Regional trade was lagging before the pandemic. What about now?
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Some 85 percent of Africa’s food needs were sourced from beyond the continent before the pandemic. That number is expected to grow exponentially over the next few years.
With support from Policy LINK, an Africa-based Strategic Partners Group — composed of representatives of the Regional Economic Community, trade associations, research institutes, financial service providers, and development partners — came together last week to assess the state of regional trade in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore ways to boost the competitiveness of key value chains, especially in agriculture. The dialogue and learning session focused on issues affecting regional trade based on two studies by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, or AGRA, a Policy LINK partner and key presenter at the July 8 meeting.
Some 85 percent of Africa’s food needs were sourced from beyond the continent before the pandemic. That number is expected to grow exponentially over the next few years.
According to the studies, which offered a political economy analysis and looked at food market competitiveness and demand trends, some 85 percent of Africa’s food needs were sourced from beyond the continent before the pandemic. That number is expected to grow exponentially over the next few years, reaching as much as $110 billion by 2025. The AGRA studies also showed that, although USAID and other donors have invested heavily in programs aimed at eliminating regional trade barriers, the flow of agricultural products across borders remains low. This, in turn, has limited the impact of trade on economic growth and poverty reduction.
AGRA’s research confirms similar findings by Policy LINK and AKADEMIYA2063, which were presented at an earlier Strategic Partners Group meeting and showed declining regional commerce due to low cereal production and trade. The research also identified high costs as a major hindrance for trade in Eastern Africa.
To help reverse this trend, USAID’s Kenya and East Africa regional mission enlisted Policy LINK to assess the key constraints to regional trade in agricultural products and to recommend high-impact programming and investment options. Policy LINK has been working with two Africa-based research organizations, AKADEMIYA2063 and DevPact, to generate this evidence.
Key to their efforts has been engagement with the Strategic Partners Group, established with Policy LINK support to ensure that the research would be inclusive, collaborative, and actionable. This month’s meeting, which included 24 participants, was the group’s third and comes as AKADEMIYA2063 wraps up its analysis of regional value chains and their competitiveness in nine countries — Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Policy LINK has facilitated these strategic meetings, together with one-on-one meetings with key stakeholders, to reflect on the implications of this evidence on the way market actors conduct trade, to inform donor programming, and to promote the use and application of these findings. The Strategic Partners Group discussions also informed the next phase of the Policy LINK-led East Africa Regional Trade Competitiveness Activity, which focuses on generating innovative approaches that the private sector, governments, and development partners can invest in to improve trade.