Review of the Paradigm Shift in Rural Agricultural Farming towards Agricultural Technologies in Africa: The Hoe Must Go!

Abstract

Most of the people of Africa depend directly on the land for their living. Although Africa's cities are growing at 5.3% per year, the fastest rate in the world, 71% of the people still lived in the rural areas in 1980. Nearly all these people depended for their livelihood on smallholdings of less than 10 ha (Harrison 1987, p. 23). In the past, most of Africa was not densely populated, so cultivators were able to use the land extensively. They could choose the most fertile land, grow their crops for a few years and, when the soil fertility and crop yields declined, move to more fertile land. These farming systems, often described as "shifting cultivation" or "slash and burn" systems, were able to provide sufficient food and other products to satisfy the cultivators' needs in most seasons while maintaining soil fertility over the long term.Agriculture is one of the main contributors of economic growth in Africa. In fact, Africa is seen to be at its turning point and emerging as one of the fastest growing developing regions in the world, registering economic growth levels ranging from 2% - 11% per annum and hosting some of the world’s fastest growing economies, in spite of challenging global macro-economic conditions.Agriculture continues to be an important engine of regional growth, source of employment, and source of food security. Importantly, it is a main contributor to pro-poor growth and poverty reduction because it focuses on the parts of the economy in which the poor are active. The sector employs 65 % of Africa’s labour force, accounts for about 32 % of GDP, and in some countries provides up to 80 % of foreign exchange earnings (World Bank, Fact Sheet) and is notably a main sector of work for women.With the realization of the need for intuition towards modern and dynamic farming and agriculture, agricultural technologies have in the current times picked on a high note with farmers all over the world employing modern technologies, from cultivation, processing and post-harvest. Several technologies including value addition technologies have been employed in this regard and information platforms have been developed with hand held devices enabling access to information on agriculture everywhere and in real times.