Globalisation, structural adjustment and African agriculture

A major purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of poor governance or “state fragility” in African countries on their overall economic and agrarian performance. The results of the econometric analysis show that a higher level of public security conducive to lower levels of conflicts of an ethnic, religious, and regional nature, correspond with greater agricultural value-added per capita. This analysis also indicates that trade openness and aid do not have a substantial impact on agricultural development.

The paper also provides inter alia a nuanced analytical description of the short- and long-term performance of African economies and their agricultural sectors during the last 25 years, based upon available aggregate statistics.

Paper prepared for the Workshop on “Food crisis and the development potential of the agricultural sector in fragile countries”, organised by the European Report of Development in Cambridge, United Kingdom, 17-18 March 2009.

European Report on Development 2009

Supported by the European Commission and seven Member States (Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom), the European Report on Development (ERD) is the main output of the "Mobilising European Research for Development Policies" initiative. This flagship report is published since 2009, with the aim of stimulating debate and research on topics of major relevance for development, as well as to enhance the European perspective in the international development arena.