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By Jefferson Massah, Sustainable Development Communication Practitioner jeff.massah24@gmail.com /+231 886828622
Flipping through the pages of a newly released report, the World Bank Group delivers a sobering message: Africa’s growing food production is failing to ease hunger across the continent. In its comprehensive study titled “Transport Connectivity for Food Security in Africa,” the Bank highlights a troubling paradox—more food is being grown, yet food insecurity continues to rise.
At the core of the issue, the report argues, is not agricultural output but broken supply chains, deteriorating infrastructure, and sky-high transport costs. These logistical failures are preventing food from getting where it’s needed most, stranding harvests in rural areas while consumers in cities and food-deficit regions face soaring prices and empty shelves.
What sets the new World Bank report apart is its shift from diagnosis to action. Rather than simply outlining the challenges, the report delivers a clear and actionable roadmap to address Africa’s most pressing food transport bottlenecks. At the core of its strategy are 50 targeted infrastructure investments aimed at improving the movement of food across the continent. These include:
- 20 priority land border crossings identified for immediate modernization to ease bureaucratic delays and reduce trade costs.
- 20 vital road corridors that require urgent upgrades to ensure faster, more reliable transport of agricultural goods from rural areas to markets.
- 10 high-traffic seaports slated for redevelopment to reduce congestion, speed up imports and exports, and lower logistical costs.
These investments are designed not only to streamline food supply chains but also to bring down prices, reduce waste, and improve food access for millions across Africa. The report emphasizes that such improvements could be transformational—unlocking regional trade, connecting producers to consumers, and creating more resilient food systems continent-wide.
According to the World Bank report, Africa’s food supply chain is being choked by a web of structural challenges—many of which operate at both local and regional levels. These barriers, if left unaddressed, will continue to undermine food availability, affordability, and accessibility across the continent.
At the heart of the problem is poor rural road access. Nearly 60% of Africa’s rural population lives more than two kilometers from an all-season road, cutting them off from essential markets and agricultural inputs like seeds and fertilizers. For millions of smallholder farmers, this physical isolation directly limits their productivity and ability to contribute to national and regional food systems.
Compounding the issue are exorbitant transport costs, driven in large part by limited competition in the trucking industry. In many countries, a handful of dominant operators set inflated prices, making it financially difficult for farmers to get their goods to market or for consumers to access affordable food.
Trade within the continent is also stifled by non-tariff barriers (NTBs)—bureaucratic delays, redundant procedures, and informal fees at border crossings. These barriers raise regional trade costs by 8 to 25 percent, effectively disconnecting countries from one another and preventing surplus food in one region from reaching areas in need.
Meanwhile, Africa’s ports and distribution chains are overwhelmed and under-equipped. Out of 138 ports across the continent, only 52 have the capacity to efficiently handle large volumes of food. This shortfall leads to congestion, shipment delays, and escalating import costs, further stretching already fragile food systems.
Storage infrastructure presents another major vulnerability. The continent currently stores less than 30% of its annual food production, which means there is little buffer when disruptions occur—whether from conflict, climate shocks, or global supply crises. The result is devastating: up to 37% of locally produced food is lost after harvest, much of it due to the lack of cold chain systems needed to preserve perishables.
Together, these bottlenecks form a complex but urgent infrastructure puzzle—one the World Bank says must be solved to transform Africa’s food systems and avert deepening hunger.
World Bank Recommends Bold Reforms to Fix Africa’s Broken Food Supply Chains
In response to the complex web of challenges threatening Africa’s food systems, the World Bank has outlined a strategic action plan aimed at overhauling the continent’s transport and logistics infrastructure. The recommendations, detailed in its newly released report, present a five-point agenda designed to boost food security by making supply chains faster, cheaper, and more resilient.
