This volume sets out a strategy for raising rural incomes which emphasises the creation of diversified rural economies with opportunities within and outside agriculture.

Agriculture employs three-quarters of the population of Malawi. It makes up more than forty percent of the economy and sixty percent of all exports. Yet productivity in agriculture--measured as the amount of output for a given amount of inputs--is considerably lower than it could be, given Malawi's agricultural resources. Efforts to expand the economy and reduce poverty must involve agriculture. Where should the Government of Malawi invest?

A joint FAO and World Bank study which shows how the farming systems approach can be used to identify priorities for the reduction of hunger and poverty in the main farming systems of the six major developing regions of the world.

Although Rwanda has made considerable progress in recovering politically and economically from the devastating effects of the 1994 genocide, the poverty rate is still higher and the gross domestic product lower than before the genocide. Poverty reduction and economic growth would receive much-needed support from increased agricultural growth. This study assesses alternative agricultural development strategies, identifying areas in which policy reforms, together with public and private investment, can best promote Rwandan agriculture. The authors evaluate the potential of several different agricultural subsectors-grains, root crops, livestock, and others-to contribute to national agricultural growth and poverty reduction. They conclude that growth in staple crops, particularly root crops such as cassava and potatoes, has the greatest potential to encourage economywide growth and poverty reduction. Promoting the necessary staple crop growth will require the allocation of public resources to the agricultural sector to increase significantly, reaching 10 percent of the total government budget. It will also require rethinking Rwanda's earlier emphasis on promoting export crop growth, which has proved inadequate in encouraging poverty reduction while also posing environmental problems. This study makes an important contribution to the debate over the most effective development strategies for Rwanda and other Sub-Saharan African nations.Show More Show Less

Sub—Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. Because most Africans work in agriculture, escaping such dire poverty depends on increased agricultural productivity to raise rural incomes, lower food prices, and stimulate growth in other economic sectors. Per capita agricultural production in sub—Saharan Africa has fallen, however, for much of the past half—century. Successes in African Agriculture investigates how to reverse this decline. Instead of cataloging failures, as many past studies have done, this book identifies episodes of successful agricultural growth in Africa and identifies processes, practices, and policies for accelerated growth in the future. The individual studies follow developments in, among other areas, the farming of maize in East and Southern Africa, cassava across the middle belt of Africa, cotton in West Africa, horticulture in Kenya, and dairying in East Africa. Drawing on these case studies and on consultations with agricultural specialists and politicians from across sub—Saharan Africa -- undertaken in collaboration with the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development -- the contributors identify two key determinants of positive agricultural performance: agricultural research to provide more productive and sustainable technologies to farmers and a policy framework that fosters market incentives for increasing production. The contributors discuss how the public and private sectors can best coordinate the convergence of both factors. Given current concerns about global food security, this book provides timely and important resources to policymakers and development specialists concerned with reversing the negative trends in food insecurity and poverty in Africa.