Trade

The sustainable transformation of Africa’s agrifood processing system has been increasingly recognized as crucial to ensuring the region’s food security, reducing poverty rates, and supporting economic development. The ReSAKSS 2022 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) takes an in-depth look at the status of the system, as well as the major challenges threatening further development and policies that can support sustainable growth in Africa’s agrifood sector.

As the world grapples with the increasing impacts of climate change, global policymakers need to take much stronger action to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). This is the message from the recent UN Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap Report 2022. The report provides the stark conclusion that current national climate change pledges can only limit global warming rises by 2.4-2.6°C by the end of the century – far from the 1.5°C goal set forth by the Paris Agreement. To stand a chance of reaching that ambitious goal, global GHG emissions need to be cut by 45 percent by 2030.

The economies of the Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay), major agricultural exporters still recovering from the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, have benefited from the rise in international prices accompanying the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With the war disrupting global supplies, the net exporting countries of the region have the opportunity to increase their exports.