African agriculture between shock and resilience in the face of Covid-19

Audio 02:04

By: Claire Fages Follow

Loss of outlets, logistical problems ... The Covid-19 constitutes a shock for African agricultural exports, two studies estimate. But the pandemic could be an opportunity for local food crops.

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The impact of Covid-19 on cash crops in Africa is largely negative. While the prices of tropical products were already low, demand has fallen and will continue to fall in Europe and North America, with the containment that has changed consumption habits in Western countries.

Losses could amount, according to McKinsey, to $ 2 billion for African cocoa-exporting countries, such as Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, to $ 600 million for flower-exporting countries, such as Kenya, which also had to pay twice as much for shipments, air cargo capacity being reduced by 75%, since passenger flights were cut.

An exception : tea

Fruit and vegetable and nut exporters could lose $ 500 million. Cashews, in particular, are still only going very little towards the husking factories of India, which is barely out of its confinement. The losses linked to coffee exports, estimated at 100 to 200 million dollars are more marginal, but the sector employs 7 million people on the continent.

► Also listen: In Africa, the marketing of cashew nuts disrupted by the coronavirus

In all, the decline in revenues from sales of tropical products could reach $ 5 billion. Only tea from East Africa seems to have benefited from Covid-19. The containment in India caused the Asian giant's production to fall by 7%, which encouraged tea exports from Kenya, which were particularly dynamic last March.

Opportunity for food crops ?

But the pandemic could be above all an opportunity for food crops in Africa, judges Patrick Dugué, agronomist at CIRAD, the Center for International Cooperation in Agronomic Research for Development. If they manage to impose themselves more vis-à-vis imported products. Morocco no longer exports as many onions or oranges to sub-Saharan Africa, local fruits and vegetables could benefit. 

In West, East and South Africa, crops of corn, cassava, plantain, yam, sorghum have been abundant. New sowing and distribution of fertilizers were carried out before the outbreak of the epidemic, which affected rural populations very little. With the security stocks built up by certain States, producers in Benin were, for example, able to sell their 2019/2020 crops, which they still had in stock in April, at a very acceptable price.

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