Africa fueling global cropland growth as food demand intensifies - report

Amid rising concerns about global food security and a rapidly growing population, Africa appears to be strategically positioning itself to help prevent an impending hunger crisis.

This is through increased food production, with the latest land statistics report revealing that the continent has been the world’s leading contributor to cropland expansion over the past two decades.

The report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) indicates that the continent surpassed all other regions in cropland growth during this period.

It accounted for nearly all global gains, 96 per cent, in cropland expansion.

“Since 2001, world total cropland area grew by about 80 million hectares (five per cent),” the report reads.

“Growth in cropland area from 2001 to 2023 was the result of area expansion in Africa (+75 million hectares), South America (+25 million hectares) and South-eastern Asia (+20 million hectares).”

These growths, according to the organisation, did enough to offset the contractions in North America (−25 million ha), Eastern Europe (−7 million ha) and Southern Europe (−6 million ha) during the review period.

Consequently, FAO says temporary crops such as wheat, rice, and maize increased by about 100 million ha, just about 11 per cent, reaching 1,080 million ha.

On the other hand, permanent crops such as cocoa, oil palm and coffee grew by 55 million ha, reaching nearly 200 million ha in 2023, an increase of over 40 per cent.

Nevertheless, it notes that from 2001 to 2023, whilethe  world total cropland area per person decreased by about 20 per cent, from 0.24 to 0.19 hectares per capita, land productivity, measured in terms of total agricultural gross value of production, grew more strongly by over 60 per cent.

This is from about $550 (Sh71,000) per hectare to almost $900 (Sh116,000) per hectare.

The increased production underscores the urgency of expanding food output to meet the nutritional demands of a global population expected to exceed nine billion by 2050.

The United Nations in a June update report projected that the current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100.

Notably, Africa is poised to continue experiencing high rates of population growth.

“Between 2017 and 2050, the populations of 26 African countries are projected to expand to at least double their current size,” the UN said in a statement.

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With climate change, geopolitical instability and economic inequalities threatening food systems worldwide, Africa’s agricultural expansion is being viewed both as a critical opportunity and a responsibility.

Much of the continent's cropland growth during the period under review was driven by increases in staple crops, such as maize, rice and wheat, particularly in Western and Eastern Africa.

These regions are simultaneously among the most vulnerable to food insecurity.

“The main regional contributor to the 78 million ha net growth in world total cropland area between 2001 and 2023 was Africa (75 million ha), specifically Western Africa (31 million ha), followed by Eastern Africa (25 million ha) and Middle Africa (15 million ha).”

The report revealed that the world's total agricultural land was 4,800 million hectares in 2023, more than one-third of the global land area.

Of this, cropland made up around 1,600 million hectares, while permanent meadows and pastures covered approximately 3,200 million hectares. Asia had the largest share of agricultural land as of 2023, with 1.7 billion hectares.

This was followed by Africa with 1.2 billion hectares, the Americas with 1.1 billion hectares, Europe with 460 million hectares, and Oceania with 380 million hectares.