Land pressures, the evolution of farming systems, and development strategies in Africa: A synthesis

• Published in: Food policy Vol. 48; pp. 1 - 17
• Main Authors: Jayne, T.S., Chamberlin, Jordan, Headey, Derek D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2014; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Agricultural policy; Chemical synthesis; Demographic change; Diversification; Evolution; Farm size; Farming; Land; Population density; Poverty reduction; Rural areas; Soil fertility; Structural transformation; Sub-Saharan Africa; Sustainable agricultural intensification; Africa; Structural transformation; Soil fertility; Agricultural policy; Poverty reduction; Demographic change; Farm size; Sustainable agricultural intensification; Population density; Sub-Saharan Africa; Land
• ISSN: 0306-9192; 1873-5657
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2014.05.014

•Ninety percent of Africa’s surplus arable land is concentrated in a few countries.•Africa’s rural populations are highly clustered in relatively densely populated areas.•Median farm size is generally declining and land ownership concentration is rising.•Unsustainable forms of land intensification apparent in high-density farming areas.•Land access will be important for absorbing youth into gainful employment. Evidence assembled in this special issue of Food Policy shows that rising rural population densities in parts of Africa are profoundly affecting farming systems and the region’s economies in ways that are underappreciated in current discourse on African development issues. This study synthesizes how people, markets and governments are responding to rising land pressures in Africa, drawing on key findings from the various contributions in this special issue. The papers herein revisit the issue of Boserupian agricultural intensification as an important response to land constraints, but they also go further than Boserup and her followers to explore broader responses to land constraints, including non-farm diversification, migration, and reduced fertility rates. Agricultural and rural development strategies in the region will need to more fully anticipate the implications of Africa’s rapidly changing land and demographic situation, and the immense challenges that mounting land pressures pose in the context of current evidence of unsustainable agricultural intensification, a rapidly rising labor force associated with the region’s current demographic conditions, and limited nonfarm job creation. These challenges are manageable but will require explicit policy actions to address the unique development challenges in densely populated rural areas.