Montpellier: African agribusiness entrepreneurship needed

Despite increased attention and investment into African agribusiness over the past ten years, African small holders are poorly connected to markets and fail to cooperate with each other, according to a new report published by the Montpellier Panel. Montpellier is an advisory panel to European governments on African agri development and based at Imperial College London.

The report suggests a multi-faceted approach to draw entrepreneurs, especially youth, into agribusiness on the continent. The panel’s proposals include changing the perception of agriculture among the continent’s young people, ‘upgrading the value chain’ of African agribusiness and commercialising agribusinesses to make them more efficient. The report also suggests continued micro-finance investment to enhance production in agribusinesses, but also capital which will vastly improve their distribution channels.

Read Small and Growing: Entrepreneurship in African Agriculture.