Four Seasons of Learning and Engaging Smallholder Farmers - icrisat

3.5
Yields (Tonnes/hectare)
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
70-79 80-89 90-99 00-09
North Africa North America Asia Nigeria
South Africa Uganda South America
Source: Authors using FAO data
Figure 11-2: Trends in Soybeans yield across the world (1970 – 2009)
Soybean output increased significantly from an average of about 60 million MT in the 1970s to about
200 million MT in the 2000s. In the last four decades, production has been growing at 4.7% per annum.
In the 2000s, South America accounted for 90 million MT (44% of global production), followed by
North America, which accounted for 82 million MT (41% of global production). Asia ranked third
at 23 million MT (13% of global production). In South America, the major producers are Brazil and
Argentina which account for 24% and 17% of global production. In North America, the United States
accounts for almost all the output and produces about 40% of global production. Thus, the US, Brazil
and Argentina account for over 80% of global production. Africa accounts for 1.2 million MT (about
1% of global production) annually.
In the last four decades South America had the highest average annual growth rate of 12% and succeeded
in increasing its share of global production from 13% in the 1970s to 44% in the 2000s. North America
which had the highest share of 68% in the 1970s grew at 4% and had a lower share of 41% by the
2000s. Asia also experienced a reduction in its share from 16% in the 1970s to 13% in the 2000s. Africa
with 8% annual growth rate increased its share from .3% in the 1970s to .6% in the 2000s. Thus there
has not been any significant change in Africa’s share of world soybean output which has remained at
less than 1% since the 1970s.
Within Africa, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda account for about 43%, 22%, and 13% of its production
respectively, implying that Nigeria is the continent’s leading soybean producer contributing about 0.5
million MT of soybean to total world production. South Africa and Uganda produce about .3 and .2
million MT respectively. These 3 countries account for about 80% of soybeans production in Africa.
Among the 3, South Africa experienced the highest growth rate of 25% with production increasing from
7,700 MT in 1970 to 516,000 in 2009. Uganda had a growth rate of 14% with production increasing
from 5000 MT in 1970 to 180,000 in 2009. Nigeria also had a high growth rate of 9% with production
increasing from 58000 MT in 1970 to 573,863 MT in 2009.
In Nigeria, adaptation and successful incorporation of soybeans into the maize-based cropping
system, local dishes, and family diets were instrumental to the increase in soybean production while
development of simple methods of soybean processing for home consumption also played a key role
just like the response to the needs of local markets, supported by profitability. In Nigeria, Benue State
has the longest history of soybean cultivation and it is estimated that the state accounts for over 70%
of soybean production. Although Africa lags behind the rest of the world in soybean production, since
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