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Abstract
Thinking on development has long held that agricultural growth is an important step toward
economic development and transformation. However, the new challenges facing
African agriculture in today’s more globalized environment have led some to question
whether conventional wisdom about the role of agriculture in development is still applicable
to Africa. There is a shift in emphasis toward nonagricultural growth opportunities, which has
the potential to reshape the development strategies of many African countries over the coming
decades.
This research report critically examines conventional wisdom and contemporary skepticism.
It also develops a country typology reflecting the diversity of conditions across the
subcontinent and then examines the role of agriculture in five African countries. The findings
indicate that, in many African countries, only agriculture has sufficient scale to increase economic
growth significantly over the foreseeable future. Agricultural growth is also more effective
at reducing poverty, even in countries that may have the potential for industrial growth
driven by rich natural resources. Within the agricultural sector, there are few countries that
can generate broad-based growth without expanding the food-staple and livestock subsectors.
Based on these findings, the report concludes that although African agriculture faces many
new challenges, agriculture and its food subsector cannot be bypassed if Africa is to experience
broad-based economic growth and poverty reduction.
Agricultural growth in Africa needs significant increases in public and private investments,
and the costs of generating growth can differ significantly across agriculture’s subsectors. The
report is silent about such costs, which inevitably play an important role in informing development
strategies. Nevertheless, the findings of this report will contribute to strategic thinking
in many African countries.