Sustained growth and improved governance in Africa’s agriculture sector are critical to meeting the continent’s development goals, including creating decent jobs for youth, nourishing growing cities with healthy foods, promoting resilience, and catalyzing domestic revenue mobilization. The 2020 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) from the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) focuses on the policies required to transform African agrifood systems to meet their potential. Chapters provide (1) an in-depth review of the evolution of agricultural sector policies over the last five decades; (2) a systematic analysis of traditional input constraints on agricultural productivity; (3) discussion of policies needed to bolster competitiveness along value chains; and of (4) factors that shape the broader enabling environment needed for agrifood system transformation. The report serves as the official M&E report for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), tracking progress on over 30 CAADP indicators.
Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.
Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.
Sustained growth and improved governance in Africa’s agriculture sector are critical to meeting the continent’s development goals, including creating decent jobs for youth, nourishing growing cities with healthy foods, promoting resilience, and catalyzing domestic revenue mobilization. The 2020 Annual Trends and Outlook Report (ATOR) from the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) focuses on the policies required to transform African agrifood systems to meet their potential. Chapters provide (1) an in-depth review of the evolution of agricultural sector policies over the last five decades; (2) a systematic analysis of traditional input constraints on agricultural productivity; (3) discussion of policies needed to bolster competitiveness along value chains; and of (4) factors that shape the broader enabling environment needed for agrifood system transformation. The report serves as the official M&E report for the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), tracking progress on over 30 CAADP indicators.
Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.
West and Central African nations face major obstacles to achieving the Millennium Development Goal of cutting poverty and hunger in half by 2015, not least among them the fragile state of their agriculture. Although most regional economies depend on agriculture for employment, national income, and export revenues, farm productivity tends to be low, owing to relatively little use of chemical fertilizers, improved seeds, and other modern technologies. Yield Gaps and Potential Agricultural Growth in West and Central Africa responds to this problem by identifying potential areas of growth in the agricultural and livestock sectors. Using data on the soil, water availability, and weather in different parts of West and Central Africa, the authors find significant gaps in different locations between the potential and actual yield of various agricultural products. They then use an economywide multimarket model to simulate the future economic effects of closing these yield gaps. In coastal nations, crops such as cassava, cereals, and yams have the greatest yield gaps, whereas, in the Sahel, livestock, rice, coarse grains and oilseeds (groundnuts) have more room for growth. Although identifying these yield gaps does not guarantee that they can be closed, it does provide a focus for development efforts in the region. The authors conclude, moreover, that if such efforts involve transnational cooperation in agricultural research, marketing, and other areas, they could produce significant benefits across West and Central Africa. This study's findings will be of interest to policymakers, researchers, and others concerned with African development.
Several Sub-Saharan African nations have experienced increased economic growth and political stability in recent years compared with the stagnation and turmoil of previous decades. Ghana is one of the biggest success stories of the region; the nation has enjoyed an annual average of five percent economic growth for the past 20 years and will probably be the first Sub-Saharan African country to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of cutting poverty in half by 2015.This study examines how Ghana can build on its achievements and possibly serve as a model for other African countries. By drawing on existing literature and applying a highly disaggregated dynamic general equilibrium model to Ghana's experiences, the authors identify certain necessary factors for further economic development in the country. These requirements include continued political stability, growth in manufacturing, improved domestic services such as transportation, and agricultural development that goes beyond past reliance on cash crops such as cocoa to include major staples and livestock. This kind of broad-based growth will benefit the entire economy, thereby reducing poverty. The authors' analysis provides an economic development strategy for Ghana, and possibly other countries in the region, to policymakers, development specialists, and others concerned with Sub-Saharan Africa.
If agriculture in Eastern and Central Africa remains in its current state, not a single nation in the region will achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015. In the hopes of averting such a dismal outcome, this report analyzes agricultural development priorities and investment patterns in the region and their impact on growth and poverty rates, seeking an improved agricultural strategy. Using the Dynamic Research Evaluation for Management (DREAM) model and other tools to evaluate opportunities for increasing both agricultural and overall economic growth, the authors offer alternatives to the status quo. They propose approaches such as tailoring agricultural production to demand within Eastern and Central Africa, encouraging a wide variety of agricultural production to match the diversity of national demands and capacities, and promoting regional cooperation in agricultural development. Their analysis and conclusions should interest specialists in agricultural policy and investments, particularly those concerned with the impact of both on poverty reduction.
Although Rwanda has made considerable progress in recovering politically and economically from the devastating effects of the 1994 genocide, the poverty rate is still higher and the gross domestic product lower than before the genocide. Poverty reduction and economic growth would receive much-needed support from increased agricultural growth. This study assesses alternative agricultural development strategies, identifying areas in which policy reforms, together with public and private investment, can best promote Rwandan agriculture. The authors evaluate the potential of several different agricultural subsectors-grains, root crops, livestock, and others-to contribute to national agricultural growth and poverty reduction. They conclude that growth in staple crops, particularly root crops such as cassava and potatoes, has the greatest potential to encourage economywide growth and poverty reduction. Promoting the necessary staple crop growth will require the allocation of public resources to the agricultural sector to increase significantly, reaching 10 percent of the total government budget. It will also require rethinking Rwanda's earlier emphasis on promoting export crop growth, which has proved inadequate in encouraging poverty reduction while also posing environmental problems. This study makes an important contribution to the debate over the most effective development strategies for Rwanda and other Sub-Saharan African nations.Show More Show Less
Changes in the global environment have led some to question whether the conventional wisdom on the role of agriculture in economic development is still relevant to Africa today. This report critically examines the literature on this issue, taking both the conventional and skeptical views into account. It complements this review with case studies of five African countries. The findings indicate that agricultural growth will play an essential role in promoting overall economic growth and reducing poverty in most of Africa's agrarian-based economies. This holds true even for countries that have the potential for industrial growth driven by natural resources. The results also show that only smallholder food-staple and livestock production can generate broadbased agricultural growth. By demonstrating that Africa's agricultural and food subsector cannot be bypassed, this report contributes to an important ongoing debate in development studies.
How can East and Southern African nations reduce poverty and hunger through agricultural growth? How can they create sufficient market demand to power such growth? This report proposes answers to these questions, applying a general equilibrium framework to the experiences of Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The authors conclude that, for countries like these, promoting traditional agricultural exports, developing nontraditional exports, and increasing food staple growth will probably not be sufficient to generate a significant level of economic growth. Instead, the model simulations suggest that reductions in marketing costs through improved infrastructure and development of market institutions, along with significant growth in the nonagricultural economy (besides that generated by agricultural growth linkages) are necessary conditions for rapid economic growth. This report's findings are a valuable first step toward understanding how East and Southern African nations can achieve economywide growth and poverty reduction.
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