Chapter 70 The Changing Context and Prospects for Agricultural and Rural Development in Africa

The purpose of the Africa Emerging Markets Forum is to discuss the continent’s economic and social challenges and to share ideas for better results on the ground. This article focuses on the performance and potential contribution of agricultural development, first looking at the current constraints and then setting out some suggestions for the way forward. Over the past 50 years, the normal structural decline in the share of agriculture in the economy and accompanying convergence of incomes in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, has not yet happened in sub-Saharan Africa. The economy, in terms of sector shares in total output, has been practically frozen, as has the structure of production within agriculture itself, its technology, and its mode of growth primarily via area expansion. As a consequence, African agriculture remains extremely under-capitalized, and the number of poor and hungry has increased in both the rural and urban areas. Encouraging signs for a new beginning for agriculture discussed in this article include the resumption of economic growth, the reduction in agricultural dis-protection, the end of the secular downward trend in agricultural prices, growing domestic and regional demand for food, improvements in the institutional environment for rural development, and a growing commitment of African Governments to agricultural development. While there is much talk about another structural transformation in Africa toward large scale commercial farming, there appear to be diseconomies of scale in farming, while the success rate of large scale farming has been very limited in Africa. The family farm model therefore remains an appropriate model for most of African agricultural development. To seize opportunities underlying the above-mentioned encouraging signs, sub-Saharan Africa will need to support economic growth by (a) continued sound macroeconomic policies, (b) removing of the remain-ing agricultural taxation that still disadvantages African farmers relative to all other farmers in the world, (c) improving services for small farmers, (d) significantly increasing investment in agricultural technology and its dissemination, (e) empowering local governments, communities, and farmer organizations for their own development, and (f) strengthening the already existing regional agricultural institutions. An overall conclusion emanating from this article is for individual countries to adapt and customize the above broad goals into country-specific action plans to enhance the performance and contribution of the agriculture sector, in line with the CAADP (Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme) compacts on which they are already working.

This paper presents a framework of the evolution of information and communication technology (ICT) applications in agriculture and rural development based on comparative experiences of South Africa and Kenya. The framework posits that full deployment of ICT in agriculture and rural development will be a culmination of several phases of changes that starts with e-government policy design, development and implementation. The paper argues that ICT use in agriculture and rural development is a powerful instrument for improving agricultural and rural development and standards of living throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. However, success in greater application of ICT in agriculture will require addressing impediments to adoption and diffusion. Such impediments include the lack of awareness, low literacy, infrastructure deficiencies (e.g. lack of electricity to charge electronic gadgets), language and cultural barriers in ICT usage, the low e-inclusivity and the need to cater for the special needs of some users. The paper reviews successful applications of ICT in agriculture and urges greater use of ICT-based interventions in agriculture as a vehicle for spurring rural development in Africa. Request access from your librarian to read this article's full text.

This paper presents a framework of the evolution of information and communication technology (ICT) applications in agriculture and rural development based on comparative experiences of South Africa and Kenya. The framework posits that full deployment of ICT in agriculture and rural development will be a culmination of several phases of changes that starts with e-government policy design, development and implementation. The paper argues that ICT use in agriculture and rural development is a powerful instrument for improving agricultural and rural development and standards of living throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. However, success in greater application of ICT in agriculture will require addressing impediments to adoption and diffusion. Such impediments include the lack of awareness, low literacy, infrastructure deficiencies (e.g. lack of electricity to charge electronic gadgets), language and cultural barriers in ICT usage, the low e-inclusivity and the need to cater for the special needs of some users. The paper reviews successful applications of ICT in agriculture and urges greater use of ICT-based interventions in agriculture as a vehicle for spurring rural development in Africa.

