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"Human capital will play a pivotal role in the transformation of African economies"

2023-01-10

The potential the African food sector holds is still far too strongly associated with the continent’s natural resources, Ben Leyka maintains. He seeks to change this with the African Agri Council.

It is important to shift the focus from primary agriculture to modern and commercial agriculture in Africa. © GIZ / Thomas Imo

By Ben Leyka

Ben Leyka is Chief Executive Officer of the African Agri Council NPC. He has worked with global stakeholders, including the Pan-African Parliament, the crowdfunding platform Capital Surge Inc and the investment company Equitics. Ben sits on various Board Committees and is also involved with the Africa 1st Initiative and DRC Invest.

All contributions

Edited for length and clarity, this interview appeared first in Rural21 Vol. 56 No. 4/2022 on Financing sustainable agri-food systems and is part of a media cooperation between Rural21 and weltohnehunger.org.

Rural 21: Mr Leyka, what is the story behind the African Agri Council?
Ben Leyka: The African Agri Council NPC – AAC for short – was launched in 2015 to promote the development of sustainable food and agriculture in Africa by facilitating private sector investment in bankable opportunities. Our goal was to build a network of senior executives and policy-makers, provide a platform for our network to connect and share insights, as well as create a hunting ground for investment ready projects. The Council was determined to present African agriculture as a business – for far too long the industry was dominated by public sector and donor funding, while its value was often presented in the continent’s availability of land and water. So the AAC partnered with financial institutions, private equity firms, asset managers and Development Financial Institutions to present a new narrative of what African agriculture could be, one that combines the availability of land and water with favourable policies and private sector investment. We started working with government officials, project owners and developers to identify bankable agricultural projects and connect them to our financial community.

What does it take to move the sector forward in this sense? And what is the ACC doing here?
First, we must change the perception of African agriculture. The AAC joined the “making agriculture sexy” campaign to attract the youth by shifting the focus away from primary agriculture presented through “pictures of women carrying a child on their back, working on a farm with primitive tools, under a burning sun” to modern and commercial agriculture across the value chain. The integration of the youth in food and agriculture can only happen through commercial activities instead of subsistence farming. Second, emphasis on entrepreneurship. Sustainable development of the sector must be driven by agri-food entrepreneurs. However, many entrepreneurs face huge challenges – from obtaining initial funding and accessing essential skills, to understanding market access and operating a sustainable business. Africa cannot reach a food-secured status without investing in human capital development for small and medium scale farmers (midstream), agribusiness start-ups (upstream and downstream) and co-operatives. Our project Athari Africa focuses on improving agri-food entrepreneurs’ productivity, business model and access to finance.
Third, for all its potential to transform Africa into an industrialised continent, agriculture can trap people into poverty if it remains solely reliant on public sector and donor funding. Private sector involvement and investment is paramount to achieving food security in Africa – policy-makers must create conducive environments to facilitate the flow of private sector funding and expertise. The AAC has built one of the largest networks of private sector operators in Africa.

Lastly, investment in food and agriculture is particularly treacherous, with low productivity in many African countries, devastating impacts of climate change, and limited access to infrastructure and technology. As a result, institutional investors, donors and funding partners are unlikely to reach those most in need to truly ensure a food secure Africa. Agri-food entrepreneurs who are tapped into regional markets, who already have some investment capacity and are a little bit better equipped can attract the interest of the investment community. But then the most marginalised who don’t have secure land rights, market access or financial access are left behind. The Councils’s Nexus of Agri, an upcoming digital members’ platform, addresses this problem.

What does AAC’s approach feature?
We believe that Africa’s food and agriculture development must be based on sound economic and business principles to ensure long-term sustainability. As a result, all our programmes and initiatives are built on a solid business foundation, with an understanding that accelerated food and agriculture funding and investment can only take place if realistic fundamentals exist. The events which we run are developed through research with industry experts and organised by event experts, a combination which ensures their quality and relevance. They focus on investment, market accessibility, policy reforms and technological innovation. All our programmes and activities are closely intertwined and provide a continuous support throughout the value chain.

