IFPRI’s recent publication is aptly subtitled Lessons for the Future. The comprehensive analysis examines seven success stories including cassava (Nigeria), cotton (Mali), horticulture (Kenya) and dairying (E. Africa). The team of consultants has reviewed the historical, cultural and environmental influences that enabled these encouraging developments.
You can order this at http://www.amazon.com/Successes-African-Agriculture-International-Institute/dp/0801895030
There is a short and informative video at http://www.ifpri.org/publication/successes-african-agriculture-1 and an editorial review from which I quote:
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.
The book is well researched, well written and extremely informative.
Post written by Peter Bloch, consultant to CAS-IP
