(Ecofin Agency) - Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will record the world’s fastest growing demand for cereal, meat and fish over the next decade. This is revealed in the “OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2018-27”.

According to the report, the global per capita consumption will only increase by 2% over the period, reflecting a demand saturation trend in many regions. Meanwhile this rate will grow by 6% in SSA.

This dynamic, which reflects the importance of cereals in sub-Saharan Africans’ dietary habits, will be driven mainly by a sustained increase in population, set to grow by 32 million people per year by 2027.

Therefore, the region would need additional 18.4 million tons of maize, 50% of the global volume expected to be consumed by this period. Fish and meat consumption will surge by 28%, far above the world demand (15%). However, the average per capita consumption of these two products, which is already one of the lowest in the world (8-9kg against 11kg), is expected to decline by a further 3%.

Let’s note that Southern Africa is the part of the region with the strongest per capita meat consumption with South Africa, Namibia and Botswana being the leaders. In SSA, fisheries provide only 7% of global production.

Espoir Olodo