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Africa possesses enormous agricultural potential. Yet the continent continues to import billions of dollars in food while exporting agricultural commodities and raw materials that are transformed elsewhere into high-value products.

For Amb. Mohau Pheko, this apparent contradiction reveals a deeper problem.

“I don’t believe we have a food problem. In fact, I don’t believe Africa even has an agricultural problem. Africa has an ownership problem.”

For decades, Africa has measured agricultural success by production—how much is harvested, how many hectares are cultivated and how much livestock is produced.

But Amb. Pheko asks a more fundamental question: Who owns the value created by African agriculture?

Africa produces cocoa; others turn it into global chocolate brands. Africa produces cotton; others build global fashion houses. Africa produces coffee; others create internationally recognised brands. Africa possesses extraordinary biodiversity; others develop and commercialise products from it.

The problem, therefore, is not simply production.

It is ownership of the value chain.

For Amb. Pheko, ownership is what creates wealth, industries, jobs, innovation and ultimately food sovereignty. Until African producers—particularly African women—capture a greater share of the value generated from what they produce, Africa will continue to create wealth that is captured elsewhere.

She proposes a simple equation for transforming African agriculture:

Africa already possesses many of these ingredients. The challenge is bringing them together within African-owned value chains.

Knowledge without technology remains research. Capital without markets becomes stranded investment. Markets without knowledge leave producers competing primarily on cheap commodities.

The real opportunity lies in connecting all four.

Amb. Pheko then identifies four strategic assets that Africa must increasingly own: genetics, technology, infrastructure and markets/value-chain capabilities.

Her emphasis on genetics is particularly significant. African farmers have long maintained indigenous seed systems and agricultural knowledge, yet control over agricultural genetics can determine the level of sovereignty a country has over its food system.

Technology is equally important—but she warns Africa not to abandon its own indigenous knowledge in the rush towards new technologies. Traditional practices such as water management, botanical crop protection and indigenous animal-health systems contain knowledge that can be combined with modern technologies.

For Amb. Pheko, Africa’s greatest export should increasingly be its intelligence, not simply its raw materials.

Infrastructure is another critical part of the equation.

Processing facilities, cold chains, warehouses, laboratories, logistics and digital exchanges are not secondary considerations. They are essential components of an agricultural value chain capable of creating wealth.

Africa loses a significant proportion of its food after harvest. For Amb. Pheko, this is not simply a failure of farmers—it is evidence of a value-chain failure.

Her challenge is therefore direct: Why should Africa continue supplying ingredients for other people’s brands? Why shouldn’t the world buy African brands?

African agricultural products, indigenous foods, wellness products and biodiversity-based innovations should increasingly move from being commodities to becoming African-owned products, brands and intellectual property.

That is how production becomes prosperity.

And that is how Africa moves from being a supplier to becoming an owner of its economic future.

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Madelein Mkunu is the President of Leading Women of Africa (LWA), a Pan-African social enterprise promoting women's leadership in economic development, and the founder of Beyond Boundaries, a global content and advocacy platform amplifying African women’s voices in policy, peacebuilding, and development. A bilingual English–French strategist and accomplished public speaker, she brings over 20 years of experience in gender mainstreaming, inclusive governance, and stakeholder engagement across Africa and globally. She holds an MBA and a Master’s in Management from IEDC-Bled School of Management (Slovenia), a Postgraduate Degree in Development Studies from the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), a Certificate in Leadership from the Dale Carnegie Institute, and is an alumna of Michigan State University’s Women Empowerment Programme. With a background in accounting and a passion for transformative change, Madelein is a trusted advisor to institutions seeking Africa-rooted development solutions.

Amb. Mohau Pheko - Africa Does Not Have an Agricultural Problem. It Has an Ownership Problem

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