Selected Bibliography in African Rural Development and Agricultural Change (1963–1969)

Abstract

Agriculture remains the most important single activity in the developing economies of Black Africa. The agricultural sector employs as many as 70 to 80 percent of the labor force and contributes between 50 to 70 percent of the national income of the respective countries. While subsistence production still predominates in the agricultural economy of the area, during the last few years an increasing percentage of farm products entered the market economy. The necessity of improving the agricultural productivity of the area has long been recognized. It is, however, equally important to examine the problem of how to bring about a total agricultural change; that is, transforming the chiefly subsistence production of today into a money agriculture. This transition is dependent upon many natural conditions such as altitude, rainfall, soil, and upon diverse technical requirements, in addition to complex socio-economic processes. Organized transportation and marketing facilities, better farm implements, adequate fertilizers, reasonable agricultural credit rates, fair prices for farm products, insurance against risk, 'animation rurale' youth programs, and rural settlement schemes are some of the possible means by which agricultural change may be accelerated. However, any inquiry concerning how to change traditional agriculture and how to improve rural conditions would be meaningless unless viewed within the context of the local social, cultural, and political systems and institutions.