India To Unlock Africa's Agribusiness Potential

India has begun moves to help Africa set up agri-business centres, seed incubators, modern laboratories and joint projects as part of an enhanced partnership in agriculture to achieve food and nutrition security, promote entrepreneurship and create a trillion-dollar food market by 2030.

Proposals for such sectoral cooperation will be bounced this week at the Asia-Africa Agribusiness Forum meeting in which agriculture ministers of some 15 African countries will take part. The details, official sources said, could be worked out and decisions taken at the Africa-India Summit this year in Delhi.

Africa is well-endowed with resources but it lacks much of the expertise to unlock their commercial potential by restructuring its agriculture industry to a more profitable form of agribusiness. Many African countries are net food importers and small holder farmers comprise much of the continent's agriculture sector.

"Small holder farmers must be given access to scientific innovation designed for the poor, to help them connect to markets, but in a way that builds their own resilience rather than creating dependency," says William Dar, director general of the Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).