Could you mention some examples?
Our project Athari Africa was launched in 2021 and is working with over 600 beneficiaries in South Africa and Botswana. It houses the market support programme, the co-op support programme for agricultural cooperatives and AFTI – the agri-food technical innovation programme. These programmes target the youth, with 65 per cent representing women-led and -influenced agribusinesses. Athari Africa’s ambitious target is to develop and up-skill ten million agribusiness start-ups by leveraging our network of global agriculture and financial experts as well as policy-makers. For several years now, we have organised the African Agri Investment Indaba (AAII), which has brought together over 4,000 key stakeholders during the past five editions to discuss trends influencing food and agribusiness economics over the next decade in Africa. The Market Access Africa (MAA) first edition brought together 781 participants from across the globe to showcase the latest technologies and trends that will raise the continent’s food and agricultural productivity, adapt to climate change, link to trading services and access new markets.

What are you especially proud of?
The AAC has successfully removed barriers that existed within the African food and agriculture value chain by bringing policy-makers, investors, senior executives from established businesses as well as start-ups and emerging ventures representing the entire value chain together, linking projects to financiers, investors and service providers.

Have the challenges which the sector is facing changed over the last few years?
The main challenges faced in African agriculture are well documented: access to finance, access to market, access to technology, restrictive policies, climate change and lack of skilled labour among others.

A rising world population, a global pandemic, and a conflict in Ukraine combined with climate change impacts and increased inflation have disrupted food production, distribution, accessibility and affordability across the globe.

Vulnerabilities in global food systems have been exposed, fuelling further concerns about resilience and sustainability in the food and agriculture industry.

But you are nevertheless optimistic...
Yes. Africa is well positioned to become the global breadbasket; with 60 per cent of the world’s unused cropland spread across the continent that can be used for farming, it has the potential to emerge as a major food supplier. African governments are prioritising agriculture on their respective development agendas, and this shift has been supported by increased access to technological innovations and investments from the private sector and development partners. However, despite those positive developments, African food systems have been severely impacted by external shocks over the past three years.

How have you responded to these new challenges?
Through Athari Africa, the AAC has adapted its strategy to promoting the development of sustainable food and agriculture, by prioritising human capital development as central to building sustainable and resilient food systems. The availability of land, water and investment needs to be supported by skilled labour.

Where do you see the public sector’s role here?
Whether African economies will be able to prioritise human capital in their development agendas or not will be determined by policy action taken now to address training and learning gaps. African countries unfortunately have traditionally lacked a clear human capital development plan that supports strategically identified sectors like food and agriculture.

Africa is the world’s most youthful continent, and its young people are its most precious resource.

Human capital will play a pivotal role in the transformation of the continent’s economies as well as the resilience and sustainability of its food systems. The public sector has an opportunity to establish investment in human capital as a key priority on the continental development agenda, given the current global shocks.

The 5th edition of African Agri Investment Indaba was held just a few days ago. Are you satisfied with it?
This AAII edition was truly special, from the amount of networking that was conducted onsite, it was evident, after a three-year hiatus of the show, that our industry welcomed the return of this platform allowing people to connect, share insights and have important discussions around investment opportunities across Africa’s agri value chain. Over the three days, we were delighted to host 800 participants from over 30 countries who engaged in more than 3,900 B2B meetings. The event welcomed over 40 representatives from global Development Financial Institutions to discuss their strategic approach to achieving food security in Africa. The “Women in Commercial Agriculture and Agro-processing” workshop welcomed over 300 attendees – once again showcasing the industry’s commitment to elevating women-led and -influenced agribusinesses’ status. So we look forward to welcoming our members, partners and network to the next edition of the Agri Indaba from the 20th-22nd November 2023.

And what is happening in the meantime?
The African Agri Council is at a crossroads; it must strengthen its institutional capacity as a pan-African institution to keep up with the growing demand of ensuring a food-secured continent by strategically aligning its activities and programmes to support continental and global agendas. Athari Africa, which will include beneficiaries from Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Namibia, Nigeria and Zambia in 2023, is well positioned to support the African Continental Free Trade Area. The AfCFTA is a game-changer as it triggers regional integration of agriculture value chains; successful integration requires qualified companies producing enough products for local and regional consumption that are able to compete against foreign products. The AAC will play an essential part in facilitating the transfer of skills and technology and launch a global PR campaign to build trust in the ‘Made in Africa’ brand now being developed by the African Union and the European Union in consultation with the private sector. Through its various platforms, it will connect buyers, sellers, solution providers and financial institutions.

