This month, Counting on Agribusiness, an article co-authored by CEO Guy Pfeffermann and COO Nora Brown appears in SAISPHERE, a publication of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. The theme of this issue of SAISPHERE is “Growth Ahead for Global Agriculture,” and it features articles from international experts on agricultural issues in Africa, India, China, Latin America, as well as addressing topics such as hunger and conflict, global warming, and food prices, among others.
The article by GBSN’s leaders outlines “the importance of agriculture to Africa’s development and poverty reduction,” and discusses the importance of cultivating the human capacity in the developing world agricultural sector to capitalize on opportunities to work with agribusiness.
“The agribusiness value chain spans the entire pyramid, from top to bottom, and has the ability to affect all areas of the labor market. As noted, farm families are often among the lowest-income groups and make up a large percentage of the population. Meeting the rising demand for agribusiness products translates directly into more jobs for these families. Because the supply of labor in rural areas is generally not elastic—in other words, people there are busy, especially during growing seasons, even though they earn little—rural wages are likely to rise as a result. Further up the value chain, jobs will be created in transport, packaging and the other industries. And recently, large corporations have been playing a more prominent role in the sector. Driven by rising world agricultural prices and growing demand for renewable fuels, these corporations have been expanding their operations and are experiencing a greater need for management and leadership talent.
To take advantage of these current trends and reach the full potential of agribusiness in Africa, linkages along the value chain need to be strengthened. The connections between agribusiness and farmers are particularly crucial to achieving shared economic growth with positive social impacts.”
