Feeding Africa’s growing masses

Huge challenges and opportunities

WITH AFRICA’s population expected to grow towards 2.5 million people by 2050, there is huge opportunity on the continent – but only if a few things are done correctly and immediately.

This is according to Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde, a keynote speaker at the African Agri Investment Indaba yesterday at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

The event attracted 600 leaders in the agricultural economy from around the world and 100 investors from over 70 firms.

Winde said the indaba sought to strengthen the continent’s agriculture sector and identify investment and growth opportunities. He said agriculture was a serious business and needed to take its rightful place on the continent.

He said the Agri Indaba would like to see trade and policy working together: “Because if you work with trade and policy at the same time, we will be able to position this continent very differently over the next few years, especially going towards 2050.

“It is about feeding our own population, that is going to be growing to 2.5 million people in Africa. But I do believe that is our opportunity.”

Winde said Africa also had 800 million hectares of arable agricultural land that had not been tilled yet, and although the continent had huge opportunity, this could only be realised if a few things were done correctly, beginning immediately.

He said a few issues needed to be highlighted, including food security versus the food basket. “If we focus on the food basket we will sort out the food security at the same time. Government’s job is to create the ecosystem, create that enabling environment, that is where we have to really work together.”

Winde also highlighted the oil and green economy, and that in context of the new economy, the resilient economy of the future, the continent must move away from oil to solar power and wind power.

He said these were going to be tough