Country Economic Memorandum for Sao Tome and Principe - Background Note 10 : What are the Obstacles to Agricultural Development in STP? A Review of Current Agriculture Production Structure and Potential
This note presents an analysis of the obstacles and opportunities for STP’s agriculture value chains, assesses the main sector risks, and provides a series of public sector recommendations for increased private sector investment. While the country...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Background Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/429701562910836361/Country-Economic-Memorandum-Background-Note-10-What-are-the-obstacles-to-agricultural-development-in-STP-A-review-of-current-agriculture-production-structure-and-potential http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32092 |
| Summary: | This note presents an analysis of the
obstacles and opportunities for STP’s agriculture value
chains, assesses the main sector risks, and provides a
series of public sector recommendations for increased
private sector investment. While the country will remain a
net importer of food and agricultural products for the
foreseeable future, a series of opportunities exist, some to
increase import-substitution, others to expand exports.
Given STP’s land constraints and climate variability,
importing food will continue to occur in the near to
medium-term future to satisfy local demand. However,
import-substitution opportunities will continue to offer
prospects centered on the feedstuff-livestock chain and the
horticultural sector, as well as some additional expansion
of the palm oil industry. Export opportunities lie primarily
in cocoa products as well as in emerging non-traditional
agricultural exports, some strategically linked to tourism,
especially eco-tourism already embraced by the government
and by high end tourist developments established in the past
few years. Analysis of the competitiveness of existing and
emerging rural supply chains in STP reveals a series of
characteristics that allow to overcome the structural
diseconomies of scale of a small island state. These
characteristics include among others: (i) high
value-to-weight products, (ii) agricultural products that
can be taken with tourists, (iii) low perishability and
products that can be stored, (iv) climate change resilience;
and (v) explore the country’s uniqueness. Value chains that
possess some of these key characteristics discerned from the
analysis offer private sector opportunities, provided the
enabling environment allows them to reach their potential. |
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