Chapter 2
Country and field-site characteristics

This chapter sets the study in context, reviewing some of the key characteristics of the economies and agriculture sectors of the seven countries participating in the study and specific field-site characteristics. Further details about individual field sites are presented in the case studies in Annex 2.

National economy

The study includes the two most populous countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria and Ethiopia) and some of those with much smaller populations (Malawi and Zambia) (Table 1). Together they are among the poorest countries in the region with only Ghana exceeding the regional average annual per capita income of US$1 600. Although most economies grew at about 3 percent a year or more in the 1990s, none matched this growth in per capita incomes in the same period. Indeed, income per head declined in Nigeria and Zambia, and remained static in the United Republic of Tanzania. Poverty is widespread and more than two-thirds of the populations of Nigeria, Malawi and Zambia survive on less than US$1 per day.

In the last two decades, most of these countries have witnessed a fundamental restructuring of the role of government within their economies. Exchange rates, interest rates and markets have been liberalized; trade restrictions removed; many state-owned industries privatized; government services decentralized and downsized; and private sector investment encouraged. In some areas, economic activity has also been disrupted by civil war, and the collapse of markets and prices for major commodities (agriculture and minerals).

All countries are in the lowest quartile of ranking of the Human Development Index (HDI), which is prepared annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Ghana achieved the highest HDI ranking among the study group, reflecting its relatively high per-capita gross domestic product (GDP), high literacy rates and reasonable life expectancy, whereas Malawi and Ethiopia were ranked among the weakest.

Agriculture sector

The significance of the agriculture sector varies considerably. In Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania, agriculture is the backbone of the economy, generating more than 35 percent of GDP and employing more than 80 percent of the workforce; and at least 70 percent of the population live in rural areas (Table 2). In Ghana and Nigeria, agriculture is still significant but no longer the dominant sector, generating one-third of GDP and employing less than 60 percent of the workforce; about 40 percent of the total population live in urban areas. The contribution by agriculture to GDP is least significant in Zambia owing to the dominance of the mining sector; nevertheless, 70 percent of the workforce still work in agriculture. In all the study countries, agricultural GDP grew faster in the 1990s than the preceding decade and, in several places, the rate of growth in the agriculture sector exceeded overall growth in the economy (most notably in Malawi, Zambia and Nigeria).

TABLE 1
National economies

Notes:

PPP = purchasing power parity

Sources:

¹ UNDP (2002).
² World Bank (2002).
³ National Statistical Office (1998).

TABLE 2
Changing role of agriculture in the economy

Sources:

¹ World Bank (2000).
² World Bank (2002).
³ FAO (2001).

Structural reform has had a dramatic impact on the viability of rural livelihoods. Without access to seasonal credit or subsidies, the majority of smallholders are unable to purchase fertilizer. The withdrawal of government from trading in agricultural inputs and produce marketing has made it more difficult for farmers in remote areas to access markets and services. Produce prices tend to be variable and low, particularly immediately after harvest when many smallholders are obliged to sell a proportion of their crop in order to generate urgently needed cash.

HIV/AIDS is a major challenge facing the agriculture sector in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, the impact of the disease has been markedly lower in west Africa than other parts of the continent in terms of the proportion of adults living with HIV/AIDS and the relatively small loss borne by the agricultural workforce (Table 3). In eastern and southern Africa, the disease has already started to affect the agriculture sector. In these regions, it is estimated that at least 70 percent of the total losses experienced by the workforce by 2000 were borne by agriculture. The toll of the disease is reflected in the extremely low (and sometimes falling) life expectancy of about 40 years.

TABLE 3
Health dimensions

Sources:

¹ UNDP (2001).
² FAO/ILO (2002) unpublished data.
³ UNDP (2002).

Despite the general lack of profitability in agriculture, many countries rely on the sector to play strategic and multiple roles in securing economic growth and development. The sector is expected to grapple with the challenges of environmental degradation, population pressure, persistent poverty, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and urban migration (particularly among the young), while simultaneously moving communities towards food security and commercial production, providing the base for development in the manufacturing sector through crop processing and value-added activities, and generating export revenues.

There is a crucial role for the state to play in terms of ensuring an enabling environment for business and growth, for example, by providing infrastructure (such as roads and markets), regulating traders, and providing market information and extension and advisory services. It also has to be alert to the actual and impending impacts of HIV/AIDS on: the institutional capacity of the extension service and ministries of agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries; the relevance of the policy environment; and the productive capacity of the agricultural workforce.

Field-site characteristics

The 14 field sites capture both the diversity as well as some of the similarities found in the farming and livelihood systems of sub-Saharan Africa. In terms of diversity, the sites range from the highlands of Ethiopia (2 600 m above sea level), to Kapchesombe on the slopes of Mount Elgon in Uganda, to lakeshore communities adjacent to Lake Malawi and Lake Kariba (Zambia), to a coastal community in Ghana. Most field sites experience an annual rainfall of about 1 000 mm; more arid sites include Kacaboi in eastern Uganda and Msingisi in eastern United Republic of Tanzania (600 - 900 mm per year), and Simupande in southern Zambia (less than 500 mm per year). Population density varies considerably from fewer than 100 people per km2 in many of the study communities to 270 people per km² (Ojo, Nigeria) and 350 people per km2 (Kokate Marachere, Ethiopia).

TABLE 4
Selected farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa

Source: FAO/World Bank (2001).

The farming systems covered by the study vary from the cereal - root crop mixed systems and tree crop systems of west Africa, to the highland mixed and highland perennial systems of Ethiopia, to the maize mixed farming system typical of eastern and southern Africa, and the agropastoral millet/sorghum system found predominantly in southern Africa (Table 4). The principal cash crops vary accordingly. In west Africa, the main cash crops are: yams, maize, cassava, cashew, oil-palm, cocoa, citrus and rice. In eastern and southern Africa, the main cash crops are maize, wheat, groundnuts, beans, rice, coffee, sunflower, cotton, sweet potatoes and vegetables.

Reflecting the very small proportion of irrigated land found in sub-Saharan Africa generally, only six field sites in three countries have land under informal irrigation and no formal irrigation schemes were encountered during the study. Farmers in Nigeria practise recession agriculture adjacent to rivers and streams on residual floodwaters (fadama). In Malawi and Zambia, valley bottoms or depressions that retain moisture and form natural drainage systems, called dambos, are utilized for dry-season farming.

Poultry and goats are the most common livestock kept for both home consumption and sale. In addition to farming, communities engage in a wide range of non-farm livelihood activities, which are usually demarcated along gender lines. Remittances from relatives living and working elsewhere are commonplace.

Further details about the field sites are presented in the case studies in Annex 2 of this report.