2017
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.02.002
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Agriculture in Africa – Telling myths from facts: A synthesis

Abstract: Stylized facts drive research agendas and policy debates. Yet robust stylized facts are hard to come by, and when available, often outdated. The 12 papers in this Special Issue revisit conventional wisdom on African agriculture and its farmers’ livelihoods using nationally representative surveys from the Living Standards Measurement Study-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture Initiative in six African countries. At times they simply confirm our common understanding of the topic. But they also throw up a number of … Show more

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Cited by 79 publications
(50 citation statements)
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“…The generally high average incomes among female beneficiaries is attributed to their increased access to credit facilities (33.3%), training opportunities (27.6%), adoption of available technologies such as QPM (31.7%) and OFSP (29.8%), active engagement in farmer organizations (35.5%) and hiring of more human laborers (33.8%) to meet their increasing farm demands (Figure ). The findings confirm the fact that farming forms the preferred occupation by women within the rural areas where women supply up to 50% of farm labor in the five countries (Christiaensen, ) and grow the bulk of staple foods.…”
Section: Resultssupporting
confidence: 75%
“…The generally high average incomes among female beneficiaries is attributed to their increased access to credit facilities (33.3%), training opportunities (27.6%), adoption of available technologies such as QPM (31.7%) and OFSP (29.8%), active engagement in farmer organizations (35.5%) and hiring of more human laborers (33.8%) to meet their increasing farm demands (Figure ). The findings confirm the fact that farming forms the preferred occupation by women within the rural areas where women supply up to 50% of farm labor in the five countries (Christiaensen, ) and grow the bulk of staple foods.…”
Section: Resultssupporting
confidence: 75%
“…The project identified no less that 15 such potential myths (see Christiaensen, 2015). While perhaps not all these potential myths are real myths, and many may be confirmed as facts, results to date have already underscored the importance of being more critical about the received wisdoms regarding African agriculture.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…It is especially in agriculture that the difficulties are acute (see Carletto et al, 2015). As Christiaensen (2015) notes, 'When it comes to agriculture, the problems only multiply with maize yield estimates, for example, varying substantially depending on the data source (by about 1 ton per ha between 1.7 and 2.6 ton/ha in Malawi in 2006/7…Are we flying blind or vision impaired? '…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Another dominant argument is the perceived low labour productivity in agriculture and therefore the absence of productive employment opportunities. However, recent evidence (McCullough, 2017 andChristiaensen andPremand, 2017) suggests that productivity differences between agriculture and secondary and tertiary activities are significantly smaller than usually assumed (rather in the order of 1:2 than 1:6). Also, there is strong heterogeneity in labour productivity within agriculture, demonstrating the potential for increasing intrasectoral productivity under existing agro-ecological conditions.…”
Section: Food Value Chains and Off-farm Food Economy Employmentmentioning
confidence: 95%