Agricultural industrialization is made up of two words Agriculture and industrialization which are primarily different sectors altogether; the former according to Merriam-Webster “is the science, art or practise of cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising livestock and in varying degrees the preparation and marketing of the resulting products”. The latter is “the act or process of industrializing”, basically the use of factories to process or refine goods. These words put together refer to the advancement and the use of improved tools in agriculture and sophisticated machines to process agricultural produces to increase revenue and better the livelihood of the people involved in such activities.
Agri-industrialization is a must for Africa to develop and improve upon their economies because it will be an easy way to transit from the farm to the factory i.e. agriculture is known to be the backbone of many African countries. Also, most African countries rely on agriculture as their basic source of livelihood and is a sector that employs the majority of the rural population. After close observation, we can conclude that most of these farmers do not leave the best of their lives because most of them do cultivate but only to sustain their hunger needs. Even those who go into large-scale farming normally do without having a prior market to absorb the product and after harvest, they find it difficult to recoup their investment, this is also one-factor causing post-harvest losses. Those who can sell do not make much out of it because raw materials do not usually sell for a high price compared to processed or refined goods.
Agriculture industrialization can be a big relief to Africa if tapped because it is a medium to add value to our agricultural product, strengthen food security, create more jobs, help in alleviating poverty and promote the growth of the economy. Currently, most African countries do not have solid and good policies that can promote the development of industries. One major problem identified is the lack of funds to put up factories. Aside from lack of funds, there is a lack of appropriate technology, expertise, lack of infrastructure (roads, water, electricity), and lack of partnership. A lot of farmers are still faced with the issues of post-harvest losses because there is little or no value- addition at all in the agriculture sector which could lead to the commercialization of this product.
Taking Asian countries, for example, they have tremendously developed through industrialization and helpful policies.
China for instance has supported much rural entrepreneurship and especially stimulated rural industrialization. They have promoted policies and programs to encourage the growth of rural enterprises. One of these was to provide isolated agricultural areas with key producer inputs and access to post-harvest, value-added food processing.
Africa can equally take this same path and grow according to the situation and our environment. First of all, Africa is blessed to have a lot of arable lands which can be used for agriculture. Secondly, most African countries do have a great climate that the continent can take advantage of to plant varieties of crops. The agricultural product is known to have a very short life span whereby venturing into the processing of these will not only help in securing food but will also help farmers to be engaged in cultivating large lands which can help them generate more than the small portion they farm. African countries should also make the system to acquire land more flexible and encourage farmers by helping them with inputs and fertilizers. In addition to this, we will appeal to the local and foreign investors to implant factories that can help these farmers to have a ready market to absorb their farm produce. This will encourage the youth and people that have an interest in the agriculture sector to venture into not only agriculture but in Agri-industrialization for the betterment of their livelihood which in the long run will contribute to the growth of the country’s economy. For Africa to attain its financial freedom and reduce poverty we have to go through some kind of industrialization and the best and immediate sector we can leverage is the agricultural sector.
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