"Small and Growing: Entrepreneurship in African Agriculture" A Montpellier Panel Report

This report was authored by Agriculture for Impact, an advocacy initiative that convenes the Montpellier Panel to encourage better European donor support for the advancement of agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa. The members of the Montpellier panel expose how investment in rural and food sector entrepreneurship in Africa can achieve sustainable food and nutrition security for the continent and significantly contribute to Africa's rural and economic growth. 

Entrepreneurship is rooted in small farm agriculture, but it needs pro-active policy design and investment. Governments, donors and the private sector need to make these opportunities flourish by vigorously facilitating, supporting and encouraging the active involvement of young people and women. Small-size companies with significant social and economic impacts like Kawtal or Phileol in I&P portfolios are a few instances of a successful entrepreneurship-based model combined with farming. This sector of activity offers also good opportunnities in environmental risk-management as we can see among IOT and Biotropical, both gathering eco-friendly practices that shape all their transformation chaine. 

To this end, the priority should be to support the creation of Rural and Food Sector Enterprises along the agribusiness value chain through:

• Strong vocational and business management training for young people
• Adequate and affordable financing for starting and growing enterprises
• Appropriate enabling environments for entrepreneurship on an individual and collective basis
• Political leadership that demonstrates the necessary vision and will

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