 and 2007 Africa net food imports in real terms grew at an average 3.4 percent per year (FAOSTAT 2011), and it may be asked ‘what fuelled this rise in agricultural and especially food imports?’ Data show that carbohydrate, the primary staple, is the main driver of this growth and also constitutes the bulk of African food imports. Although the composition of food imports varied slightly from period to period, cereals (including rice, maize, and wheat), and livestock products (dairy and meat) represented at least 50 percent of Africa's total food imports. Imports of cereals and livestock products peaked at nearly 60 percent of total food imports in the early 1980s but have slightly declined thereafter. The value of sugar and vegetable oil imports has remained at about 20 percent of total imports.
2> SLUGGISH AND CONCENTRATED AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS:
Compared with the fast growing food imports, Africa’s agricultural exports have not increased much. Moreover, Africa as a continent has not managed to diversify much its agricultural and food exports since the 1960s. The composition of Africa’s agricultural exports between 1961 and 2007 shows that despite the efforts in recent years to include ‘non-traditional’ export products (such as flowers,semi-processed fruits and vegetables and textile products), the traditional exports (coffee, cocoa, tea, and spices) along with beverages and tobacco still cover an important share (35 percent in 2006-07) of agricultural exports and remain the largest components of food exports (tobacco aside).
Since 2000, the shares of these traditional export products have slightly fallen, slowly giving way to fruits and vegetable exports. These are average figures for the continent, so the actual export composition varies across countries. There are countries (e.g. Kenya) where the ‘non-traditional export commodities such as fruits and vegetables and flowers have become the backbone of agricultural exports. It is also important to note that cereals are among Africa’s other main agricultural exports but cereals’ export shares have been fluctuating. However, most of the cereal exports are for markets within Africa, while exports of fruits and vegetables, as well as coffee, cocoa, and spices, are for markets outside the continent mostly .
3. > AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS NO LONGER THE MAIN SOURCE OF FOREIGN CURRENCIES:
African agricultural exports as a fraction of total merchandise exported have fallen sharply over the years indicating that the revenues from other export categories (e.g. apparel and textile, fisheries, mining, oil) have risen steadily.Between 1960 and 2007, the share of agricultural exports out of total merchandise exports fell from 42 percent to less than 6 percent. The falling share has been mostly pronounced in West Africa. This is perhaps due to the rise in export of fossil oil and minerals as well as the rise in textile export under free export processing zones in that region.
4.> LOW LEVELS OF AGRICULTURAL TRADE
BOTH WITHIN AFRICA (INTRA-TRADE) AND BETWEEN AFRICA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD (EXTERNAL TRADE :
In general, the values of agricultural imports to and exports from Africa are only small portions of the world’s total agricultural trade. For instance, between 2005-2007, African agricultural imports and exports each represented less than 5 percent of the world’s agricultural imports and exports. The dismal performance of African agricultural trade reflects the high levels of internal and external trade barriers despite the continent’s vast agricultural potential.
The level of African intra-trade in agriculture and food products is low in comparison with its total trade volume. According to COMTRADE (2010) data, between 2004-2007 only one-fifth of African food exports stayed in Africa, whereas 88 percent of Africa’s total agricultural imports originated from outside the continent. However, the share of intra-trade of food over the total food trade varied greatly among commodities and was high in some cases. Cereals, live animals, meat, and dairy products were the most intra exported food products, representing 67, 61, 58 and 55 percent respectively out of Africa’s total export of these products. Conversely, 92 percent of the exports of fruits and vegetables, 90 percent of coffee, cocoa, and tea, and 89 percent of spice went outside the continent. Likewise, the most intra-imported products were coffee, cocoa, and tea (41 percent in total), and spices (29 percent). While some African countries have been importing their cereals, oils and fats, and dairy products from other African countries, such intra-imports have remained less that 10 percent of Africa’s total imports for these products; the rest, about 90 percent, has to be imported from outside the continent, especially from North America and from Europe. Africa’s main agricultural import origins and export destinations have been the European Union and Asia, especially China, India, and Japan.
It is noted that official trade statistics may not include some cross-border trade, especially on live animals and some basic foodstuff.
5.>AFRICAN FOOD IMPORTS COMPOSED MAINLY OF CEREALS AND LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS:
Between 1980 and 2007 Africa net food imports in real terms grew at an average 3.4 percent per year (FAOSTAT 2011), and it may be asked ‘what fuelled this rise in agricultural and especially food imports?’ Data show that carbohydrate, the primary staple, is the main driver of this growth and also constitutes the bulk of African food imports. Although the composition of food imports varied slightly from period to period, cereals (including rice, maize, and wheat), and livestock products (dairy and meat) represented at least 50 percent of Africa total food imports. Imports of cereals and livestock products peaked at nearly 60 percent of total food imports in the early 1980s but have slightly declined thereafter. The value of sugar and vegetable oil imports has remained at about 20 percent of total imports.
6.> SLUGGISH AND CONCENTRATED AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS:
Compared with the fast growing food imports, Africa’s agricultural exports have not increased much. Moreover, Africa as a continent has not managed to diversify much its agricultural and food exports since the 1960s. The composition of Africa’s agricultural exports between 1961 and 2007 shows that despite the efforts in recent years to include ‘non-traditional’ export products (such as flowers,semi-processed fruits and vegetables and textile products), the traditional exports (coffee, cocoa, tea, and spices) along with beverages and tobacco still cover an important share (35 percent in 2006-07) of agricultural exports and remain the largest components of food exports (tobacco aside).
Since 2000, the shares of these traditional export products have slightly fallen, slowly giving way to fruits and vegetable exports. These are average figures for the continent, so the actual export composition varies across countries. There are countries (e.g. Kenya) where the ‘non-traditional export commodities such as fruits and vegetables and flowers have become the backbone of agricultural exports. It is also important to note that cereals are among Africa’s other main agricultural exports but cereals’ export shares have been fluctuating. However, most of the cereal exports are for markets within Africa, while exports of fruits and vegetables, as well as coffee, cocoa, and spices, are for markets outside the continent mostly .
7. > AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS NO LONGER THE MAIN SOURCE OF FOREIGN CURRENCIES:
African agricultural exports as a fraction of total merchandise exported have fallen sharply over the years indicating that the revenues from other export categories (e.g. apparel and textile, fisheries, mining, oil) have risen steadily.Between 1960 and 2007, the share of agricultural exports out of total merchandise exports fell from 42 percent to less than 6 percent. The falling share has been mostly pronounced in West Africa. This is perhaps due to the rise in export of fossil oil and minerals as well as the rise in textile export under free export processing zones in that region.
