209
9
statistics. These statistics show for instance a decline of 15% in agricultural production per capita from 1969 to 2004 in Africa south of the Sahara (Wiggins 2005).
There are, however, signs that this negative trend in African agricultural development may have changed towards a more positive trajectory since the early 2000s
(Wiggins 2014). Today, there is more optimism about African agriculture among
governments, foreign aid donors and researchers than there has been for many
decades. Hence, the pessimism of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s has been replaced by
an optimism about the development potential of African agriculture. While growth
in food production in the 1970s and 1980s was below population growth, from
1990 to 2010 it was 3.2% per year for Africa in general, which is just above population growth for this period (Wiggins 2014). These are, however, official numbers
from FAO that to some extent are subject to negotiations and internal politics in
the ministries of agriculture in the various African countries (Jerven 2013). This
may lead to both over-reporting to please superiors and politicians as well as
under-reporting of certain crops that are subject to less political attention. In spite
of this uncertainty, there are signs that agricultural production has increased over
the last decade or two. Also, economic growth has picked up on the continent. For
instance, according to Radelet (2010) the economies of 17 countries in Africa grew
on average by 5% per year between 1996 and 2008, compared to no growth during
1975–1995.
Despite these positive signs, small-scale farming in Africa is still considered by
governments and international aid donors as an obstacle to modernization and
progress. As noted by Scoones et al. (2014: 14): ‘African agriculture is often depicted
as stagnant, underproductive, and a cause of land degradation, in need of revival
through integration with large-scale, commercial operations’. Hence, the assumption is that a ‘take off’ in African agricultural development needs to be mobilized
from the outside.
Definition
The triple F crisis (finance, food, fuel) in 2007–2008 caused international capital
to ‘discover’ land in Africa as an investment object, which intensified international
debates about land grabbing.
While the narrative about Africa as overpopulated has dominated development
debates for decades, with the triple F crisis a new narrative about large unused
land areas waiting for development and investments emerged in parallel. Often
these two narratives are currently mixed into one, which says that African
smallholders tend to farm in economically inefficient ways that also lead to soil
degradation and loss of soil nutrients. Therefore, more modern and technologically
advanced forms of farming should take over. In practice, this often means that
foreign capital displaces smallholders from areas they have historically used. This
is made possible because small-scale farmers and pastoralists usually are not
granted formal land rights from the state. Their customary and historical use of
land is often not sufficiently recognized in national legislation, which tends to give
the state overall rights to most land.
9.1 · Population Growth and Agricultural Development in Africa
9
statistics. These statistics show for instance a decline of 15% in agricultural production per capita from 1969 to 2004 in Africa south of the Sahara (Wiggins 2005).
There are, however, signs that this negative trend in African agricultural development may have changed towards a more positive trajectory since the early 2000s
(Wiggins 2014). Today, there is more optimism about African agriculture among
governments, foreign aid donors and researchers than there has been for many
decades. Hence, the pessimism of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s has been replaced by
an optimism about the development potential of African agriculture. While growth
in food production in the 1970s and 1980s was below population growth, from
1990 to 2010 it was 3.2% per year for Africa in general, which is just above population growth for this period (Wiggins 2014). These are, however, official numbers
from FAO that to some extent are subject to negotiations and internal politics in
the ministries of agriculture in the various African countries (Jerven 2013). This
may lead to both over-reporting to please superiors and politicians as well as
under-reporting of certain crops that are subject to less political attention. In spite
of this uncertainty, there are signs that agricultural production has increased over
the last decade or two. Also, economic growth has picked up on the continent. For
instance, according to Radelet (2010) the economies of 17 countries in Africa grew
on average by 5% per year between 1996 and 2008, compared to no growth during
1975–1995.
Despite these positive signs, small-scale farming in Africa is still considered by
governments and international aid donors as an obstacle to modernization and
progress. As noted by Scoones et al. (2014: 14): ‘African agriculture is often depicted
as stagnant, underproductive, and a cause of land degradation, in need of revival
through integration with large-scale, commercial operations’. Hence, the assumption is that a ‘take off’ in African agricultural development needs to be mobilized
from the outside.
Definition
The triple F crisis (finance, food, fuel) in 2007–2008 caused international capital
to ‘discover’ land in Africa as an investment object, which intensified international
debates about land grabbing.
While the narrative about Africa as overpopulated has dominated development
debates for decades, with the triple F crisis a new narrative about large unused
land areas waiting for development and investments emerged in parallel. Often
these two narratives are currently mixed into one, which says that African
smallholders tend to farm in economically inefficient ways that also lead to soil
degradation and loss of soil nutrients. Therefore, more modern and technologically
advanced forms of farming should take over. In practice, this often means that
foreign capital displaces smallholders from areas they have historically used. This
is made possible because small-scale farmers and pastoralists usually are not
granted formal land rights from the state. Their customary and historical use of
land is often not sufficiently recognized in national legislation, which tends to give
the state overall rights to most land.
9.1 · Population Growth and Agricultural Development in Africa