Agenda for Competition Reform in Africa for Fair Agrifood Systems

This policy brief argues that market concentration and weak competition regimes in African agrifood systems inflate food prices, marginalize smallholder farmers, and hinder climate change adaptation. It recommends strengthening national and regional competition authorities, improving market intelligence through tools like the African Market Observatory, and securing international donor support to dismantle cartels and regulate multinational firms.

• Market concentration in African agrifood systems is driven by a few multinational firms dominating key value chains, such as poultry and fertilisers, which leads to price manipulation and increased vulnerability of food systems.
• Competition enforcement in Sub-Saharan Africa is severely limited; nearly 50% of countries in the region lack functional competition laws or institutions, and only nine countries have had such regimes operational for over a decade with robust enforcement capacity.
• In the poultry value chain across Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia, intermediaries earned an average of US$200 to US$300 per tonne above reasonable transport costs between 2021 and 2022, while soybean farmers in Zambia received low harvest prices of approximately US$300-400/tonne.
• Fertiliser markets in East and Southern Africa exhibit significant price mark-ups; between January and July 2023, urea fertiliser prices in East and Central Africa were three times higher than world prices, suggesting an excess mark-up of 60–70% over fair delivered prices.
• Women face systemic barriers in the agrifood system despite owning over 50% of SMEs in Africa and making up more than half of the Sub-Saharan African agrifood workforce, specifically regarding discrimination in access to land and finance.
• The brief proposes a reform agenda based on three pillars: market intelligence to identify anti-competitive practices, regional cooperation to address cross-border mergers and cartels, and international donor support for technical assistance and capacity building.

APA

Kroll, F., & Dasoo, M. (2025). Agenda for Competition Reform in Africa for Fair Agrifood Systems. African Climate Foundation. https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/801023_Q-Competition-regulation-reform-WEB-1.pdf

Chicago

Kroll, Florian, and Malik Dasoo. Agenda for Competition Reform in Africa for Fair Agrifood Systems. African Climate Foundation, 2025. https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/801023_Q-Competition-regulation-reform-WEB-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Kroll |first1=Florian |last2=Dasoo |first2=Malik |title=Agenda for Competition Reform in Africa for Fair Agrifood Systems |publisher=African Climate Foundation |date=2025 |url=https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/801023_Q-Competition-regulation-reform-WEB-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{kroll2025agenda, author = {Kroll, Florian and Dasoo, Malik}, title = {{Agenda for Competition Reform in Africa for Fair Agrifood Systems}}, institution = {African Climate Foundation}, year = {2025}, url = {https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/801023_Q-Competition-regulation-reform-WEB-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }