Rural Transformation In Tropical Africa

Contemporary discussions of Africa’s recent growth have largely interpreted such growth in terms of structural transformation, based mainly on national- and sectoral-level data. However, the micro-level processes driving this transformation are still unclear and remain the subject of debate. This collection provides a micro economic foundation for understanding the particular growth processes at work within the region’s rural areas, and in so doing provides important insights for policy action. The book provides valuable household- and farm-level evidence about the drivers of rural labour productivity, improvements in access to markets, investment in food value chains, and indeed the role of rural economic growth in Africa’s ongoing rural transformation processes. Some of the features of Africa’s ongoing rural transformation are similar to those of agricultural transformation as experienced in Asia and elsewhere. However, other features of Africa’s rural transformation are unique, and pose important challenges for development policy and planning. Together, the studies compiled in this volume provide an updated, evidence-based, and policy-relevant understanding of where African countries are in their developmental trajectories and the region’s prospects for achieving inclusive forms of development over the next several decades. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Development Studies.

Based on new evidence from in-depth field surveys, this book addresses the unique situation of countries that remain deeply engaged in agriculture, and proposes a set of policy orientations which could facilitate the process of rural change.

Africa in the world economy; The pre-colonial economy; Impact of colonialism; The neo-colonial economy; The economic distance; Focus on development strategy; Characteristics and development performance; Natural resources; Human resources; Financial resources; Economic organization; Beyond mechanistic growth; Influence of development theorizing; Theory in disarray; Evolution of development theorizing; Problem of relevance; Problem of realism; Ingredients for economic design; Lessons from comparative experience; Resource base and market size; Growth without development; Economic institutions and social control; Rural transformation; Manpower development; Regional balance; Balance of payments; Inflation and structural change; Stunted growth and distroted development; Formulating policies and programmes; Contradictions in the development process; Characteristics of capital distortion; External relations and development strategy; Objetives and goalds; Institution building; Policy instruments; Programmes and projects; Perspectives for social debate; Central themes; Approaches to economic decolonization; Limits of revolutionary rhetoric; Issues and non-issues; Information and knowledge.