By Kenneth Mwala – Across the East African region, there’s currently no gazette on land. All land can be used for anything, and all land has been liberalized. In Uganda, individuals can buy an acre of land and section it out. There are no gazzetted areas for public settlements, except a few areas that have been carved out as industrial parks. And that’s where it starts.
Yet, East Africa’s population is growing, the land is shrinking, and we are getting close to the Malthusian trap in the region. Who will grow East Africa’s food? And how will they grow it? The level of industrialization in Africa’s food economy is currently below 10%. Food is also currently grown inefficiently with farming losses accounting for over half of the farming output.
It’s critical that in the next decade, Africa must bite the plug of land reform. Without this bold stroke, Africa will find itself in a fix as a net importer of food. It’s now or never for Africa. Reform the land now or starve. Yet these reforms must be executed with utmost inclusion and precision, without which you risk going down the ground for the same reasons that motivated the reform.
In the new series on Africa Nxt Gen, we explore the challenges for Africa’s future as we delve deeper into the solutions to these challenges.
Africa Nxt Gen: The Future of Africa’s Food is on Land Reform
By Kenneth Mwala – Across the East African region, there’s currently no gazette on land. All land can be used for anything, and all land has been liberalized. In Uganda, individuals can buy an acre of land and section it out. There are no gazzetted areas for public settlements, except a few areas that have been carved out as industrial parks. And that’s where it starts.
Yet, East Africa’s population is growing, the land is shrinking, and we are getting close to the Malthusian trap in the region. Who will grow East Africa’s food? And how will they grow it? The level of industrialization in Africa’s food economy is currently below 10%. Food is also currently grown inefficiently with farming losses accounting for over half of the farming output.
It’s critical that in the next decade, Africa must bite the plug of land reform. Without this bold stroke, Africa will find itself in a fix as a net importer of food. It’s now or never for Africa. Reform the land now or starve. Yet these reforms must be executed with utmost inclusion and precision, without which you risk going down the ground for the same reasons that motivated the reform.
In the new series on Africa Nxt Gen, we explore the challenges for Africa’s future as we delve deeper into the solutions to these challenges.
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