The Puzzle of Lagging Sub-Saharan Africa Agriculture: Toward a Theory of Connectedness

Alain Janvry () and Elisabeth Sadoulet ()
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Alain Janvry: University of California
Elisabeth Sadoulet: University of California

A chapter in Modern Agricultural and Resource Economics and Policy, 2022, pp 279-297 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Why has Sub-Saharan Africa agriculture mostly not performed up to expectations for growth and poverty reduction? We address this puzzle by developing a conceptual framework expliciting how agriculture can be used for development, stressing the roles of modernization, agricultural transformation, and rural transformation. We review three successive explanations for the lag of agriculture: price distortions and predatory policies, constraints to adoption of technological innovations in a supply-driven approach, and market disconnections in a demand-driven approach. We show that better connecting domestic production to urban consumer demand requires the development of value chains with effective coordination and instruments to overcome market failures. The political economy of this approach suggests the use of smart redistributive policies to achieve political feasibility and greater inclusiveness of the poor.

Keywords: Q13; Q18; D23; F63 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:nrmchp:978-3-030-77760-9_12

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-77760-9_12

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