The Transformation of Rural Africa

Contemporary discussions of Africa’s recent growth have largely interpreted such growth in terms of structural transformation, based mainly on national- and sectoral-level data. However, the micro-level processes driving this transformation are still unclear and remain the subject of debate. This collection provides a micro economic foundation for understanding the particular growth processes at work within the region’s rural areas, and in so doing provides important insights for policy action. The book provides valuable household- and farm-level evidence about the drivers of rural labour productivity, improvements in access to markets, investment in food value chains, and indeed the role of rural economic growth in Africa’s ongoing rural transformation processes. Some of the features of Africa’s ongoing rural transformation are similar to those of agricultural transformation as experienced in Asia and elsewhere. However, other features of Africa’s rural transformation are unique, and pose important challenges for development policy and planning. Together, the studies compiled in this volume provide an updated, evidence-based, and policy-relevant understanding of where African countries are in their developmental trajectories and the region’s prospects for achieving inclusive forms of development over the next several decades.

This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Development Studies.

T. S. Jayne is University Foundation Professor of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics at Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA. He is also Co-Director of the Alliance for African Partnership, and a Distinguished Fellow of the African Association of Agricultural Economists.

Jordan Chamberlin is a Spatial Economist with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, based in Ethiopia.

Rui Benfica is a Lead Economist at the Research and Impact Assessment Division, Strategy and Knowledge Department, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Rome, Italy.