Why agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa remains low compared to the rest of the world – a historical perspective

Abstract

Agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa has, in recent times, remained lower than the rest of the world. Many attribute this to factors inherent to Africa and its people, such as climate, soil quality, slavery and disease. This article traces the role of agriculture through history and argues that these are not the main reasons. Before the arrival of European traders, complex agricultural systems existed, which supported food security, manufacturing and trade. External interference manipulated these systems in pursuit of export crops. Independence has not fundamentally changed this; resource and wealth extraction continue to inhibit economic development for Africans in Africa.

Exploring the factors causing the poor performance of most irrigation schemes in post-independence sub-Saharan Africa

“…Following the European financial crisis of the 1880s and the transition to the colonial single-nation buying regimes, the terms of trade and the commodity prices received by African farmers declined. To offset the lower prices, the volume of goods exported was increased (Table 1; Figure 2), and African farmers became increasingly specialized (Bjornlund et al, 2020). Three processes facilitated the increased export production in West Africa: increases in cropping (both AWM and rainfed) and grazing areas by 40% and 30%, respectively; intensification of water management (Goldewijk et al, 2017); and increased migration of labour to production areas (Brooks, 1975).…”

“…In western Africa and the Sahel, production of export crops was already well established and managed mainly by African producers using endogenous AWM systems (Apoare, 1882). Colonial governments used several strategies to secure industrial inputs: investing in infrastructure to produce and transport export crops, including irrigation schemes, railroads and ports; granting 'company concessions' to European companies and settler estates; securing the labour supply through taxes and corvée labour obligations; and enforcing export-crop production on communal land in collaboration with local chiefs (Austin, 1984;Bassett, 1988;Bjornlund et al, 2020;Hinds, 1986). These strategies significantly increased the area under export crop production: for example, the acreage under cocoa in Ghana increased by 800-1,000% between 1919 and 1959 (Harwitz, 1964).…”

“…After independence, governments in SSA continued to develop irrigation schemes with donor backing. These schemes were not driven by farmers' economic interests, nor were they used to enhance production systems for local development (Bjornlund et al, 2020). Rather, the development and management of irrigation schemes were driven by the political and social objectives of governments, and often at odds with farmers' interests.…”

“…In general, government schemes have performed poorly and failed to deliver the promised outcomes (Mutiro & Lautze, 2015). Farmer-led AWM and private irrigation have fared much better; they were often developed on an entrepreneurial basis in response to economic opportunities and managed by farmers as both producers and beneficiaries of the system (Bjornlund et al, 2020).…”

“…The second and third sections describe the colonial production systems and post-independence agricultural policies and irrigation developments. Hypotheses 2a, 2b and 2c are explored in a fourth section drawing on the second and third sections and the companion article by Bjornlund et al (2020).…”