The Rise of Agricultural Growth Poles in Africa: Investment in Agriculture Policy Brief #6 

By Francine Picard, Mohamed Coulibaly, Carin Smaller, Published by IISD, September 2017

A number of African governments see the emerging agricultural growth poles and corridors as a way to attract private investment to promote agricultural transformation. They are also seen as a way to counter the negative impacts and publicity that resulted from leasing large tracts of farmland to investors, commonly referred to as “land grabs.” Many attempts to attract responsible and sustainable investment to African agriculture have failed. Ensuring that the new wave of agropoles and growth corridors is effective requires robust policies, laws and practices to ensure that a possible new trend of investment helps Africa achieve the sustainable development goals the continent has set. This paper identifies challenges and opportunities of current agricultural growth poles; outlines the role of laws, policies and institutions; and describes three key stages for the development of a responsible agricultural growth pole. Available at http://www.IISD.org/library/rise-agricultural-growth-poles-africa-investment-agriculture-policy-brief-6