Download or read book Promoting Private Agribusiness Activity in Sub-Saharan Africa written by Steven Jaffee and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a break from past policies, many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are moving away from state-controlled agricultural marketing systems. Agricultural sector and broader economic policy reforms are being implemented, one objective of which is to enhance the incentives for private entrepreneurs and companies to undertake investments and expand and diversify agro-processing and trading activity. The supply response has not been overwhelming. While some investments and initial structural changes have occurred in certain countries and particular sub-sectors, the expected surge in private agribusiness activity has yet to materialize. This study, Africa's Agro-Entrepreneurs: Private Sector Processing and Marketing of High-Value Foods, was undertaken in order to strengthen the empirical understanding of private agribusiness activity in Africa and thereby enrich on-going policy discussions and program initiatives in this area. The paper concentrates on private processing and marketing of such products as fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy products, fresh and processed fish, oilseeds/edible oils, nuts and spices. These higher value foods have had an increasingly important role in African economies in terms of household consumption and expenditures, agricultural and manufacturing value added, and international trade.