Improving Transport Connectivity for Food Security in Africa

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Despite increasing food production over the past three decades, 58% of Africans remain food insecure. Transport is an often-overlooked contributor to this challenge. Poor transport connectivity, failures at critical ports and border crossings, and high trade costs create long food supply chains that fail to reliably get staple products to people.

Improving Transport Connectivity for Food Security in Africa: Strengthening Supply Chains examines the continent’s food production and distribution. The report scrutinizes transport routes over land and water, the efficiency of ports and border crossings, and the adequacy of storage capacity to several key questions:

• Why so much locally produced food is wasted?

• Why do African countries rely on distant markets for food staples?

• How can countries prioritize transport investments to make the biggest dent in food insecurity?

The report lays out solutions that can reshape the food logistics chain in Africa, ensuring food efficiently moves from source, to market, to households. The report aims to give policymakers, development practitioners, and the public the solutions they need to turn hunger zones into reliable food corridors.

Key findings:

• A staggering 37% of locally produced food is lost or wasted due to inadequate storage. 

• African food supply chains are 4 times longer than those in Europe and account for up to 45% of the price of some basic commodities—like rice, grains and casava.    

• Scaling up investment to modernize trade and logistics, including processing and storage, combined with improved transport and distribution, will significantly boost food security in the region.  

• Boosting intra-African trade is crucial. Twenty-five percent of Africa’s food is imported. Modernized seaports, efficient customs and border processes, and better policies and infrastructure can boost intra-African food trade.   

• Focus on critical ports and border crossings to enhance food security. Although Africa’s logistics ecosystem includes hundreds of ports and border crossings, a small portion of these have a huge impact on food security across the continent. Just 10 African ports handle food for 89 million people. Similarly, 20 border crossings supply food to 66 million people in 35 countries. A strategic focus on these critical points could enhance key trade routes, reduce costs, and foster economic growth by connecting people to markets.  

• Reduce the cost of trade to improve food security. Bureaucratic delays and hidden costs inflate regional trade costs by up to 25%, raising significant barriers to get food to people.
   

Priority actions for food security

 Remove Trade Barriers: Eliminate obstacles and enhance border management practices to reduce delays and costs at borders.

 Strengthen Resilience: Prioritize the resilience and redundancy of critical links that facilitate food flows for large populations.  

 Expand Storage and Distribution: Invest in robust storage and distribution infrastructure and services to minimize food loss. 

 Boost Transport Competition: Enhance competition within the transport sector to drive efficiency and reduce cost

 Scale Access to Markets: Expand access to resilient infrastructure and markets to ensure food reaches those in need.

“While food security is a complex issue with many contributing factors, transport investments are one area where countries can take real action. Improving ports, roads, and border crossings not only makes it easier for food to move between farms and consumers, but it also helps create jobs in the logistics sector.”

Nicolas Peltier
Global Director, Transport