Enhancing Africa's Agri-Value Chains Through Digital Platforms

Abstract

Africa's food security may be at risk if food production does not increase, especially given that by 2023, African food market will more than triple in demand by moving from $300 billion to $1 trillion. However, country-specific interventions have not provided the desired impact towards guaranteeing food security. Across different agricultural value chains, wastages due to lack of access to markets, poor storage, lack of logistics, transport and power infrastructure, among several others. There is, however, the possibility of strengthening these value chains with the right technology deployment. This requires significant investment, which is most effective using collaborative stakeholder approach. The private sector has shown signs of resilience in investing in agriculture by finding the right business models such as digital platforms which are in themselves scalable businesses. Through an interrogative literature review and analysis of case studies, this chapter explores the role of digital platforms in enhancing diverse agricultural value chains across Africa.