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Structural Transformation and African Smallholders: Drivers of Mobility within and between the Farm and Non-farm Sectors for Eight Countries

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  • Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt
  • G�ran Djurfeldt

Abstract

Using longitudinal data from 2354 smallholder households in 103 villages in eight African countries, three processes of agrarian transformation are analysed for the period 2002 to 2008: intensification of grain production, commercial diversification from staple crops and income diversification out of agriculture. Methodologically, three multi-level, binary logistic models are used. The trends observed provide grounds for some optimism: despite an overall picture of stagnation, intensification in grains (yield per hectare) seems to be increasing. Farmers have, however, raised productivity through the more intense use of labour resources rather than through technological change, while political commitments to agriculture have not improved the production environment. Rather, economic growth and commercialization emerge as strong drivers of intensification, both at country and household levels. Tendencies towards distress-driven income diversification out of agriculture appear to have abated somewhat in the face of more dynamism in the grain sector, with households moving between the farm and non-farm sectors in response to shifts in producer incentives and non-farm opportunities. Diversification processes within agriculture, meanwhile, point to both push- and pull-driven diversification occurring simultaneously. Grain markets, crop diversification and non-farm opportunities complement one another over time. There is little evidence of even incipient processes of structural transformation among the smallholders surveyed.

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  • Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt & G�ran Djurfeldt, 2013. "Structural Transformation and African Smallholders: Drivers of Mobility within and between the Farm and Non-farm Sectors for Eight Countries," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(3), pages 281-306, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:oxdevs:v:41:y:2013:i:3:p:281-306
    DOI: 10.1080/13600818.2013.817550
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    1. Haggblade, Steven & Hazell, Peter B. R. (ed.), 2010. "Successes in African agriculture: Lessons for the future," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number 978-0-8018-9503-6.
    2. C. Peter Timmer, 2009. "A World Without Agriculture: The Structural Transformation in Historical Perspective," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 43120, September.
    3. Jayne, Thomas S. & Mather, David & Mghenyi, Elliot W., 2006. "Smallholder Farming Under Increasingly Difficult Circumstances: Policy and Public Investment Priorities for Africa," Food Security International Development Policy Syntheses 54507, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    4. repec:aei:rpbook:24862 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Haggblade, Steven & Hazell, Peter B. R. & Reardon, Thomas Anthony (ed.), 2007. "Transforming the rural nonfarm economy: Opportunities and threats in the developing world," IFPRI books, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), number 978-0-8018-8664-5.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Dutilly, Céline & Alary, Véronique & Bonnet, Pascal & Lesnoff, Matthieu & Fandamu, Paul & de Haan, Cees, 2020. "Multi-scale assessment of the livestock sector for policy design in Zambia," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 401-418.
    3. Larson,Donald F. & Muraoka,Rie & Otsuka,Keijiro, 2016. "On the central role of small farms in African rural development strategies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7710, The World Bank.
    4. Andrew Allee & Lee R. Lynd & Vikrant Vaze, 2021. "Cross-national analysis of food security drivers: comparing results based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale and Global Food Security Index," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 13(5), pages 1245-1261, October.
    5. Nazaire Houssou & Michael Johnson & Shashidhara Kolavalli & Collins Asante-Addo, 2018. "Changes in Ghanaian farming systems: stagnation or a quiet transformation?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(1), pages 41-66, March.
    6. Van den Broeck, Goedele & Maertens, Miet, 2017. "Moving Up or Moving Out? Insights into Rural Development and Poverty Reduction in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 95-109.
    7. VAN DEN BROECK, Goedele & MAERTENS, Miet, 2016. "Moving Up or Moving Out? Insights on Rural Development and Poverty Reduction in Senegal," Working Papers 242367, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centre for Agricultural and Food Economics.
    8. Sarah Alobo Loison, 2019. "Household livelihood diversification and gender: panel evidence from rural Kenya," Post-Print hal-02618651, HAL.

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