This paper presents a framework of the evolution of information and communication technology (ICT) applications in agriculture and rural development based on comparative experiences of South Africa and Kenya. The framework posits that full deployment of ICT in agriculture and rural development will be a culmination of several phases of changes that starts with e-government policy design, development and implementation. The paper argues that ICT use in agriculture and rural development is a powerful instrument for improving agricultural and rural development and standards of living throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. However, success in greater application of ICT in agriculture will require addressing impediments to adoption and diffusion. Such impediments include the lack of awareness, low literacy, infrastructure deficiencies (e.g. lack of electricity to charge electronic gadgets), language and cultural barriers in ICT usage, the low e-inclusivity and the need to cater for the special needs of some users. The paper reviews successful applications of ICT agriculture and urges greater use of ICT-based interventions in agriculture as a vehicle for spurring rural development in Africa.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, many African countries experienced a profound slowdown in economic growth. The growth rate of real per capita GDP fell from 0.4% per year during the 1973-80 period to 1.2% per year during the 1980-89 period.' The causes-internal and external-of Africa's economic decline and the strategies for restoring economic growth are much debated. Nevertheless, broad consensus has emerged on the importance of (i) increasing total investment and (ii) promoting private-sector development and increasing its share of total investment for long-term growth.2 It is widely recognized that gross domestic investment fell substantially in Africa during the 1980s and remains severely depressed across the region. The proportion of total domestic investment in GDP fell from 20.8% per year during 1973-80 to 16.1% per year during 1980-89. In some countries, investment has fallen to less than 10% of GDP-a level that is insufficient even to replace depreciated capital. In Africa, the minimum investment needed to replace depreciated capital is estimated at 13% of GDP.3 In recent years, there has also been a growing recognition among many African leaders, faced with new realism and pragmatism, that the private sector could play a significant role in economic development. The focus in the longer term of structural adjustment programs and sectoral reforms adopted by these countries is on creating more appropriate incentives and a framework for private-sector development as the basis for achieving sustainable economic growth. In addition, multilateral and bilateral institutions have developed new initiatives with priorities for private-sector development. In 1989, the International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World Bank, es-

Previous articleNext article No AccessMacro Policies, External Forces, and Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan AfricaDhaneshwar GhuraDhaneshwar Ghura Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Economic Development and Cultural Change Volume 43, Number 4Jul., 1995 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/452185 Views: 48Total views on this site Citations: 31Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1995 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Fekadu Mekonnen Bedhiye, Lakhwinder Singh Fiscal policy and private investment in developing economies: Evidence from Ethiopia, African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development 4 (Jan 2022): 1–15.https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2021.1982664Roberta Bajrami, Adelina Gashi, Kosovare Ukshini, Donat Rexha Impact of the government size on economic growth in the Western Balkan countries, Journal of Governance and Regulation 11, no.11 (Jan 2022): 55–63.https://doi.org/10.22495/jgrv11i1art6JIUN-NAN PAN, MING-LEI CHANG POPULATION AGING, MIDDLE-INCOME TRAP, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF ASIAN ECONOMIES, The Singapore Economic Review 66, no.0606 (Apr 2019): 1577–1594.https://doi.org/10.1142/S0217590818420092Sin-Yu Ho, Bernard Njindan Iyke The Determinants of Economic Growth in Ghana: New Empirical Evidence, Global Business Review 21, no.33 (Jul 2018): 626–644.https://doi.org/10.1177/0972150918779282Temidayo Gabriel Apata Public spending mechanisms and gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the agricultural sector (1970–2016): Lessons for Nigeria from agricultural policy progressions in China, Bulletin of Geography. 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This article examines how agricultural trade, government effectiveness and population growth influence annual change in inclusive growth (IG) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). Using panel data for 41 countries over the period 2002–2022, we apply IV-2SLS and IVQR estimations to address endogeneity and capture heterogeneous effects across countries with varying levels of inclusiveness. The results reveal that agricultural trade slows the change in IG, with the adverse effects of exports and imports being stronger in countries with initially low inclusiveness. This suggests that export gains often benefit more privileged groups, while less competitive agricultural sectors are more exposed to low-cost imports. In contrast, government effectiveness enhances the change in IG, particularly in less inclusive economies. Rapid population growth, however, significantly reduces the annual change in IG, especially in countries already performing moderately well. To further assess intra-African dynamics, a dyadic model based on bilateral agricultural trade data shows that country pairs belonging to the AfCFTA or the same regional economic community (REC) experience greater combined annual changes in IG, supported by better governance coordination. These findings highlight the importance of strengthening institutions and managing demographic pressures to ensure that AfCFTA-driven trade integration yields broad-based welfare gains.

This paper examines sources of agricultural growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Growth in the stock of traditional inputs (land, labor, livestock) remains the dominant source of output growth. Growth in modern input use was of secondary importance, but still accounted for a 0.2-0.4% annual growth rate in three of four sub-regions. Econometric results support earlier studies that suggest that land abundance may be a constraint on land productivity growth. Growth in agricultural exports and historic calorie availability had positive impacts on productivity. These latter results suggest that positive feedback effects exist between export performance and food security on one hand and agricultural productivity on the other.

