The Africa We Want envisions Africa as a continent on equal footing with the rest of the world, as an information society, and as an integrated e-economy where every government, business, and citizen has access to reliable and affordable digital services by increasing broad penetration and providing venture capital to young entrepreneurs and innovators. Digitization offers new opportunities to boost the economy (through e-commerce), cut red tape, reduce trade costs (through e-government and the digitalization of public services), leapfrog, and participate in the 4th industrialization revolution.
This potential is even greater for landlocked developing countries (LDCs). Despite these opportunities, there are several limitations that African countries continue to face; some of which relate to the current infrastructure, digital and technological gaps, and data gaps. For example, ITU Facts and Figures 2017 show that only 21.8% of Africans have access to the internet.
As the world’s population grows to around 10 billion by 2050, the global agriculture system is under pressure to provide sufficient nutritious food to meet the demand. In many places, fertile land is degrading, water resources are drying, and genetic resources are disappearing. Unsustainable agricultural practices and other anthropogenic pressures are driving these processes. Climate change, increased extreme weather events, and the spread (induced by climate change) of pests and diseases make agricultural production even more uncertain.
On top of this, price volatility has a disruptive effect on production systems and food security, especially for vulnerable populations. Achieving food security through sustainable agriculture is a global priority for the UN in the next 15 years, as enshrined in the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDG 2). Achieving this goal is no simple task. It means sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and trade, while creating more resilient food production systems, and shaping more accessible and equitable markets. In this context, one key question is: what does digitized trade mean for the agriculture production sectors in Africa?