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Commercialising agriculture in Africa: economic, social and environmental impacts

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  • Vink, Nick

Abstract

The previous Presidential Addresses at the AAAE (Oluoch-Kosura 2007; Adesina 2010) both set out to tell a story about African agricultural development at large, rather than about one particular aspect of the sector, or one particular part of Africa. Both, in other words, tried to give a bird’s-eye view without generalising to the point where it becomes meaningless. In this address, I try to follow in their footsteps. I start with a note on nomenclature: Africa is a large continent that is easily recognisable on maps. Sub-Saharan Africa is only a part of Africa, and we should stop outsiders using this as a descriptor of our continent. Furthermore, Africa is not a continent of HIV/AIDS, coups d’état, weak states and corrupt governments. It has all of these, but is a big place that has a lot of other, more positive, features. In this address I discuss elements of two issues that are important to the future of agriculture across the continent: the ways in which the structure of farming is expected to change over time, and the future shape of food retail. Section 3 concludes.

Suggested Citation

  • Vink, Nick, 2014. "Commercialising agriculture in Africa: economic, social and environmental impacts," African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, African Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:afjare:176443
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.176443
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    2. Houssou, Nazaire & Chapoto, Anthony & Asante-Addo, Collins, 2016. "Farm transition and indigenous growth: The rise to medium- and large-scale farming in Ghana:," IFPRI discussion papers 1499, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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