Trump’s Global Trade Chaos Creates an Opportunity for African Farmers
The continent is positioning itself as a pivotal player in the future of global agriculture, and investors are taking notice.
Workers fill sacks with cashew nuts at a factory in Tanji, Gambia.
Photographer: Muhamadou Bittaye/AFP/Getty Images
In September, Beijing approved imports of blueberries from Zimbabwe for the first time. It had given the green light in June to Gambian groundnuts and cashews. Ethiopian soybean meal, a protein-rich byproduct of crushed beans mainly used to feed poultry and pigs, just got its first go-ahead to enter the Chinese market too.
To Africa’s 54 countries and the international investors jostling to fund their next wave of agricultural projects, these seemingly minor bureaucratic decisions sent a loud message: US President Donald Trump’s trade war is creating big opportunities for African economies, especially when it comes to food.