The issue of supplying food to African towns will remain a major challenge in the coming years in view of the steep urban growth, the small increase in extensive agricultural production and the risks of bottlenecks in the supply and distribution circuits.

The growth of agriculture output over the past 200 years has been phenomenal. When Malthus wrote in 1798, he perceived limits on agricultural production as serious and imminent. Since then world population has increased by six-fold and global agricultural production has more than kept pace.