IDS policy briefing: new directions for African agriculture

Eldis provides a summary and link to the policy briefing:

"Despite the fact that most of Africa/s poor are rural, and rely largely on agriculture for their livelihoods, African agriculture is slow-growing or stagnating, held back by low yields, poor infrastructure, environmental change, HIV and AIDS and civil conflict. However, this sweeping picture hides some important success stories. This short policy brief, based on an IDS Bulletin of the same name (see further information), asks why agriculture is contributing to poverty reduction in some places but not all." It recognizes the role of technological improvement, but highlights how social, cultural and political relations shape agricultural production, patterns of investment, the uptake of technologies and the functioning of agricultural markets.