By Dr. Charity Osei-Amponsah (CSIR-Science and Technology Policy Research Institute) – AfricaLics Post-doctoral Visiting Fellow
Agro-industrialisation is the growth and development of the industrial sector for wealth creation and inclusive growth, through increased economic integration and productivity in the agriculture sector. It requires changes in growth of agro-processing and agribusiness; institutional (including market structures), organisational and technological innovations at both farm and firm levels. Agro-industrialisation can promote inclusive development by providing sustainable jobs and livelihoods for the vulnerable (youth, women, migrants, low-resource smallholder farmers, aged) in Africa. Despite the importance of agro-industrialisation, progress in most African countries has been minimal, and to a large extent non-inclusive due to various challenges.
Within the face of the challenges of agro-industrialisation, demand for processed agricultural products and ready-prepared foods continue to increase due to urbanisation. The nature and increasing demand for agro-processed products offer opportunities for industrialisation in Africa. There is thus an urgent need for policy strategies that promote sustainable and inclusive agro-industrialisation for economic growth on the continent. But, to be able to achieve this, African researchers must provide insights on the different models of agro-industrialisation and how they can be adapted to fit into the context of specific countries. Most importantly, there is the need for research on:
- Building technological innovations to improve productivity at farm and industrial firm levels
- Improving competitiveness of agro-industries (particularly small and medium scale enterprises) for effective participation in both national and global value chains
- Types of innovation capabilities needed by agro-industries, how they can be acquired and at what levels
- How industrialisation translates into economic transformation, job creation and sustainable development
- Formulation of industrial policy strategies that can grow industries with strong linkages, to empower smallholder farmers as suppliers of high quality agricultural produce.
The Africa research network on Learning, Innovation and Competence building systems (AfricaLics) in collaboration with Aalborg University and Sida is implementing a Visiting post-doctoral Fellowship Programme (VFP), with a research focus on, ‘developing innovation capabilities for sustainable and inclusive industrialisation in Africa’.
This two-year fellowship programme aims at helping early career African researchers to work on self-defined research project that would provide insights to support the agenda of innovation capabilities and industrialisation in Africa. This is a laudable programme that will build the capacities of African researchers and also provide opportunities for them to set up research hubs in different countries and create a network of researchers working on issues of industrialization, innovation and development.
Discussions held by the AfricaLics VFP members and the South African Community of Practice, during the kick-off workshop of the fellowship, indicated that: opportunities for African countries to industrialise depend very much on the innovation capabilities available and how industrial firms can harness them. Policy formulation and implementation processes are also crucial and core drivers to get the private sector and other key stakeholders (researchers, financial institutions) on board the industrialisation agenda. To this end, participants at the workshop deliberated at length on ways in which current innovations (e.g. in ICT) and research initiatives can drive sustainable and inclusive industrialisation in Africa.
Clearly, sustainable and inclusive agro-industrialisation is a strategy for empowerment, equity and economic growth, and it is the sure way for Africa to develop.
Thanks to AfricaLics and Aalborg University for the VFP initiative. Other organisations should support the programme to help build the capacities of African researchers, to make the agenda for sustainable and inclusive agro-industrialisation in Africa a reality.