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  • Publication | 2021
Africa agriculture trade monitor 2021
Global Food and Nutrition Security

In Africa, trade and development depend heavily on progress in the agriculture sector. While African countries have diversified both their exports and trade partners over the last decade, African agricultural trade still suffers from structural and cyclical problems. Critical structural issues, which include low-quality goods, poor infrastructure, low productivity, costly nontariff measures, and water stress, must be addressed to improve Africa’s competitiveness and increase African trade. Cyclical problems related to exogenous shocks, such as the decline in oil prices and the pandemic, also affect trade in general and agriculture in particular. Against this backdrop, the 2021 Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor (AATM) analyzes continental and regional trends in African agricultural trade flows and policies, with a focus on the impact of the pandemic at both the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels. The major findings from the report’s six chapters are summarized below