Prorustica, advisors on agribusiness partnerships and africapractice, a Pan-African strategic advisory and communications consultancy, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate and foster agricultural partnerships in Africa.
A statement made available to our correspondent on Friday said the combined skills and expertise of Prorustica and africapractice would help to develop agricultural partnerships that create value for governments, investors, and rural communities.
The Managing Director of Prorustica, Mr. Patrick Guyver, said, “Realising Africa’s agricultural potential will mean food security not only for the region itself, but also much improved food security at the global level; it will mean widespread poverty alleviation and improved livelihoods through job creation, export revenue, and higher rural incomes, among other factors.”
The statement added that Prorustica and africa practice have pooled their experience and services to assist companies and investors to identify and develop opportunities throughout the agricultural value chain in Africa.
“The Prorustica-africapractice partnership provides platforms for private-public sector engagement, which are critical in the development of sustainable inclusive agribusiness models. The partnership understands that engaging the domestic and international private sector is crucial to unlocking inclusive growth at all levels, particularly for smallholder farmers, who are the guardians of Africa’s agriculture,” Guyver said.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of africapractice, Mr. Marcus Courage said the organisation had built a winning team.
He pointed out that the partnership would mitigate risk and reduce the transaction costs associated with agricultural projects in Africa by combining Prorustica’s experience of the agricultural sector with africapractice’s risk analysis and strategic communications services.
Courage said, “Agriculture investments throughout Africa have been characterised by too much failure, either because they don’t deliver adequate returns for investors, or because they fail to accommodate the needs of local communities and regulators.
“Many factors are at play, ranging from licenses and permits, to labour and technology, infrastructure and tax regimes. In many cases, there’s a lack of transparency and an absence of dialogue, which leads to misaligned expectations and a breakdown of trust, resulting in project failure.”