Millions of African smallholder farmers who grow fruits and vegetables for export have lost market access as flights are canceled and borders restricted around the world. Morocco, Kenya, and South Africa are the most affected countries. Of course, the global disruption of supply chains is also affecting the import of agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and insecticides.
Selina Wamucii is has released the April 2020 report on the Impact of Coronavirus on Africa's Agriculture; it gives a ground-up perspective on how the pandemic is affecting African farmers.
According to John Oroko, CEO of Selina Wamucii, intra-Africa trade is around 2% while exports from Africa to the rest of the world range from 80% to 90% of total exports, of which a huge share is made up of agricultural produce.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has unfortunately come at a time when our farmers depend largely on exports to markets outside the continent and also before the commencement of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) that was scheduled to commence on July 1, 2020, thereby creating a single continental market of more than 1.3 billion people. Now, unlike no other time, we can see a demonstration of why the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area will be directly linked to securing the livelihoods of African farmers in the future," says Oroko.
“COVID–19 is severely disrupting trade in key markets for Africa's agricultural produce and African farmers are bound to experience a nightmare in export market access,” adds Oroko.
Source: modernghana.com