Agriculture holds the key to broad-based economic growth, poverty reduction and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This is due to the importance of the sector for SSA economies, the extent of rural poverty and the dependence of 50 million small farms on agricultural incomes. It is well documented that growth generated by agriculture in SSA is several times more effective in reducing poverty than GDP growth in other sectors.
Agriculture is still the backbone of many African economies, generating 25% of GDP on average in SSA – and much more in many countries. The broader agribusiness sector is estimated to account for close to half of GDP. Developing the sector is also central to economic diversification in several SSA countries, e.g. Angola and Nigeria.
Agricultural development lags behind in SSA. While overall GDP grew at over 6% annually between 2001 and 2008, agricultural GDP grew at 3.4%. In a global context, SSA is the only region which has failed to improve agricultural productivity, due to various reasons including under-investment, poor infrastructure, insecure land tenure, unfavourable price policies and weak institutions.
Agriculture has huge potential in SSA. The region has vast amounts of uncultivated land – close to half of global availability, untapped water resources and large scope for improvements in inputs to increase yields. Boosting African agriculture is also seen as a way to fulfil increasing global demand.