Strategic Perspectives - Positioning African Agriculture for Food for the First Decade of the Twenty-First Century

The paper traces the historical emergence of subsistence farming as stemming from the colonial period when a more commercial agriculture was replaced by an export-oriented agricultural trade in introduced crops, such as coffee and tea, whose production and marketing was restricted to colonial farmers. The paper goes on to lay down policy and R&D guidelines for the consistent implementation of a modernized African science-led sustainable agriculture, which takes into contextual consideration the vital need for food and nutritional security. In this regard, industry provides a crucial link to this modernization.

Keywords
African agriculture, sustainable agriculture, subsistence farming, agricultural trade, commercialisation, agricultural exports, agro-business, food security, poverty, industrial production