AGRICULTURE

The document explains that Africa has failed to achieve a modern agricultural revolution due to a combination of historical, geographical, and policy factors. It highlights that poor soil quality (55% unsuitable for most agriculture), high disease burdens, and a lack of investment in smallholder farmers have led to the world's lowest agricultural yields, despite interventions by the World Bank, AU, and AGRA.

• Africa has not yet experienced a modern agricultural revolution despite decades of efforts by the World Bank, the African Union's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), and the Alliance for a Green Revolution (AGRA) to introduce irrigation, mechanisation, agrochemicals, and high-yielding seed hybrids.
• Africa currently has the lowest agricultural yields globally, a result of ineffective agricultural policies, a lack of land reform, low investment in the sector, and the continued reliance on traditional farming methods among the millions of smallholder farmers who drive the sector.
• Historical agricultural development in Africa was constrained by poor soil quality—with a 1997 US Department of Agriculture study estimating that 55% of the land is unsuitable for any agriculture other than nomadic grazing—and a high disease burden that limited population growth.
• The development of intensive agriculture was limited to the fertile highlands of Ethiopia. In other regions, the cultivation of yams in West Africa around 3,000 BC created surpluses that drove migration, while the introduction of maize around 1600 provided higher yields than sorghum and millet, though it lacked drought resistance.

APA

le Roux, A., & Cilliers, J. (2026). AGRICULTURE. Institute for Security Studies. https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=04-agriculture&topic=01-introduction

Chicago

le Roux, Alize, and Jakkie Cilliers. AGRICULTURE. Institute for Security Studies, 2026. https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=04-agriculture&topic=01-introduction.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=le Roux |first1=Alize |last2=Cilliers |first2=Jakkie |title=AGRICULTURE |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=21 April 2026 |url=https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=04-agriculture&topic=01-introduction |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{leroux2026agriculture, author = {le Roux, Alize and Cilliers, Jakkie}, title = {{AGRICULTURE}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=04-agriculture&topic=01-introduction}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }