Africa’s agricultural conundrum: Vast arable land versus low production (Sunday Standard)

Sunday Standard (Botswana) published an article on Africa’s standing in agricultural production. Partly due to years of under-investment, Africa has yet to fully realize its agricultural potential. According to the IFPRI, Africa south of the Sahara has “significantly improved its agricultural performance since the mid-1990s,” but the continent is still lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of land yields. “The region’s agricultural productivity is about half the average growth seen in other developing nations. Modest yields result in large part from low use of fertilizers and improved seeds, a lack of mechanization, and the fact that most still have smallholder farms, preventing them from making the profits necessary to appropriate bank loans and invest in their own plantations.”