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The Role of Agriculture in African Development

Chatham House is undertaking a series of workshop and discussion papers to stimulate debate and new ideas on how best to support a green revolution in Africa.

In Africa, in contrast to Asia, agricultural output per person has fallen: from 2005-7 it was 15% below 1960-62 levels. Yet most experts agree that the lessons of Asia's 20th century 'green revolution' are applicable to much of Africa. There is also increasing agreement that development should, as in Asia, take the form of labour-intensive production on small-medium farms so as to generate the jobs needed to reduce mass poverty, while providing the food and savings that are the basis for industrialisation.

However, many African governments - and aid donors - while proclaiming their support for such labour-absorbing farming have not acted on this. Even the Africa Commission, which did not ignore agriculture, greatly underemphasized its potentially crucial role in development. The results are evident in the low share of agriculture in public spending - and in aid - in Africa compared with Asian states. Indeed, in Africa, spending on agriculture has fallen since 1980, and the two-thirds of Africans who depend mainly on agriculture receive barely 5-10% of public resources. Only 4% of African cropland (much on 'white' farms in South Africa) is irrigated, compared with 35% in Asian countries. A much lower proportion is also spent on rural transport, marketing facilities, and research into improved local crops and livestock. Both African governments and donors have deep, unspoken doubts regarding the contribution of smallholder farming in Africa.

There are some signs of change. Recently, there have been some major initiatives to reduce the gap between the rhetoric of support for labour-intensive agriculture and the lack of expenditure, resources and attention by governments and aid donors. The African Union launched its Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). In this, African states pledged to increase their domestic resources to support agriculture, and to at least match donor funds for the 'public' requirements of agricultural development. Second, Kofi Annan launched a major initiative to promote An African Green Revolution (AGRA), with significant funding from the Gates Foundation.

The Africa Programme will hold a series of meetings and roundtables to review progress and discuss the political and economic constraints on African agriculture and the scientific and ecological pre-conditions for an African Green Revolution.

Previous meetings included a case study of a major outgrower scheme, involving cooperation between smallholder sorghum farmers and the international brewer, SABMiller. Two leading African agricultural economists, Ousmane Badiane (IFPRI/World Bank) and Akin Adesina (Agra), presented outstanding papers on the progress and challenges facing African agriculture.

Events

African Agriculture: Land Reform or Land Grab?
Tuesday 16 February 2010
Lorenzo Cotula, Research Fellow, International Institute for Environment and Development
Professor Michael Lipton, University of Sussex and author, Land Reform in Developing Countries: Property Rights and Property Wrongs
Chair: Andrew Dorward, Professor of Development Economics, SOAS

Agriculture in Africa: Improving Markets and Institutions
Thursday 8 October 2009
Steven Were Omamo, Deputy Director Policy, Planning and Strategy Division, UN World Food Programme
Steve Wiggins, Programme Leader, Rural Policy and Governance Group, Overseas Development Institute
Presentation, Steve Wiggins

Science and Technology: GM Crops and Inorganic Fertilizers versus Organics and 'Natural' Farming
Friday 3 July 2009
Boma Anga, Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR); Chair of Nepad's Pan-African Cassava Initiative, and Cassava Agro Industries of Nigeria;
Michael Gale, John Innes Foundation Research Fellow; member of the Science Council of the CGIAR;
Peter Hazell, Visiting Professor, Imperial College London;
Camilla Toulmin, Director, International Institute for Environment & Development (IIED)
Meeting Recording - Speakers 1 and 2
Meeting Recording - Speakers 3 and 4
Q&A Recording

African Agriculture Series: An African Green Revolution?
Thursday 20 November 2008
Akin Adesina, Vice President, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa;
Ousmane Badiane, Africa Director, International Food Policy Research Institute, lead economist, African Union's Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme
Meeting Recording
Q&A Recording

This project is convened by Michael and Merle Lipton.

Support for the project has been generously provided by SABMiller.

Contact

Tom Cargill, Africa Programme
Tel: +44 (0)20 7957 5718