Africa and the Green Economy
There is increasing awareness of the links between environmental conservation and sustainable
development. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Africa. In July this year, the African Development
Bank and the World Wide Fund for Nature will publish a report on the State of Africa’s Environment.
This may well show the potential for Africa to benefit from the Green Economy, i.e. environmentally
sustainable economic development.
Changing pressures
There are a number of changes that are affecting all parts of the world, and turning the world’s
attention to Africa.
1. Rising oil prices and commodities present an opportunity for many African countries to build
stronger economies.
2. The rise in the demand for food has prompted many to look to Africa as a potential breadbasket for
the world.
3. Climate change poses many risks for African countries – although they are among the lowest
emitters of carbon, they are among the most vulnerable to climate change.
4. Long-term drought in East Africa has affected millions, and more than one third of Africa’s
population live in drought-prone regions.
5. As population growth and rising standards of living lead to shifts in the pattern of consumption, the
ecological footprint of many African nations is rising rapidly.
6. Over the last 40 years there has been a 40% decline in Africa’s biodiversity, according to the Africa
Living Planet Index.
7. While low levels of power generation partly explain the continent’s low carbon footprint, lack of
access to energy means Africans still use wood for fuel, leading to widespread deforestation.
8. Some foreign investment in Africa is raising concerns – many Chinese companies, for example, do
not maintain high environmental standards.
Many people see the potential for large multinationals to contribute to sustainable development in
Africa. Moreover, in the early stages of development, there is still a chance to design more
environmentally and socially sustainable systems. It is also possible that Africa may leapfrog old
technologies. For example, the evolution of telecommunications in Africa has generally bypassed
landlines and moved directly to mobile communications.
In agriculture, there is the possibility to avoid many of the damaging effects of some farming
techniques, including water pollution from chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides; loss of
biodiversity, and soil degradation. With much African land still undeveloped, it would be possible to
move straight to organic or conservation farming, or it could be easier to introduce new cultivation
technologies as the soil has not already been degraded by the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
Underinvestment has meant that less than 5% of Africa’s land is irrigated, which offers an opportunity
to introduce new water-efficient affordable technologies.
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Energy also presents hope for the future. It could be easier to move to renewable sources than in
countries (such as the UK and USA) where large existing systems and vested interests lie in the way of
more widespread adoption of clean technology. In fact, Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s lowest
electricity access rate – by 2030, nearly half of the population could still be without power.
Nevertheless, in Sub-Saharan Africa, electricity generation from renewable sources grew from 45 to 78
terawatt hours a year between 1998 and 2008, an increase of 72%. Put another way, between 1998 and
2008, 66% of all new electricity generation in the region came from renewable sources.
Rapid development and the growth of Africa’s middle class bring new environmental problems, ones
that are more commonly associated with more economically developed countries (MEDCs). Africa has
for many years imported large amounts of electronic waste, but as the continent develops, and the
digital divide gets smaller, an increasing proportion of the e-waste is generated from within Africa. The
combination of imported e-waste and consumption of mobile phones, fridges, televisions and other
electrical equipment, means that levels of e-waste could surpass that of the European Union by 2017.
In addition, the growth of cities will place intense pressure on natural resources. By 2030 it is projected
that Africa’s population will live mainly in urban areas.
Food security
Africa has much fertile but undeveloped land, and has
become the focus of attention from a number of
countries, including China and the oil-rich Arab states.
However, there is a major question over the concept of
sustainability, the risks that go with large-scale foreign
investment, and Africa’s ability to feed its own people.
There have been high profile cases, such as the attempted
involvement of Daewoo, a South Korean conglomerate,
in an agricultural project in Madagascar. But as
populations grow, and living standards increase, and the
demand for food expands, there will be more pressure on
African soils to deliver food for other countries.
The scale of land agreements is believed to be great.
Land Matrix, an Internet database of land agreements,
believes that there have been nearly 1000 land deals
since 2000, accounting for 57.3 million hectares of land.
