Thesis Re-print: Does Selling Fruits or Vegetables - Department of ...

2.2 Strong Prospects for Fresh Produce Growth
The population in Sub-Saharan Africa has tripled over the past 50 years, starting
at a little over 200,000,000 in 1960, and surpassing 850,000,000 by 2010 (World Bank).
Figure 1 shows this increase in the form of an index, base year 1960 population = 100,
for Mozambique and Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Moreover, urban population as a
percentage of total population is also rapidly increasing. In Mozambique, this percentage
has grown from 5% in 1960 to close to 40% in 2010 (Figures 2 and 3). Per capita income
of these increasingly urban habitants is also projected to increase dramatically as
industries continue to grow and develop, providing manufacturing job income to many
who are leaving their rural homes for the higher wages provided in these sectors.
Figure 1: Population Growth, Index Base Year 1960
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Source: World Bank
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Year
Mozambique Sub-Saharan Africa
Note: For interpretation of the references to color in this and all other figures, maps or
tables, the reader is referred to the electronic version of this thesis.
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