Improved African infrastructure 'could prevent wasted crops'

Date: 16/8/2011

There are areas of Africa where difficulties with storage and transport result in as much as 50 per cent of the typical rural farmer's harvest going to waste.

As a result, advocacy and campaigning organisation ONE is calling for improvements to be made to the continent's infrastructure.

A spokesman for the group says that such action could be a "significant boost" for the lives of the poverty-stricken in these countries, as so many live "off-grid" without easy access to roads, power, clean water and other amenities.

In addition, investing in roads could help farmers transport their goods to market on time.

The representative cites a World Bank Study, which listed the wider benefits of improving infrastructure. These included the example of Morocco, where better roads allowed farmers to use more productive agricultural techniques, leading to a 40 per cent increase in output.

In Uganda, for every one job given to a labourer to help create improved rural feeder routes, a further 1.6 employment opportunities were created in the wider economy.

"The structural transformation from subsistence to market economy is dependent on transport development, but, in addition, it is crucial to saving lives. A lack of roads makes it harder to access medicines for preventable diseases and to reach medical facilities," the spokesman notes.

Earlier this month, the government of Tanzania secured a loan from a consortium of local and international financiers led by Stanbic Bank Tanzania - a subsidiary of Standard Bank.

The $250 million (£152.78 million) will be put towards improving infrastructure, with a particular focus on roads and power.

Posted by Mary Treen