Agriculture in Africa : Telling Myths from Facts
Stylized facts set agendas and shape debates. In rapidly changing and data scarce environments, they also risk being ill-informed, outdated and misleading. So, following higher food prices since the 2008 world food crisis, robust economic growth and rapid urbanization, and climatic change, is conven...
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| Language: | English en_US |
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28543 |
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okr-10986-285432021-04-23T14:04:48Z Agriculture in Africa : Telling Myths from Facts Christiaensen, Luc Demery, Lionel Christiaensen, Luc Demery, Lionel Adjognon, Guigonan Serge Barrett, Chris Binswanger-Mkhize, Hans P. Carletto, Calogero Corral, Paul Davis, Benjamin Deininger, Klaus Di Giuseppe, Stefania Dillon, Brian Gilbert, Christopher Guelfi, Anita Hill, Ruth Kaminski, Jonathan Kilic, Talip Le Cotty, Tristan Liverpool-Tasie, Saweda Maître d’Hôtel, Elodie McCullough, Ellen Miller, Daniel C. Munoz, Juan Carlos Naudé, Wim Nagler, Paula Ndiaye, Moctar Nikoloski, Zlatko Ogunleye, Wale Omonona, B.T. Palacios-López, Amparo Reardon, Tom Sanou, Awa Savastano, Sara Sheahan, Megan Xia, Fang MARKETS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY RISK TREES AFRICA FERTILIZER INCOME DIVERSIFICATION GENDER RURAL DEVELOPMENT SEASONALITY HOUSEHOLD ENTERPRISE POST HARVEST LOSS LABOR PRODUCTIVITY AGRIBUSINESS MAIZE PRICE VOLATILITY Stylized facts set agendas and shape debates. In rapidly changing and data scarce environments, they also risk being ill-informed, outdated and misleading. So, following higher food prices since the 2008 world food crisis, robust economic growth and rapid urbanization, and climatic change, is conventional wisdom about African agriculture and rural livelihoods still accurate? Or is it more akin to myth than fact? The essays in “Agriculture in Africa – Telling Myths from Facts” aim to set the record straight. They exploit newly gathered, nationally representative, geo-referenced information at the household and plot level, from six African countries. In these new Living Standard Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture, every aspect of farming and non-farming life is queried—from the plots farmers cultivate, the crops they grow, the harvest that is achieved, and the inputs they use, to all the other sources of income they rely on and the risks they face. Together the surveys cover more than 40 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population. In all, sixteen conventional wisdoms are examined, relating to four themes: the extent of farmer’s engagement in input, factor and product markets; the role of off-farm activities; the technology and farming systems used; and the risk environment farmers face. Some striking surprises, in true myth-busting fashion, emerge. And a number of new issues are also thrown up. The studies bring a more refined, empirically grounded understanding of the complex reality of African agriculture. They also confirm that investing in regular, nationally representative data collection yields high social returns. 2017-10-20T16:55:16Z 2017-10-20T16:55:16Z 2018 Book 978-1-4648-1134-0 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28543 English en_US Directions in Development—Agriculture and Rural Development; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Publication Africa Sub-Saharan Africa |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
MARKETS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY RISK TREES AFRICA FERTILIZER INCOME DIVERSIFICATION GENDER RURAL DEVELOPMENT SEASONALITY HOUSEHOLD ENTERPRISE POST HARVEST LOSS LABOR PRODUCTIVITY AGRIBUSINESS MAIZE PRICE VOLATILITY |
| spellingShingle |
MARKETS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY RISK TREES AFRICA FERTILIZER INCOME DIVERSIFICATION GENDER RURAL DEVELOPMENT SEASONALITY HOUSEHOLD ENTERPRISE POST HARVEST LOSS LABOR PRODUCTIVITY AGRIBUSINESS MAIZE PRICE VOLATILITY Christiaensen, Luc Demery, Lionel Agriculture in Africa : Telling Myths from Facts |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Sub-Saharan Africa |
| relation |
Directions in Development—Agriculture and Rural Development; |
| description |
Stylized facts set agendas and shape debates. In rapidly changing and data scarce environments, they also risk being ill-informed, outdated and misleading. So, following higher food prices since the 2008 world food crisis, robust economic growth and rapid urbanization, and climatic change, is conventional wisdom about African agriculture and rural livelihoods still accurate? Or is it more akin to myth than fact?
The essays in “Agriculture in Africa – Telling Myths from Facts” aim to set the record straight. They exploit newly gathered, nationally representative, geo-referenced information at the household and plot level, from six African countries. In these new Living Standard Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture, every aspect of farming and non-farming life is queried—from the plots farmers cultivate, the crops they grow, the harvest that is achieved, and the inputs they use, to all the other sources of income they rely on and the risks they face. Together the surveys cover more than 40 percent of the Sub-Saharan African population.
In all, sixteen conventional wisdoms are examined, relating to four themes: the extent of farmer’s engagement in input, factor and product markets; the role of off-farm activities; the technology and farming systems used; and the risk environment farmers face. Some striking surprises, in true myth-busting fashion, emerge. And a number of new issues are also thrown up. The studies bring a more refined, empirically grounded understanding of the complex reality of African agriculture. They also confirm that investing in regular, nationally representative data collection yields high social returns. |
| author2 |
Christiaensen, Luc |
| author_facet |
Christiaensen, Luc Christiaensen, Luc Demery, Lionel |
| format |
Book |
| author |
Christiaensen, Luc Demery, Lionel |
| author_sort |
Christiaensen, Luc |
| title |
Agriculture in Africa : Telling Myths from Facts |
| title_short |
Agriculture in Africa : Telling Myths from Facts |
| title_full |
Agriculture in Africa : Telling Myths from Facts |
| title_fullStr |
Agriculture in Africa : Telling Myths from Facts |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Agriculture in Africa : Telling Myths from Facts |
| title_sort |
agriculture in africa : telling myths from facts |
| publisher |
Washington, DC: World Bank |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28543 |
| _version_ |
1764467107242704896 |