Allotments on the west bank of the Nile with
Countries favoured include Ethiopia, Zambia, Sudan,
a view of Cairo, Egypt
D.R. Congo and Madagascar. Many African countries
are targeted because much of the land is held by the state and can be sold at a relatively cheap price,
and many governments are keen to seek investment in agriculture.
For example, Mozambique is a poor country with about 36 million hectares of arable land, but with
only about 16% of it under production. It has attracted investors interested in biofuels, rice schemes and
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forestry plantations. Some schemes have come into conflict with local residents. Domestic farming in
Madagascar is undeveloped – two thirds of farmers struggle on 2 ha or less, and 42% of farms are
unable to guarantee food security for the farm throughout the year.
The state of farming in Africa
For many African farmers, the poor transport infrastructure, weak legislation, and lack of access to
finance make it difficult for them to participate in global agricultural markets. However, with
appropriate investment and a shift to new technologies, African farms could substantially raise their
yields with minimal damage to the environment. According to the Director for Africa at the
International Food Policy Research Institute, by investing in science and technology and accelerating
technological change, Africa has the opportunity to increase productivity while preserving
environmental resources. Growth in land and labour productivity since the mid-1980s has been about
5%. If this continues, the continent could play a major role in helping global food security.
Currently there is a big gap between yields in Africa and elsewhere. In some cases, yields are up to
40% lower due to soil degradation. Moreover, African farmers will have to cope with climate change,
including increasing frequencies of floods, droughts and rising temperatures. Water is another problem
– small holders need to be supported in their attempts to conserve water through irrigation techniques,
and governments must work on better watershed management.
Some commentators compare Africa to Brazil thirty years ago. At that time, many parts of Brazil were
in a similar state to parts of East Africa today. Brazil had an inadequate infrastructure but with
investment, and good policies, it transformed its agricultural sector. This included funding for
agricultural training, and investment in the development of new seeds. The environment was protected
by strong legislation – for example, there were laws that required a protective buffer of natural
vegetation around water courses to reduce the risks of soil erosion and the pollution of fresh water by
agricultural chemical run-off.
In some respects, Africa may have an advantage when it comes to developing environmentally
sustainable farming techniques. It can leap frog to new technologies. The traditional lack of reliance on
fertilizers and pesticides means that African farmers could move swiftly to next-generation technologies.
Activities
1. What is meant by the term ‘green economy’?
2. Why do some LEDCs have more potential for environmentally and socially sustainable
developments than some MEDCs?
3. Suggest different reasons why demand for food is increasing.
4. Why is e-waste an increasing problem in Sub-Saharan Africa?
5. Why are ‘land grabs’ frequent in Sub-Saharan Africa?
6. Read about Daewoo’s planned Madagascar development here and here. Write a report stating the
advantages and disadvantages of Daewoo’s proposed plans for Madagascar.
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Suggested answers
1. The ‘green economy’ refers to environmentally sustainable economic development.
2. Some LEDCs are not held back by inefficient or polluting technologies and can leap-frog to cleaner,
more efficient technologies. For example, those countries who lack coal or oil could develop solar
power or hydro-power. Countries not using chemical fertilizers could develop organic farming
instead.
3. Many factors interact to create rising demand for food, including population growth, an increasing
middle class (and dietary changes), and a shortage of productive land due to a combination of land
grabs, land being used for biofuel production, and soil degradation through drought, desertification
and flooding.
4. E-waste is growing in size due to imports from MEDCs and the increasing amount of e-waste
generated by Africa’s increasing middle classes.
5. Land grabs are becoming more common in parts of Africa because land is available, and not
currently being farmed; the land may be held by the government who may be keen to sell it to raise
money; overseas companies and governments are keen to gain access to the land so that they can
produce food for their own inhabitants.
6. Students should be aware that the main advantages would have been for the South Korean
government/population (food security) and for the Madagascan government (some funding) but the
main losers would have been the Madagascan people (less land, less food, increased poverty), the
Madagascan environment (destruction of natural and farmed ecosystems, and potential pollution of
local ecosystems) and the global environment (increased transport of food – food miles concept).
© Pearson Education Ltd 2012. For more information about the Pearson Baccalaureate series please visit
www.pearsonbacconline.com.