That evening
Nearly 500 delegates had come to the Seychelles for the annual meeting of the African Export-Import Bank. The debate that animated the meeting was one that has long shaped Africa's future: should the continent industrialise, or should agriculture be its engine of growth?
That evening, as the sun set over the beach, Mahesh Patel turned to Professor Arun Tiwari, who was sitting beside him.
“There is no sectoral silver bullet for Africa's challenges. What we need is a paradigm shift—agriculture must move from simply producing food to becoming an engine of prosperity.”
Mahesh Patel, Preface to Abundance
Later, Dr Benedict Oramah, the bank's president, joined them. Being close to agriculture, he said, makes one realise that life's joys come mostly from relationships, friendships and working together, not from consuming and possessing things.
That was the evening the book was conceived. It would tell the story of a life spent in Africa's fields and markets, and of the farmers who, against all odds, still grow 80 per cent of the continent's food.
