Agriculture and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

This paper is a comparative study of the role of agriculture in economic development in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Popular notions of economic duality and agricultural squeeze in sub-Saharan Africa are re-examined, and new explanations in terms of agrarian structures and resource availabilities are put forward to account for the apparent economic duality in that continent. Comparison with surplus labour economies of Asia highlights the constraints posed by the prevailing agrarian structures for capital accumulation and industrialisation in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa. Policy conclusions from this new perspective are contrasted with the conventional policies focusing on price reform and market liberalisation.