Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.

'Ann and Robert Seidman have written an invaluabe theoretical (and practical) guide for those concerned with the role of the state in development.'- Bereket Habte Selassie, Professor of African Studies, Howard University 'State and Law in the Development Process is a scholarly work and essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses on the Third World, its history and development. It provides an excellent bibliography and analysis which sets out the fundamentals of research into the future development of the Third World. Expertly written, it embodies a research methodology which is linked to a theoretical perspective.' - John F. McEldowney, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Warwick The post-1945 collapse of colonialism and the emergence of new nationalist governments seemed to promise plenty for all third-world peoples. Four decades later, those promises lay in shards. This book proposes a theory to explain the failure of third-world states to transform the institutions that produce poverty and powerlessness for the mass of the population. Based on that theory, it proposes a methodology designed to facilitate the democratic exercise of state power through law to empower third world peoples to play an effective role in building a peaceful world of plenty for all.