info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
Image from African Business Magazine
According to estimates by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), beef consumption on the African continent will increase by 200% between 2015 and 2050, while poultry consumption will increase by 211% and pork consumption will increase by 200%.
Opportunities for investment are likely to prove more attractive in Africa than other global regions, according to the organisation, with future investments required across the value chain in poultry and pork facilities, abattoirs, feed production, transport and equipment supply.
And yet despite the huge potential of the meat market, the rapid increase in demand poses a series of challenges for Africa's relatively young and underdeveloped industry.
The majority of African livestock are raised in very different conditions, often in inefficient, unproductive smallholder environments isolated from markets and abattoirs by limited infrastructure.
Weaned on ineffective feed and with poor disease resistance and limited veterinary care, many animals fail to yield their true economic or nutritious value.
Yet in recent years, herders have faced a series of critical challenges that permanently threaten their way of life.
Climate change-induced desertification, urbanisation, land encroachment and the Boko Haram insurgency have forced herders south of their traditional grazing grounds.
These challenges, combined with the historic limitations of nomadic farming - long transit times, theft, limited technology and productivity - have long held back Nigeria's potential as a major beef producer.
Consumer demand for beef will exceed 450,000 tonnes in 2023, but the domestic industry will only be capable of delivering some 370,000 tonnes.
When compared to South Africa - which already produces over 1,000,000 tonnes a year and is expected to consistently remain above that in the years ahead, it seems clear that Nigerian pastoralism has its limits.
While parts of South Africa's industry are a case study in the successful implementation of an intensive industry, there is a growing awareness that an industrialised model of agricultural may not be appropriate for other African states, many of whom, like Nigeria, do not have substantial commercial livestock sectors.
