Role of Agriculture in Poverty Alleviation in Africa
Poverty remains a widespread problem in Africa, and afflicts nearly 400 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. During the United Nations MDGs era (1990-2015), poverty in Africa declined by a mere 5% while other world regions witnessed reductions of up to 15 percent.
The poverty profile in Africa is distinctive in several ways. First, globally, poverty declined the least in
Africa over the past quarter century. Second, extreme poverty on the continent is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Third, poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa has become the point of reference in the
measurement of global poverty.
Agriculture in Africa has two main roles, that is providing food as well as helping people to escape poverty. African agriculture is dominated by small to medium farmers and donors generally target their agricultural support at the smallholder sector. The expectation is that if the gap between actual and potential yields can be closed, smallholders will grow sufficient crops to feed their families, with a surplus to sell, thus meeting food security needs and bringing in an income to move them out of poverty.
The major challenges facing Agriculture include;
1. Use of outdated technology.
2. Climate change. The continent experiences prolonged droughts and heavy floods which destroy crops.
3. Poor infrastructure such as poor roads and weak transport links.
4. Lack of sufficient irrigation systems. These is a major problem as it is estimated that less than 1% of cultivated land in Sub-Saharan Africa is actually watered
5. Lack of enough financial investment. It is estimated that more than 400 billion dollars in investment is needed over the next decade for all aspects of food security.
All these challenges lead to low productivity.
Countries that have been investing in agriculture such as Ghana have seen very substantial GDP growth.
Chopped by
