By Tony Okafor, Awka
The Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Teva Foods, Mr Chima Christian, has raised concerns over Africa’s continued prioritisation of export-oriented agriculture at the expense of domestic food security, warning that the trend is deepening hunger across the continent.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Christian described the situation as a “historical irony,” noting that while Africa once supplied forced labour to foreign plantations, it is now “willingly structuring” its agricultural systems to meet foreign consumption needs ahead of its own.
He questioned the rationale behind the large-scale cultivation of export crops such as cocoa, sesame seeds, tea, and flowers without adequate value addition, even as millions of Africans struggle to access basic food.
“Why are we growing flowers for others to decorate their dining tables while our children are hungry?” he asked, stressing that available arable land should first be deployed to meet local food demands.
Christian argued that Africa’s development strategy, which emphasises foreign exchange earnings from raw commodity exports, is fundamentally flawed.
According to him, revenues generated from such exports remain significantly lower than the continent’s expenditure on food imports.
He said the practice of exporting unprocessed agricultural produce while importing finished food products exposes African economies to global market shocks and weakens their food systems.
“We grow for others, export cheap, import expensive, and call it a development strategy,” he stated.
The Teva Foods CEO called for a fundamental shift in policy direction, urging governments across the continent to prioritise food sufficiency and sovereignty before expanding export production.
He recommended a comprehensive reorientation of agricultural frameworks to focus on domestic food production, value addition, and regional supply chains.
This, he said, would involve incentivising the cultivation of staple foods, revising land use policies, and redirecting development financing towards integrated food systems.
Such systems, he explained, should emphasise processing, storage, and distribution of food primarily for African consumers.
Christian cited Kenya as an example, warning that continued emphasis on export crops like tea and flowers without ensuring local food availability could exacerbate food insecurity.
“The reasonable sequencing should be self-evident: achieve food sufficiency first, then grow for others from a position of strength,” he added.
He further called for the adoption of regional food sovereignty frameworks to guide agricultural production choices across African countries.
Analysts say his remarks come amid growing concerns over rising food prices, import dependency, and the vulnerability of African economies to external shocks.
