@article{Adesina:53199,
      recid = {53199},
      author = {Adesina, Akinwumi A.},
      title = {Africa's Food Crisis: Conditioning Trends and Global  Development Policy},
      address = {2009},
      number = {1005-2016-79195},
      series = {Plenary Paper},
      pages = {25},
      year = {2009},
      abstract = {African countries continue to face deepening food crises  which have been accentuated by the global food, energy and  financial crises. This situation is part of a long term  structural problem: decades of under-investments in  agricultural sector and poor policies of support for  smallholder farmers who form the bulk of the farming  population. The inability of these farmers to achieve  a
supply response when commodity prices were high and  market access was less of a problem
suggests that there are  multiple sets of binding constraints that continue to limit  the potential of agricultural growth to reduce food  security and poverty on the continent. What the continent  needs is a smallholder-based green revolution that can help  raise agricultural productivity and lift
millions out of  poverty. Many challenges face the achievement of the green  revolution in Africa. This paper reviews some of the  historical trends that have hampered the performance of the  agriculture sector. In addition, it reviews the impacts of  more recent trends including the global
financial crisis,  public sector investments, inequities in global  agricultural development policies, rush for agricultural  lands by foreign investors, domestic commercial financing  markets, climate
change and emerging carbon markets. The  paper argues that while opportunities for accelerated  growth exists for African agriculture, new sets of policy  instruments will be needed to support smallholder farmers  to access new agricultural technologies, finance, reduce  impacts of climate change and adopt sustainable land use  practices that can allow them to benefit from emerging  global carbon markets.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/53199},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.53199},
}