Research News

Agricultural growth will continue to play an important role in promoting overall economic growth and reducing poverty in most of Africa's agrarian-based economies. This was the main thrust of a research report, "The role of agriculture in development: Implications for sub-Saharan Africa" published by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The report focuses on low-income countries, because more than 90 percent of Africans live in countries where incomes average a dollar a day. The study suggests that 26 out of 34 low-income African countries have favourable agricultural potential. Agricultural growth is important for most low-income African countries and tends to benefit the poor more than growth in other areas such as manufacturing or mining.

Xinshen Diao, IFPRI senior research fellow, and his colleagues contend that only smallholder food-staple and livestock production can generate the broad-based agricultural growth that is needed. He called for greater public sector involvement in the short term, and to meet the challenge for new institutional arrangements between the public and private sectors that foster private sector development without neglecting smallholder farmers.

The full report can be downloaded from the IFPRI website here.

DFID is one of the founding members of the CGIAR and provides continuing unrestricted core funding to all 15 centres, and IFPRI. See the following project and programme records on R4D:

• The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
• Core funding for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)