2016 was an important year for the agriculture of Africa; a range of signal victories around the whole continent marked it. One of the crowning achievements is the wide usage of the innovational technologies in addition to the customary use of the mobile phones in the agricultural sector – namely transducers, satellites, precision agriculture, and drones.
Some companies started to use satellite photographs, which provide information on the harvest growth and the humidity for the regulation of the watering Gezira in Sudan. In Nigeria, to investigate the potential expansion of the rice growing they started to use drones. The technologies are also developing in other countries.
The achievements of the innovational sphere in 2016 is only one of the aspects. The agricultural sector of Africa strengthened its positions by demonstrating that for the sector growth it is necessary to get well-timed funding and governmental support.
The success of the agricultural sector comes by collaterally with the general economic growth in the African countries during the last 2 decades. The development of the agronomy was promoted by such sectors as communications, construction and transportation.
Moreover, 2016 is the key year for the establishment and the development of a continental free trading zone in Africa, which is will be outlined with all the details in 2017. The free zone is anticipated to build up significantly the trade volume of the agricultural products, based on the growth of the sector mentioned.
It is expected that the continental free trading zone will cover more than 1 billion people in 54 countries with total GDP more than 3,5 trillion USD. Moreover, it is planned to establish the opportunities for agricultural machinery trading and the provision of the related services.
The experts underline the necessity to invest in infrastructure in rural region, such as transport, energetics, telecommunication and the amelioration of the lands. According to their opinion, the retrenchment by 10% is estimated to increase the accretion by 25% from the foodstuffs trading. In Rift Valley in Kenya, a total reconstruction of the rural roads was held, which lead to the reduction of the foodstuffs transportation cost.
Transportation is only one aspect of the infrastructure. Energy saving also plays one of the key roles in the development of the agro-industrial enterprises in the urban and rural areas. It is equally important to use renewable sources of energy, thus help the countries of the African continent to generate energy more effectively.
The leaders must constantly upgrade their skills and their ability to manage effectively the agronomy sector, which is becoming more and more difficult, in order to pattern the progress that happened in 2016. The modern methods should involve solutions in such branches as climate variability, fertilizers, and the amelioration of the seeds’ quality, scientifically researches and funding.