Agribusiness
Agribusiness refers to the range of activities and disciplines encompassed by modern food production and agriculture. It’s not just about farming or raising livestock; agribusiness includes a wide spectrum of activities such as seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales.
What exactly is agribusiness?
In essence, agribusiness is the business sector of agriculture, involving all the steps that move agricultural products from the farm to the consumer. This includes breeding, crop production, financing, machinery, processing, and marketing. Agribusiness aims to improve the efficiency and profitability of the agriculture industry by applying business principles and the latest technology.
Examples:
- A farmer using advanced machinery for planting and harvesting to increase yield.
- A company developing genetically modified seeds to resist pests and diseases.
- Food processing companies turning raw agricultural products into consumer goods.
- Marketing firms specializing in promoting agricultural products.
According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the global value of the agri-food sector is estimated at KES 5,000,000,000,000($5 trillion), making it one of the world’s largest economic sectors. The same report highlights that agribusiness is key to economic development and is pivotal in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030.
In simple language:
Imagine agribusiness as a giant conveyor belt that starts in the farmer’s field and ends in your kitchen. Along the way, many people and companies work to make sure the food is grown, collected, cleaned, packaged, shipped, and sold so you can enjoy it. Agribusiness covers all these steps, making sure that the process is efficient so that farmers can make a living and consumers can have access to a variety of foods year-round.
