tawandamusarurwa
Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE could potentially end food waste, which negatively impacts on national food security, as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has engaged Government to improve storage and export of agricultural products.
AfCFTA secretary-general Mr Wamkele Mene told the Ghanaian media that more than US$200 million worth of grain is lost in Zimbabwe annually due to lack of storage and processing options.
The continental body’s secretariat is ramping up efforts to improve the storage and export of agricultural commodities across the continent.
Mr Mene says the initiative has become particularly urgent considering the supply chain disruptions recently experienced during Covid-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations estimates that food losses in Sub-Saharan Africa amount to US$4 billion a year.
This consists of food that rots in the fields, on farms, in transit, in storage and at selling points or in homes.
According to FAO, most of the losses — which are exacerbated by lack of cold chain facilities for perishables, unreliable and inadequate storage and insufficient agro-processing skills among smallholder farming communities — are experienced between harvest and the point of sale.
“We are working with the Government of Zimbabwe and we have set a target . . . Zimbabwe must be a net exporter of grains by processing the excess capacity that already exists,” Mr Mene said at the first-ever Africa Sustainable Supply Chain Summit held in Accra, Ghana, recently.
More trade in agricultural produce
“We have an interest in this as the secretariat, since we want to see more trade in agricultural produce across the African continent,” he added, hinting that other countries like Ghana are in line for similar engagements.
Experts estimate that approximately one-third of the food produced worldwide is wasted, leading to economic losses of around US$1 trillion annually.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the estimated rate is marginally higher, at approximately 37 percent.
A study published by the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Global FoodBanking Network in 2022 suggests that, in Ghana, as much as 3,2 million tonnes of food is lost or wasted throughout the supply chain.
Another estimate claims two-thirds of fruit and vegetables, 40 percent of root crops and 21 percent of grains are lost in Zimbabwe annually.
Mr Mene is optimistic that the emergence of a legal framework for trade on the continent, AfCFTA, and some of its principal pillars — the protocol on the transit of goods, harmonisation of customs procedures and the policy on trade facilitation — will give impetus to the efforts.
“Without these, the ability to establish supply chain networks on the continent that are sustainable will be limited,” Mr Mene was quoted as saying by AgricToday.
Secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce Mr John Denton says the secretariat’s initiative will enhance supply chain processes among members and expedite achievement of the AfCFTA’s forecasted US$450 billion annual contribution to Africa’s gross domestic product by 2035.
“Over time, this will integrate Africa more into global value chains, not only for primary commodities, but also for manufactured goods and services that will help keep value in Africa,” said Mr Denton.
“We will receive innovative skills that are available to the rest of the world and provide the continent with a more robust system, which will enable it to better deal with shocks to supply chains.”
Ghana’s Trade and Industry Minister Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, who was represented by his deputy, Mr Michael Okyere Baafi, and the United Nations Development Programme resident representative in Ghana, Ms Angela Lusigi, pledged their support for strengthening of sustainable supply chains.
Experts say food waste occurring at the market and consumption level of the food system is a global challenge that needs to be addressed.
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