AGRICULTURAL NEWS - The sub-Saharan African agri-food system is undergoing significant changes.
Consumption is growing due to rapid population growth, and consumers are increasingly demanding higher-value food products such as animal proteins and dairy.
This was according to Lulama Ndibongo-Traub, of the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP), who spoke at the launch of Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy’s (BFAP’s) Baseline Agricultural Outlook report for 2017 in Pretoria.
South Africa had to question, however, whether it was on the correct path to meet growing demand in Africa, Ndibongo-Traub said.
“Given the rapid growth expected in consumer demand, major concerns exist over whether adequate supplies can be sourced through local production,” she said.
According to the BFAP report, projections by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) of Africa’s production and consumption of high-value and cereal commodities over the period 2016-2025 showed that an increasing share of the region’s growing demand for food products would be met by imports.
