Implications of the EU’s Green Deal for Africa

In a previous article, I outlined the key aspects of the EU Green Deal and the EU’s intent to reset the global food system.

In this article, I look at how the EU, through its Farm-to-Fork Strategy, will seek a commitment from Third World countries on the use of pesticides and animal welfare, and the fight against microbial resistance. This, of course, presents a number of risks and opportunities for sub-Saharan African countries, which I will unpack.

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES?

The actions in the Farm-to-Fork Strategy are not expected to be implemented until 2022. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, it might take a bit more time for regulators and food system players to align their policies and regulations to the emerging requirements of the food system. Other challenges include:

• Delays. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa typically take between eight and 10 years to make policies. However, with technical support focused on microreforms, the lag time could be reduced to anywhere between three and five years.

• Lack of compliance. The high cost of adopting new regulations remains a key factor, with resource-poor smallholder farmers and small or medium-sized businesses finding it burdensome to acquire various types of certification. For example, Fair Trade Certification costs over US$1 000 (about R14 300) for a smallholder farmer, and without financial support, such a farmer will not be able to absorb additional compliance costs.

• Inadequacies of enforcement. This could potentially become a problem, particularly at the start, mainly due to low capacity (human, technical and financial), and consequently, weak or poor enforcement, which is exacerbated by factors such as corruption. However, for most parts of the export-driven value chains, self-regulation of private standards would provide a sound basis for regulatory compliance.

OPPORTUNITIES

Sub-Saharan Africa still has low levels of fertiliser and chemical use relative to other parts of the world and therefore low levels of soil contamination, and most of the food produced on the continent is still organic and non-genetically modified. There are commercially driven export value chains that produce high-value organic food, but these target niche markets in the EU. With the Farm-toFork Strategy, which ultimately seeks to make these niche markets mainstream, there is a huge opportunity for subSaharan Africa, but only if the continent can begin to produce higher volumes at relatively competitive prices. Other opportunities include:

• Global food demand is projected to increase 60% in 2050. Few EU member states can allocate enough land to produce and match the level of food supply that can meet the projected demand growth.

• In sub-Saharan Africa, there is a fair amount of underutilised cropland available that can be sustainably brought into production to expand and increase food output.

• Sub-Saharan Africa will become a critical supplier to meet an increasingly significant portion of the EU’s food needs, especially if the continent’s food systems adapt and align standards to meet the regulatory requirements dictated in the Farm-to-Fork Strategy. • The EU is depending on progressive technical change as a key driver that will reset the agro-food system. The premise is that technical innovation will drive productivity increases, reducing food prices to affordable levels.

• In sub-Saharan Africa, technical change will involve adoption of technologies that will not only reduce the carbon footprint of the agro-food system, but also increase yields in a sustainable way.

Such technologies include highyielding, drought-resistant, pest-tolerant, genetically engineered crops that can enable farmers to produce more food on less land. This will also allow for more land to be set aside for preservation and increase the potential for carbon sequestration. • Business model innovation is a possibility. Many commercially driven export-oriented value chains have wellestablished systems of traceability and food safety, as well as allergen-control reporting, with audit processes that can identify, verify and authenticate standards.

However, adapting to the demands of the Farm-to-Fork Strategy will involve multinational agribusinesses making significant investments in smallholder production. This will be done by expanding training and capacity-building programmes and corporate social responsibility projects that can lead to an increase in the sourcing of farm production from smallholder farmers.

Partnerships with smallholder farming communities, environmental protection agencies and NGOs can lead to the accumulation of carbon credits and increase market access to the EU.

In the long run, the expectation is that by harmonising standards and practices, structural changes will be made to the food system in such a way that value chain profits are not disproportionately accumulated at the expense of smallholder farmers. This will require higher levels of transparency across the food system.

Dr Tinashe Kapuya is head of the value chain analytics division at the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy.

Email him at tinashe@bfap.co.za.