- Upgrading Ports and Border Crossings
At the top of the agenda is the modernization of Africa’s overloaded maritime infrastructure. The report calls for urgent upgrades to high-traffic seaports and customs systems to reduce congestion, improve efficiency, and accelerate the flow of food imports and exports. It also recommends targeted investment in regional transport corridors that connect surplus-producing agricultural zones with food-deficit regions. - Removing Trade Barriers
To unlock intra-African trade potential, the World Bank urges governments to dismantle non-tariff barriers (NTBs) such as bureaucratic delays, inconsistent regulations, and informal charges. Aligning trade policies across regional blocs and improving border governance would lower transaction costs and allow food surpluses to move more freely across national boundaries. - Making Transport Services More Competitive
The report highlights the need to encourage more competition in the logistics sector. By supporting new market entrants and leveraging digital tools—such as cargo-matching platforms to reduce empty truck trips—African countries could significantly cut inefficiencies. The economic impact could be substantial: a 10% reduction in transport costs could yield a 25% increase in trade, according to World Bank estimates. - Strengthening Rural Road Networks
The Bank also emphasizes the need to expand and maintain all-weather rural roads, particularly those connecting smallholder farmers to local and regional markets. It urges investment in climate-resilient infrastructure to withstand floods, droughts, and other hazards that frequently disrupt food distribution in remote areas. - Expanding Food Storage and Cold Chain Facilities
Finally, the report calls for a major scale-up of modern storage systems, including cold chain infrastructure, to reduce postharvest losses and ensure supply stability. With less than 30% of Africa’s annual food production currently stored, the continent remains vulnerable to shocks and waste. Public-private partnerships, the report suggests, will be key to funding and operating these systems effectively.
Together, these strategic measures form a comprehensive blueprint to transform Africa’s fragmented food logistics landscape into a more integrated, resilient, and inclusive system capable of feeding the continent’s growing population.
Connecting Food to People: Fixing the Missing Link in Africa’s Food Systems
While Africa’s agricultural production has made gains in recent years, the World Bank report makes it clear that growing more food alone will not solve the continent’s hunger crisis. The real challenge lies in getting that food to the people who need it most—a task made difficult by broken logistics, inefficient transport systems, and underdeveloped infrastructure.
“Food insecurity in Africa is no longer just a matter of insufficient production,” the report states. “It is a structural issue rooted in how food is stored, moved, and traded.” In many cases, food surpluses are stuck in remote rural areas, while urban and food-deficit regions experience high prices and empty shelves. This disconnect is made worse by poor roads, high transport costs, trade barriers, and a lack of storage facilities.
For example, a farmer may harvest a good crop, but without access to an all-season road or affordable transport, the produce spoils before it can reach markets. Meanwhile, neighboring regions with food shortages are forced to import similar products from overseas at higher prices, increasing dependency on external markets and exposing local economies to global shocks.
The report emphasizes that efficient transport and logistics are the glue that binds food systems together. Without reliable networks—whether rural feeder roads, regional highways, seaports, or storage hubs—the promise of agricultural growth will never translate into real food security. “Surpluses in one area will never reach the hungry in another,” it warns, unless urgent action is taken to build the physical and regulatory infrastructure that connects farms to markets and countries to one another.
A New Vision for Food Security in Africa
With food insecurity projected to worsen amid climate change, conflict, and economic volatility, the World Bank is urging African governments, regional institutions, and development partners to act now. The report offers more than just analysis—it delivers a comprehensive roadmap for building food systems that are more resilient, affordable, and equitable.
This means committing to strategic investments in infrastructure, removing trade bottlenecks, encouraging private sector involvement in logistics, and ensuring that smallholder farmers—who produce up to 80% of the continent’s food—can access the markets and inputs they need to thrive.
Implementing these reforms will not be easy. It requires long-term political will, cross-border cooperation, and a new way of thinking about food—not just as a commodity, but as a lifeline tied to roads, ports, policies, and power grids.
But the rewards are immense. A well-connected continent is one where no surplus goes to waste, no harvest is stranded, and no family goes hungry while food rots just miles away. With this report, the World Bank has provided a blueprint. Now, the challenge—and the opportunity—lies in turning that blueprint into reality.
The World Bank’s findings are also a clear call to action for Liberia. Food security is no longer just about how much we grow, but how well we connect producers to consumers.
By investing in roads, storage, and transport services, Liberia can close the gap between surplus and shortage—between farm and fork. The report offers a roadmap. It is now up to policymakers, partners, and stakeholders to ensure it becomes reality.
