Agribusiness Models for Tackling Poverty

Agriculture plays critical roles in the socioeconomic transformation of nation states, particularly those in the developing world including continental Africa. The sector remains undoubtedly one of the single largest source of employment and livelihoods generally for a greater proportion of the populations of many African nation states. In the past, development interventions, especially targeting rural Africa largely focused on the agricultural production to the detriment of the other segments of the value chain. It is for this reason that the new thinking focuses more on commodity value chains through agribusiness development. Beyond farm production, value additions to the produce through various activities such as sorting, grading, processing, and packaging present huge opportunities for income generation for actors along the value chain and this is critical for socioeconomic transformation of nation states, especially in Africa where alternative employment opportunities are non-existent in rural areas where poverty is endemic. It is on this basis that we believe the integrated agribusiness model proposed in this chapter and the sub-models for the different segments of agribusiness development provides a new opportunity for poverty reduction across nation states. The model is based on the agricultural development theories and business models. The model seeks to engender efficient and effective agricultural production and value addition for poverty reduction, especially in Africa.