The Untold Stories of African Agriculture: Lessons from Ethiopia

The book presents the results of a comprehensive assessment of Ethiopian agriculture and offers actionable recommendations for agricultural transformation across Africa. It highlights the need for consistent effort and sustained support for agricultural research and development, emphasizes the importance of an African voice in future academic research, policies, and strategies, and provides evidence-based recommendations for sustainable agricultural development.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 24 July 2024
Publisher: CABI Publishing

Ethiopian Agriculture: Lessons for Africa's Transformation is a landmark volume that presents the results of a comprehensive and coherent in-depth assessment of Ethiopian agriculture and draws lessons from it to generate actionable recommendations that will inform policy decisions and priority setting for agricultural transformation across Africa. Policy makers in Africa are faced with the challenges of ensuring food and nutrition security and the economic wellbeing of their rapidly growing populations while at the same time maintaining the integrity of their natural resource base. Between 2000 and 2021, 74% of the growth in overall crop production on the continent was derived from increases in land area expansion, while increases in yield contributed only 26% of the growth. This unchecked expansion of land use puts the sustainability of the natural resource base under severe pressure. Even though some countries have made substantial increases in their farm productivity over the last two decades, the overall performance for Africa is far behind other regions. For the most part, agriculture in Africa is not fulfilling its expected functions of food and nutrition security, increased export earnings, import substitution, and raw material supply for local industries. Attempts have been made to transform African agriculture over the years, but few countries have succeeded in achieving sustainable change. Using examples from Ethiopia, this book identifies the major factors for success and the root causes of underperformance, and offers evidence-based recommendations for future decision making, policy change, and the creation of growth. This book: · Draws on a unique set of case studies from Ethiopia described and told from a truly African perspective. · Emphasises to policy makers in Africa that development cannot be outsourced and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. · Highlights the importance of investing in agriculture and rural development to achieve sustainable development. · Provides insights into the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and the need for policies that support their growth and development. · Offers recommendations for improving access to credit, technology, and markets for smallholder farmers. · Emphasises the importance of sustainable land management practices to protect the environment and promote long-term productivity. · Highlights the need for policy coherence and coordination across different sectors to achieve sustainable agricultural transformation. · Provides examples of successful policies and programs that have been implemented in Ethiopia and other African countries. · Offers a roadmap for achieving sustainable agricultural transformation in Africa.

Dimension: 244 x 172 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781800626362