AFRICA AGRICULTURE STATUS REPORT 2016

highly productive, efficient, competitive, and sustainable
and that assures food security and lifts millions out of
poverty
African agricultural transformation (as stated in the AGRA
strategy document published in 2009), is a strategy
that transforms today’s rural poverty into tomorrow’s
prosperity, through sustainably and significantly increasing
the productivity of smallholder farmers. It starts from the
understanding that African agriculture can be a powerful
and transformative engine for sustainable economic
growth. It is grounded in Africa’s very diverse and largely
rain-fed agriculture; wise use of science and technology;
and in learning from previous green revolutions.
Government policies and public investment policies must
be decisive, as these will determine the incentives and
scope for investment by the private sector. These policies
will largely determine whether the region’s economic
transformation is a relatively smooth, robust, and peaceful
process, or a painful and protracted one.
Currently, SSA is making progress towards agricultural
transformation. The progress is uniquely African and it is
putting smallholder farmers first while protecting biodiversity,
promoting sustainability and advancing equity. The progress
is towards a food secure and prosperous Africa. The core
of the transformation is a system that is highly productive,
efficient, competitive, and sustainable and that assures
food security and lifts millions out of poverty
African agricultural transformation (as stated in the AGRA
strategy document published in 2009), is a strategy
that transforms today’s rural poverty into tomorrow’s
prosperity, through sustainably and significantly increasing
the productivity of smallholder farmers. It starts from the
understanding that African agriculture can be a powerful
and transformative engine for sustainable economic
growth. It is grounded in Africa’s very diverse and largely
rain-fed agriculture; wise use of science and technology;
and in learning from previous green revolutions.
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