Urban market focused farming
What you need to know:
- Yet according to Frost & Sullivan, an international consulting and market intelligence firm, Africa is the fastest urbanising region in the world with an average annual urbanisation rate of 3.2 per cent -- well ahead of the global two percent.
Food production is bound to be tied to population growth and urbanisation rates since people have to be fed and not so much food is produced in towns.
Figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) indicate that the urban population increased from less than one million persons in 1980 to about three million in 2002, representing nearly a threefold increase, and it rose further to 7.4 million in 2014.
The projected urban population in mid-2017 was 9.4 million. Our total fertility rate which declined from 6.9 children per woman to 5.4 children per woman between 1995 and 2016, is said to be the highest globally after that of Gambia and Mayotte.
(UBOS and Population Reference Bureau- PRB)
Yet according to Frost & Sullivan, an international consulting and market intelligence firm, Africa is the fastest urbanising region in the world with an average annual urbanisation rate of 3.2 per cent -- well ahead of the global two percent. Currently, the firm goes on to state, 472 million people live in African cities and this number is expected to grow to 810 million people by 2035.
These trends must be viewed as a big entrepreneurial opportunity for farmers. There is bound to be increased migration of people from rural areas to urban centres, which could mean more farming space for those that will remain in the rural areas.
As has earlier been pointed out, there will be limited food production in towns where actually more people will be settling. Frost &Sullivan singles out Kampala as one of the cities where planning has not kept pace with growth, which has proved living in the city difficult and dangerous for many.
It also points out that there will be more creation of slums, where people will be living in urban poverty. However, under all circumstances there will be increased demand for food and other agricultural products in cities and towns.
All indications, therefore, suggest that farming and food production will be among the most essential and most lucrative occupations in the coming years. Continued migration to cities will lead to more entrepreneurial opportunities for those that will remain in rural areas.
Mr Mischael Ssali is a veteran journalist and a farmer
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