Future-proofing Africa’s food supply through greener production, less waste — PwC report

With sustainability concerns being increasingly understood and recognized across Africa, a new report by the professional services firm PwC calls on stakeholders across the continent to see to implement policies encouraging greener food production methods and the avoidance of food waste.
These are required to future-proof Africa’s food supply and to meet the expected future demand for nutrition in a sustainable way, says the ‘The Sustainable Food Revolution: Future-Proofing the World’s Food Supply’ report. Across the continent, there is a shift, with food producers and their partners beginning to look at new sustainable agricultural practices, while regulators are also beginning to shape new requirements, alongside consumers calling for change, PwC Africa says. “The world needs to treat food security and affordability as critical issues for global prosperity and wellbeing,” PwC Africa assurance partner Andrew Dale commented. “Just as agriculture was a key building block in the post-Second World War era of reconstruction, our food economy needs to be rebuilt again, but sustainably this time.”
While the world, and especially Africa is facing a food crisis, there are still several levers that the food industry can pull to meet the expected future demand for nutrition in a sustainable way without significantly increasing food prices. According to the PwC Africa report, these include the avoidance of food losses in the supply chain, cleaner or greener methods of food production, and food substitutions at consumption level. Organic farming is highlighted here as one of the levers to move towards more diverse and less intensive forms of food production that also presents profit potential. “The current crisis is so profound that change is inevitable,” says PwC Africa sustainability leader Lullu Krugel. “Food industry stakeholders must change now on their own initiative or wait until they have to react to external pressures.”