In the African context, in general, agriculture is practiced by peasants gathered in cooperatives often created to avoid paying taxes. Thus, most of these agricultural producers do not operate in the formal economy as legally established agricultural SARLs would.

This results in very little processing and industrialization, which is usually done by a few well-heeled entrepreneurs who source at the best possible price from peasants, who remain poor.

With such a structure, value chains development does not benefit agricultural producers.

Moreover, the small-scale African farmer is often nomadic, with peasants renting land here and there, and moving according to rental contracts and the quality of the soil often impoverished by rudimentary agricultural techniques. This does not allow farmers to cultivate perennial crops, because they do not own the land. They are engaged in subsistence farming and have great difficulty accessing the market to sell their surplus production.

Lack of access to landownership also limits access to finance. Financial models/tools used by the formal private sector (loans, equity, debenture, guarantee, etc.)  are not accessible to informal agricultural producers because it is impossible to secure long-term loans for producers who operate in the informal sector on rented land. The lack of financing for agricultural producers limits their ability to build infrastructure, access equipment and high-quality inputs.

Such artisanal agriculture cannot generate decent financial flows for agricultural producers but only basic food. In addition, it has not yet integrated the valorization of local plants, often very rich in nutrients necessary for a healthy and balanced diet.

Add to this the fact that young people are not attracted to agriculture because they want to start businesses and become full-fledged entrepreneurs. As a result, the "cooperative" model is in jeopardy because there is no succession.

Locally grown value-added plants, rich in nutrients and active ingredients for the nutraceutical, cosmetic and biopharmaceutical sectors are not fully developed, although they could represent promising economic sectors and local solutions to nutritional and socio-economic problems. Despite the natural potential, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries are absent from the Botanical growing industry. A number of reasons explain African's status with respect to botanical market including: (i) lack of capacity, including poor technical know-how, planning, policy, and governance; (ii) poor quality control, in an industry where international protocols and norms are strict, with very high standards for semi-finished and finished products; and (iii) limited access to key infrastructure and resources, such as roads, energy, research and financing.

Small scale farmers across Africa are trapped in a traditional botanical supply chains where profits are captured by big corporates and an army of middlemen, such as ingredient processors and sellers who take advantage of current business models that often do not improve the livelihoods of poor communities.