Suchergebnisse

Agriculture remains a dominant sector in the economies of most
African and several Asian countries. However, the poor performance of
agriculture in Africa stands in sharp contrast to the robust
agricultural growth in many Asian countries.2 In this regard, the
experience of China is perhaps as impressive as it is relevant to many
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. A general observation is that the
productivity of land and labour has to rise through intensive
agriculture, given the limited area of arable land (in China and Africa)
and the high rates of growth of population (as in Africa). In many
African countries, labour productivity has fallen and land productivity
has not increased significantly. In China, productivities of both land
and labour have increased significantly since at least the early 1980s.
Agricultural output can increase in three ways: (i) get more from the
same quantities of inputs through better utilisation of the existing
capacity; (ii) use increased quantities of inputs; and (iii) use new
techniques to raise the productivity of each input or raise the total
product curve. All of these may require changes in tenurial
arrangements, levels of investment in infrastructure and support
services, and policies that affect the prices of outputs and inputs. A
close examination of factors underlying the contrasting experiences in
China and African countries reveals important differences in the
institutional and policy environments affecting the individual behaviour
with regard to the adoption and use of new (profitable) technologies to
raise the land and labour productivities. This paper is intended to
highlight the linkages between agricultural growth and the
institutional, policy, and behavioural aspects, contrasting the
experiences of China and African countries.