africa

Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
Africa’s uniquely low agricultural yield trajectory is captured in Figures 26.5 and
26.6. The first of these figures shows the long-run relative trends in cereal yields per
hectare, again compared to North America. Latin America and South Asia have seen
a very gradual long-run convergence towards North American levels, while yields
in East Asia Pacific have stayed close to par over the period. Most Asian countries
experienced their early green revolution-type yield take-offs—often defined as the
jump from one to two or more tons per hectare—at different points throughout the
20th century (McArthur, 2013).
Figure 26.5: Cereal Yield Comparisons: North America and Developing
Regions, 1980-2010
Note: Data presented are 3-year moving averages.
Source: Author’s calculation based on World Bank, 2014.
Figure 26.6 presents the same cereal yield data in absolute values of tons per
hectare. The graph reflects the green revolutions that were still underway across
South Asia in the 1980s, while finishing in Latin America and mostly completed in
East Asia. It also underscores Africa’s long-term relative yield stagnation, hovering
as a flat line near one ton per hectare for three decades. According to World
Bank (2014) data, Africa’s regional average in 2012 was only 1.4 tons per hectare,
a level that was first reached by East Asia in 1962, by Latin America in 1967, and
South Asia in 1978.
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