Extending the smallholder value-creation frontier: a business perspective on food security

African agribusiness is a provider of productive agricultural inputs, buyer of farm outputs, incentive-creator to farmers, provider of support services, distributor of food to consumers, investor, upscaler, and innovator. As such, it plays an essential role in improving food security. In this chapter we look at how current trends in Africa provide opportunities for businesses to create value and how these new means of value creation contribute to solving Africa’s “food security conundrum”. Opportunities emerge in particular in the demographically and economically growing urban and peri-urban areas. However, the growth of production is unlikely to everywhere keep up with the rapid growth of demand. The transition of smallholder farms into farm businesses, thus extending what we refer to as the smallholder value-creation frontier, is a potential solution. Providing a stronger business case to smallholders will also make them more attractive customers, thus also making a business contribution to food security in most rural parts of Africa. This chapter offers several directions that may help to extend the frontier as far as possible.