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Climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies for the African livestock sector

A Contribution by ILRI and GIZ

The production of animal-source foods is becoming increasingly difficult due to the impact of climate change on the livestock sector in Africa. Though, Livestock make a crucial contribution to food security in Africa. Three papers by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ, ILRI and World Bank analyze, how Africas future livestock sector can look like.

Young farmers as custodians of transformation

An Interview with William Madudike

How can rural economies become viable and modern? William Madudike, youth representative of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) and a potato farmer himself, examines this question. He argues that the whole rural economy and actors from producers to consumers need to be considered. An interview on the initiative role of youth.

Towards Climate Justice: Securing Women’s Land Rights for a Resilient Tomorrow

A Contribution by TMG

In the midst of global climate discussions, a resounding call emerges: Women's land rights must be the cornerstone of our climate actions. They're not just pieces of the puzzle; they form the foundation for true climate resilience. TMG Think Tank for Sustainability reports from the first African Climate Summit.

New Podcast – Out now!

A Podcast by Food4Transformation

In a world facing crises – from pandemics, armed conflicts, and climate change – how do we ensure everyone has enough food within planetary boundaries? A new podcast by Food4Transformation discover solutions talking to government officials, scientists, NGOs and farmers around the world.

Learning from Each Other

An Interview with Dr. Jacqueline Mkindi

Partnerships are needed to face the multiple shocks for food systems. This is what Dr. Jacqueline Mkindi, president of the Agriculture Council Tanzania (ACT) and CEO of the Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA) states.

The common thread is the importance of collaboration

A contribution by Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

It takes the joint efforts of diverse actors to achieve a transformative impact on the global food system. Barbara Rehbinder, Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN), discusses four people-centred principles to get closer to this goal.

Shu Wen Ng, the Clear-Sighted

An Interview with Shu Wen Ng

Shu Wen Ng is a health economist. She knows what is best suited to go on a plate. But how can this be achieved on a mass scale in countries with lower incomes? "The solutions to gett there already exist," she says, "but what is often missing is courageous leadership to implement them."

"Pandemic increases violence against women"

Interview with Léa Rouanet

African countries still face huge gender gaps in terms of access to work and capital. What are the consequences of Corona for women in Africa? Jan Rübel interviewed Léa Rouanet on lockdowns and gender-based violence. The economist works at the Africa Gender Innovation Lab of the World Bank.

Rethinking funding

By Anna Sophia Rainer

Peasant farmers tend to fail due to bank credit limits. But investment could help them generate a sustainable income. This has given rise to an intense discussion about potential digital solutions.

5 questions to S. Fan: Where are the new roads?

Interview with Shenggen Fan

Shortly before ending his position as Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPR) Dr. Shenggen Fan talks about the reforms and new modes of operation needed to achieve global food security in the coming decade.

Support for sustainable start-ups

Companies in Africa that need financing between $20,000 and $200,000 find relatively few investors, as this sector is too large for microcredit and too small for institutional investors. This creates a "gap in the middle" where companies have limited options. A project of the World Resource Institute provides a remedy with the Landaccelerator 2020.

A World Resources Institute project

Video: 4 Questions to Claudia Makdristo

A video clip by Seedstars

Startups are booming in African agriculture. What are the current trend and challenges – and can other regions benefit from innovative approaches? A Video-Interview with Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager of Seedstars

The digitised farmyard

An interactive graphic Jan Rübel

Lots of apps are entering the market, but what really makes sense? For African agriculture, some of it seems like a gimmick, some like a real step forward. So this is what a smallholder farm in Africa could look like today - with the help of smartphones, internet and electricity.

Africa's digital disruption

Graphics

What Africa is experiencing in the course of digitisation is a disruption. Here three steps are taken in one, there you remain. In any case, the changes are enormous and bring some surprises. A graphic walk.

Building our food systems back better

A contribution by Jes Weigelt and Alexander Müller

What is required to make food systems provide sufficient, healthy food while not harming the planet? How should food security be maintained given the threat posed by climate change? Our authors look at some aspects of tomorrow’s food systems against the backdrop of the corona crisis.

A global signpost: What way is the market, please?

A contribution by the World Food Programme

There is a clear global task: We need to feed nine billion people by 2050. We, the people of Earth, must produce more food and waste less. That is the top priority of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), too - the description of a challenge.

