Policy Options for Accelerating African Agriculture

New policy options for both the production and marketing of African agriculture are necessary to enable Africa to respond to rising prices. "Accelerating Africa’s food production in response to rising food prices: Impacts and requisite actions”, a discussion paper published by the International Food Policy Research Institute, makes this recommendation.

Authors Xinshen Diao and colleagues assessed the likely impact of two strategic policy options: doubling African staples production, and improving "market access" through regional integration and lowering transaction costs. They note that “doubling staples production significantly increases food security, reduces consumer food prices by roughly 25 percent, reduces producer prices by 10 percent (thus raising farm revenue), accelerates agricultural growth rates, facilitates broader economic growth through new agroprocessing and export opportunities, and lifts more than 100 million Africans out of poverty.” 

View the full paper at http://ifpri.org/pubs/dp/ifpridp00825.asp