Since 2014, oil prices have been on a steep downward curve, with a decline of over 40% resulting in a loss of between US$63 – $88.2 billion in revenue for the African continent. This has led to rising inflation, thousands of job losses, currency depreciations and slashed development budgets, which has severely curtailed Africa’s growth in other areas.

The 2014 Africa Progress Panel report presents the two faces of the continent: robust economic growth and continuing poverty. However, the report suggests that Africa could change this duality by posing the following question: What is the best way to utilise resources to positively impact growth and development? One answer is to diversify sources of growth to include a strengthened agriculture sector that works with nature and not against it. Considering that the sector currently employs about 60% of Africa’s labour force, most of it rural, this will go a long way to improving livelihoods. The message in all this is clear: the continent needs to diversify beyond oil, to inclusive, sustainable economic sectors aligned with contemporary opportunities.

Transforming the oil curse into a blessing for Africa

Agriculture employs an average of 64% of the continent’s workforce. Enhanced earnings in this sector will therefore have the highest poverty-reducing impact. Moreover, Africa holds 65% of the world’s arable land and 10% of internal renewable fresh water sources. If it is optimised, the agricultural sector – worth an estimated US$1 trillion by 2030 – has the potential to create as many as 17 million jobs annually. It goes without saying, then, that Africa should reinvest current oil revenues into inclusive sectors like agriculture. Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EBA) agro-industrialisation, powered by clean energy, is a sure bet. Increased global interest and investment in clean energy provides further impetus for Africa to capitalise on clean energy-based agro-industrialisation.

Considering that existing oil and mineral reserves will surely run out, but that Africa’s soil and its ecosystems, including rivers and forests, will remain, agriculture could well be the continent’s new frontier in the near future. So, while oil is a crucial resource for the continent, policies encouraging the reinvestment of oil incomes into agriculture should be championed to ensure sustainable food production and employment creation.

Agriculture employs an average of 64% of the continent’s workforce. Enhanced earnings in this sector will therefore have the highest poverty-reducing impact.

The potential of investing in soil and working with nature

That said, a key question to consider is the impact of intensified conventional agriculture that focuses on expanding production only without much care being given to the environment. Conventional approaches to food production impact negatively on the ecosystem through deforestation, the overuse of fertilisers and other chemicals that pollute the soil, water and air and kill off the insect pollinators. To safeguard future food security it is necessary to implement approaches that are less damaging to the environment.

Ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) approaches, an alternative to conventional approaches, aim not only to maintain but also to improve the fertility and productivity of ecosystems. As an example, maize crops rotated with soybean crops yield 5% to 20% more than a continuous maize monoculture. Rotating peas with wheat increases soil nitrogen levels by 6–14 kg/ha, and with this comes an 8% increase in wheat yields. Sustainable farming approaches are also easily adaptable in most rural communities, since they involve agricultural practices that have been used traditionally. Considering that 60% of African farmers are rural and small holders, this fact constitutes a big plus.

A recently released publication on adaptation actions in Africa details the cases of eight countries that have invested in ecosystem-based adaptation and secured climate resilience. Also, work done by some NGOs like Futures Agriculture and Canadian Foodgrains Bank provide classic examples of EBA-driven agriculture in Africa.

Charting the next new frontier

Some practical steps, as evidenced by the Maputo and Malabo declarations, have already been taken to actualise this at a regional level. At a national level, governments should put in place policies that incentivise increased private sector involvement in EBA-driven agriculture in order to bring in capital and enhance competitiveness. Key policy areas to consider are land tenure, asset ownership and tax incentives – rebates, for example – among other things. As an additional long-term measure, governments should invest in educational programmes aimed at changing the mindsets of the youth so as to effect a generational mindset change of the potential held in EBA-driven agriculture to transform countries economically.

A paradigm shift towards increased investment from oil earnings back into the earth’s ecosystems that feed us is needed. Reinvesting natural resource revenues into EBA-driven agriculture is the next step in unlocking Africa’s potential. The time has come for us to put aside our fine words, pick up our tools and start to make the future we so desperately want. Let’s get to work!