Stimulating agricultural growth and rural development in sub-Saharan Africa

Economic growth in sub - Saharan Africa depends on reducing the regions deterioration in agricultural performance. But efforts to restore agricultural growth are hampered by the ecology of the region, undermined by policies that jeopardize agricultural and rural development, and complicated by sluggish global economic growth as well as agricultural policies in industrial countries. Given the region's necessary transition from a land-extensive to a land-intensive farming system, attempts to improve agricultural production and to lay the groundwork for sustained rural development will depend on the correct choice of policies. Equally crucial to Africa's agricultural development will be parallel efforts to remove policy barriers that have undercut agricultural production or hurt agricultural productivity. In addition to policy reform, long-term improvement in African agriculture will require developing and extending new production technologies. It will also require creating institutional structures to strengthen national research capabilities, and designing policies and investment strategies to improve the links between the farm and non-farm sectors in rural areas.