The supply-demand balance of cereals in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries left a gap that needs to be bridged by growth-inclusive agricultural production. Agricultural growth failed to keep pace with the population growth resulting from low technology adoption, mechanization, reduced yield, food loss/waste, trade barrier and distortion, low investment, and tenure security. This study investigates the impact of cereal production and intra-food trade on agricultural growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, utilising a cross-sectional panel dataset of 48 countries from 1986 – 2021. Employing the Im-Pesaran-Shin unit root tests, pairwise correlation analysis, and random effects regression modeling, the study reveals that cereal production significantly contributes to agricultural growth by 0.8 %. In comparison, intra-food trade positively and significantly influences agricultural growth by 2.5 %. The result shows that cereal production positively affects agriculture growth, while intra-food trade and population growth negate the hypothesis of trade-led agricultural growth. Conclusively, the study recommended lifting trade barriers, developing trade-driven policies, encouraging agriculture exports, and expanding free trade agreements within the region.

The article examines the trend and annual and seasonal paddy price fluctuations in Bangladesh. The terms of trade improved in favour of agriculture in the 80s as revealed by the trend in real paddy prices and trend in agricultural prices compared to industrial prices. Annual paddy price fluctuation in the 80s was comparatively less. The seasonal variations of paddy prices have been found to have declined in the recent years. The study shows that the internal procurement has no significant impact on seasonal variation of paddy prices in Bangladesh. However, seasonal storage period and production of Aus, Boro and wheat have influenced the seasonal price variation of Aman paddy significantly.

Agricultural sector is significant for Sub-Saharan African countries and is highly exposed and sensitive to climate change. This study aims to investigate the overall long-run impacts of temperature and precipitation on agricultural growth in 32 Sub-Saharan African countries. As proposed by Chudik and Pesaran, our estimations are based on augmented autoregressive distributed lag(ARDL) modelling and panel estimators with multifactor error structures. We estimate the “dynamic common correlated long-run effects (DCCE)” through the cross-sectionally augmented distributed lag (CS-DL) approach as well as through the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL). For robustness check, we also consider the cross-sectionally augmented error correction method (CS-ECM) and the common dynamic process augmented mean group (AMG). The study suggests that rising temperatures have significantly developed a negative long-term relationship with the agricultural growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, the long-run effect of precipitation is less important and not statistically significant in most estimations. According to the CS-DL approach, the negative impact of a 1°Crise in temperature could be as high as a 4.2 to 4.7 percentage point decrease in the agricultural growth rate. The results indicate that the warming climate has considerably damaged the agrarian activities in Sub-Saharan Africa, necessitating adaptive climate measures to avoid any food scarcity or economic stagnation in agricultural driven African countries.

This study analyses the statistical relationship between economic growth and total energy use in Sub Saharan Africa (SAA) member countries in the period between 1989 and 2017. The panel unit root test, panel co-integration test, vector error correction and vector auto regressive Granger Causality/Block Exogeneity Wald Tests are employed. The results are that economic growth in SAA is linked to total energy and total energy is linked to economic growth. The growth in available energy forecasts economic growth which, in turn, forecasts the use of energy in SAA. The bidirectional relationship is further explored for SSA sample countries. The results suggest that economic growth in SSA can be supported by promoting growth in productivity of the energy industries.

Shenggen FanInternational Food Policy Research Institute and Institute of AgriculturalEconomics of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesLinxiu ZhangCenter for Chinese Agricultural Policy of the Chinese Academy of SciencesXiaobo ZhangInternational Food Policy Research InstituteI. IntroductionChina is one of the few countries in the developing world that has madeprogress in reducing its total number of poor over the past 25 years.

Exploring the causal relationships and allocation puzzle between portfolio investments and real sector growth in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article investigates the effect of infrastructure and foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) using panel data on 46 countries covering the period 2003–2017. The data were analyzed using fixed effects, random effects, and system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation techniques. Based on the system GMM estimates, the results indicate that a 1 percent improvement in electricity and transport infrastructure induces growth by 0.09 percent and 0.06 percent, respectively. Additionally, FDI proved to be growth enhancing only when interacted with infrastructure. The interactive effect of FDI and infrastructure improves economic growth by 0.016 percent. The results suggest that public provision of economic infrastructure reduces the cost of production for multinational enterprises, thus providing an incentive to increase investment in the domestic economy to sustain economic growth. The results also suggest that the impact of FDI on economic growth is maximized when some level of economic infrastructure is available. Our findings thus provide ample justification on the need for a significant government investment in infrastructure to provide a less costly business environment for both local and multinational enterprises to improve economic growth.