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UNIDO highlights food system transformation as a driver of industrial growth

Agroprocessing and food innovation are driving industrial development, with Senegal and Brazil offering examples of targeted national strategies.

The 2024 Industrial Development Report from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), published in April, identifies food systems as critical to achieving inclusive industrial growth.

It highlights agroprocessing and food innovation as effective tools to address rising demand, inflation, and employment challenges.

With sub-Saharan Africa’s working-age population projected to double by 2050, the report, Turning Challenges into Sustainable Solutions, calls for updated industrial policies to meet shifting consumption patterns and build resilience through domestic food production and processing.

Senegal targets inclusive growth through agro-industrial zones

Senegal features as an example of industrial policy built around agroprocessing.

The country is implementing Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), spatially targeted industrial development hubs designed to link agricultural production with processing infrastructure and trade corridors. These zones aim to reduce post-harvest losses, increase rural employment, and enhance food security.

The SAPZ approach is central to the country’s Plan for an Emerging Senegal 2035. Five regional “agropoles” are being developed by the Ministry of Industrial Development and Small and Medium Industries in partnership with development banks and international agencies.

The hubs are designed to scale up local processing of cereals, legumes, and horticultural crops while integrating water management, cold storage, and packaging infrastructure.

Agriculture accounts for a significant share of GDP and employment, and expanding processing capacity helps absorb rural labour, improve productivity, and reduce the country’s dependence on imported foods. The agro-industrial strategy also supports the development of rural economies and connects them to national and regional markets.

The African Development Bank (AfDB), which has committed $1.1 billion to SAPZs in 13 African countries, sees the initiative as a core part of its food systems strategy. AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina said in April that the zones would “transform Africa into an industrial powerhouse for food and agriculture”.

In southern Senegal, the Agropole Sud project alone is projected to create 14,500 direct jobs by 2025, with 50% earmarked for women and 60% for youth. It is also expected to benefit 65,000 rural households through improved market access, training, and integration into formal value chains.

SAPZs are supported by international development institutions, including UNIDO, the World Bank and the Islamic Development Bank, as a means to overcome persistent structural challenges in African agro-industrial development such as weak infrastructure, fragmented supply chains, and limited investment in food processing SMEs.

However, Senegal has also faced challenges in scaling up and transforming agriculture and food production.

In April, the Associated Press reported that US registered company African Agriculture failed to deliver on a planned 20,000-hectare alfalfa export project near Lake Guiers. The company is facing legal claims over unpaid wages and local authorities are pushing to return the land to public use.

Such failures reflect broader concerns about land governance and investment oversight across the continent.

According to think tank Geopolitical Intelligence Services, Africa accounts for 37% of large-scale global agricultural investments, but just 11% of contracted land is under cultivation.

Brazil builds innovation capacity in alternative proteins

In Latin America, UNIDO has found that industrialisation of the food sector is increasingly driven by high-tech innovation.

Brazil’s southern state of Paraná is developing a research and production ecosystem focused on cultivated meat and alternative proteins, as part of a broader push to adapt traditional animal protein production to emerging global trends.

Led by the Araucária Foundation, the initiative involves three universities and has secured $1.1 million in funding to establish and upgrade laboratories, develop local cell lines and bioreactors, and offer new academic courses.

The project is designed to enhance Brazil’s competitiveness in the global alternative protein market while leveraging its established role in conventional livestock production.

Paraná currently accounts for a third of Brazil’s chicken production, 21% of pork, and nearly 14% of milk output. By investing in cellular agriculture, the state is seeking to position itself at the forefront of sustainable food innovation, aligning with global trends in gene editing, synthetic biology, and precision fermentation.

Brazil has also been identified as a region to watch in the global AgriFoodTech landscape. The 2024 FoodTech 500, published by Forward Fooding, lists the country among several emerging innovation hubs, alongside Spain, West Africa, and the Gulf Cooperation Council region.

Brazil’s focus on scaling sustainable food production positions it to play a growing role in the development of novel ingredients and processing technologies.