Small Farms, Livelihood Diversification, and Rural-Urban Transitions: Strategic Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa

Nevertheless, the persistence, and even deepening, in Sub-Saharan Africa of a type of small farming that is getting smaller all the time and that demonstrates an even greater orientation toward low-level subsistence than was the case 20 or 30 years ago should be of great concern to all those working on poverty reduction objectives in the continent. The dynamics of small farming in Africa are poorly understood and are not captured satisfactorily by the economic models that predict fantastic income and growth multipliers from yield growth in agriculture. Much of rural Africa is sliding into greater vulnerability. The slightest disturbance in the normal rhythm of the seasons causes quite disproportionate food security crises to arise in pockets here and there or more widely across zones and countries, not to mention the “vulnerable groups,” who more or less permanently require social protection in order to avoid falling into the abyss.