Gender equality: Essential for food and nutrition security

A contribution by Carsta Neuenroth (BfdW)

The majority of producers in developing countries are women. Although they contribute significantly to the food security of their families, they remain chronically disadvantaged in male-dominated agriculture in terms of access to land, credit, technology and education.

Not waiting for a savior

An article by Lidet Tadesse

While Africa is the least affected region by Covid-19 so far, the number of confirmed cases and deaths on the continent is quickly rising. Despite the challenges many African countries continue to face, the African response to the coronavirus pandemic displays innovation and ingenuity.

Statement from GAFSP Co-Chairs: GAFSP and COVID-19 Pandemic

A contribution by GAFSP

COVID-19 has unprecedented effects on the world. As always, the most vulnerable are the hardest hit, both at home and - especially - abroad. A joint appeal by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) and the Department for International Development (DFID).

“They said: You can do it”

A contribution by Bread for the World

As President of the IABM cooperative in Muhanga, Alphonsine Mukankusi is not simply focused on the figures. She has learned how to deal with people and how to take on responsibility. At the same time, her work helps her to come to terms with the past

Read more “They said: You can do it”

What do you expect from this Pre Summit, Mr. Haddad?

Interview with Lawrence Haddad (GAIN)

Nutrition experts from all over the world are coming together in Rome. They are not only distilling 2000 ideas to improve food systems - they are also preparing for the big UN summit in New York in September. An interview.

Mr. Campari, how do we create sustainable food systems?

Interview with Joao Campari (WWF)

Journalist Jan Rübel spoke with Joao Campari ahead of the UNFSS Pre-Summit. The Chair of Action Track 3 highlights key challenges in transforming existing food systems towards sustainable production and shares his expectations for the Summit.

UNFSS Pre-Summit: What did it achieve?

Interview with Martina Fleckenstein (WWF), Michael Kühn (WHH) and Christel Weller-Molongua (GIZ)

After the summit means pre-summit: It was the first time that the United Nations held a summit on food systems. Martina Fleckenstein, Michael Kühn and Christel Weller-Molongua reviewed the situation in this joint interview.

Investing in Healthy Soils: Curse or Blessing?

A Contribution by WWF

How investing in healthy soils provides incentives for more sustainable agriculture even as it demonstrates the need for far reaching changes in the agrisector.

Successful Blueprints for African Agriculture

A Contribution by GIZ

At the 8th German-African Agribusiness Forum (GAAF) representatives from business and politics discussed successful investment models to improve living conditions in Africa.

Together towards Sustainable Development: Private Sector Cooperation

A Multimedia-Toolbox by GIZ

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through responsible investments in the agri-food sector of emerging countries.

CompensACTION aims to reward farmers for climate performance

A Contribution of the Initiative

The CompensACTION Initiative for food security and a healthy planet, launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2022, is gaining momentum. It aims to financially compensate smallholder farmers for their contribution to preserving ecosystems. Initial successes have been achieved in Ethiopia, Lesotho and Brazil.

Innovative donor approaches and sustainable finance – A Review of UNFSS+2

A contribution by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development

Two years following the UN Food Systems Summit, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate hosted an official side event at the UNFSS+2. The event explored how public donors can increase the impact of their investments.

Agricultural Financing – from a broader Perspective

A Contribution by GIZ

In Sub-Saharan Africa, not all financial institutions (FIs) have access to knowledge about how to implement processes to enhance rural financial inclusion. The pan-African Community of Practice (CoP) plays a pivotal role in supporting these institutions along this transformative journey.

Agriculture is more than Culture or Tradition

A Contribution by Simeon Kambalame

How can agriculture engage more young people in rural areas? Advocacy and education campaigns can play an important role here. Simeon Kambalame, Timveni Child and Youth Media Organisation, has launched such a campaign in Malawi.

Against all Odds

A Contribution by Claudia Huber

Rose Okello is a Matoke farmer and single mother living in a village near Mbarara, a town in southern Uganda. To ensure that she can pay for her family's food, her children's school fees and other expenses on time, Rose uses various financial services. Her story portrays hurdles but also hope for women in agribusiness.

"Human capital will play a pivotal role in the transformation of African economies"

By Ben Leyka

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