Smallholder Agriculture in Africa Constraints and Potential

Peasant farming is the backbone of the African rural economy. In the predominantly agrarian societies of Africa, smallholder farming plays a major role in producing food for both rural and urban populations and in providing incomes, employment, and export earnings. However, these farmers have received a disproportionately small amount of available developmental resources. Few people in Africa live in wholly subsistence economies. Peasant farmers are steadily increasing their share of marketed output and, in the process have belied the myth that rural societies are stagnant. Extend ing effective support to widely dispersed farming populations requires financial and manpower resources on a scale which few African countries can afford. Few technical packages exist, extension services are scanty, and marketing and credit services are deficient. These are formidable problems the resolution of which will take much time, effort, and resources. But the potential for improvement is so considerable, and the social implications so immense, the national agricultural policies should articulate the needs of smallholders far better than they have so far. Given proven and comprehensible technical packages and advice, and attractive prices for their products, peasant farmers have shown a capacity to increase their contribution to the economy in a quick and efficient manner.