Agribusiness crucial to continents push for industrialized economy.

While developing and expanding the industrialized economy one aspect that cannot be ignored is the transformation of the agriculture sector. Agriculture contributes 30% of Africa’s GDP and provides employment to about 65% of its population. The sector has however not been preforming according to the expected standards and the returns from agribusiness have been very minimal as compared to the efforts that go into this sector. Farm inputs, among others are limited in supply which includes farm machinery and seed. As the world becomes more sophisticated the agricultural sector also needs to have embraced the mechanization of agriculture with the aim of increasing the level of efficiency in the sector.

Africa has the ability to use agriculture as one of the strategies to manage poverty by looking at agriculture as a business and not as a humanitarian activity. There is need for a wholesome look at the agricultural sector, entire food chain where the food chain is connected from the producers to the consumers and ensuring that each of the players have maximum benefit.

The investment in Agriculture in Africa also needs to be enhanced with the aim of increasing the access to farm machinery and technologies. The Africa Development Bank 
(AfDB) is said to have a plan to have heavy investment in agriculture in the coming years. The plan is to invest about 24billion dollars in the industry. Amongst the aims of AfDB is to accelerate the financial support for agriculture through the banking sector. Agriculture has the potential to transform an economy if the right model is applied to maximize the returns within the agribusiness sector.

KCIC has been supporting enterprises in the agribusiness sector and this runs through the value chain. From the production of crops, to value addition, soil treatment, the production of organic fertilizers among others KCIC has been keen on supporting climate smart agriculture.

World lags on Renewable energy goal.

During the 2011 Vienna energy forum there was a global commitment to increase the access to electricity to all. Despite this agreement in 2011 billions of people across the globe are still using firewood and other biomass for cooking, while a substantial population has no access to electricity.

Under the Sustainable Development Goal 7 on SE4ALL, there is much effort that is needed to achieve the goal on sustainable energy for all. For this goal to be achieved then there is need to have effort from all sectors and nations working towards sustainable provision of energy for domestic and commercial use. The SDG 7 is geared towards access to energy for all and the fulfillment of the COP 21 agreements on carbon emission.

So far 18% of the energy systems are decarbonized which is below the stated threshold under the SDG7 targets. The investment in energy efficiency is also lagging behind and there is need for more effort to be put to achieve energy efficiency as envisioned under the Vision 2030 targets.

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