Changing Farm Size Distributions and Agricultural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Thomas Jayne, Ayala Wineman, Jordan Chamberlin, Milu Muyanga and Felix Kwame Yeboah
Additional contact information
Ayala Wineman: Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Jordan Chamberlin: International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Nairobi, Kenya
Milu Muyanga: Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA
Felix Kwame Yeboah: Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA

Annual Review of Resource Economics, 2022, vol. 14, issue 1, 109-130

Abstract: We review the literature on the distribution of farm sizes in sub-Saharan Africa, trends over time, drivers of change in farm structure, and effects on agricultural transformation and present new evidence for seven countries. While it is widely viewed that African agriculture is dominated by small-scale farms, we show that medium-scale farms of 5 to 100 hectares are a nontrivial—and rapidly expanding—force that is influencing the nature and pace of food systems transformation in Africa. The increased prevalence of medium-scale holdings is associated with farm labor productivity growth and underappreciated benefits to smallholder farmers. However, the rise of African investor farmers is also contributing to the commodification of land, escalating land prices, and restricted land access for most local people. A better understanding of these trends and linkages, which requires new data collection activities, could help resolve long-standing policy debates and support strategies that accelerate agricultural transformation.

Keywords: agricultural transformation; farm size distribution; farm-household surveys; land policy; medium-scale farms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q12 Q15 Q18 Q24 R14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-resource-111220-025657
Full text downloads are only available to subscribers. Visit the abstract page for more information.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:anr:reseco:v:14:y:2022:p:109-130

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.annualreviews.org/action/ecommerce

DOI: 10.1146/annurev-resource-111220-025657

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Annual Review of Resource Economics from Annual Reviews Annual Reviews 4139 El Camino Way Palo Alto, CA 94306, USA.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by http://www.annualreviews.org ().