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Agricultural Productivity in Africa

As a growing population fuels increased demand for food, the pressure on Africa’s agricultural sector also grows. However, agricultural productivity in the region remains low. A new IFPRI book, Agricultural productivity in Africa: Trends, patterns, and determinants, provides an extensive study of the current condition of agricultural productivity in Africa, arguing that the region’s ongoing economic development gives hope for the sustainable expansion of the agricultural sector.

Urbanization rates have exploded across Africa over the past 20 years. According to the African Development Bank, between 1982 and 2012, African cities grew at a rate of 3.5 percent per year, and experts only forecast this trend to continue. The World Bank expects the share of Africans living in urban areas to reach 50 percent by 2030.

Cautiously Optimistic Outlook for African Agriculture

The Nigerian Minister of Health has declared a "nutrition emergency" in northeast Nigeria as conflict continues to limit access to food, water, and health services, according to an alert from FEWS Net.

While fertilizer use throughout Africa south of the Sahara remains low, Kenya has seen significant steady growth in fertilizer use in recent years. According to a paper published by Michigan State University, USAID, and the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), between the early 1990s and 2010, national fertilizer use doubled in Kenya. Importantly, this increase stemmed from smallholder farmers purchasing fertilizers at commercial prices rather than through input subsidy programs. In addition, maize yields rose by over 18 percent during the same period.