Structural Adjustment The African Farmer

This book traces the impact of structural adjustment policies upon the incomes and welfare of Africa's peasant farmers who currently operate at very low levels of productivity of both land and labour and are confronted with low household income and inadequate food security. A common method has been applied across five countries. Analyses have been made of the links between national economic policies and the various markets in which the smallholders operate, and the services and infrastructures which influence their productive capacities. There are differences in the resource base and the level of ecological deterioration, in export opportunities, in physical infrastructure and, in particular, in the depth and nature of economic policy reforms. The team have recognised the important differences between these five countries and overcome the formidable problems of collecting agricultural data in Africa. The book provides firm evidence of the impact, both positive and negative, of structural adjustment. The editors argue for a more targeted, project-specific approach to small farmer development. This complements the current, donor interest in policy related aid support.

With the adoption of a World Bank-sponsored structural adjustment programme in the mid-1980s, Guinea underwent a dramatic change in its economic and agricultural policies. The country's experience over the past decade illustrates some of the most pressing problems encountered by African countries pursuing economic reform. This book analyses these difficulties by examining the adjustment experience in Guinea as it affected the country's overall political economy and the agricultural sector in particular. It also places this case within the broader context of African adjustment.

Analyzes difficulties encountered by Guinea in the wake of a World Bank-sponsored structural adjustment program in the mid-1980s, focusing on the agricultural sector. Looks at factors such as poor donor coordination, political challenges to the state, and difficult international economic conditions to explain the initial failure of the reform program, and discusses prospects for the new approach to adjustment promoted by the World Bank in Africa in the 1990s. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Each Grade includes a colourful Workbook (Grades 1 to 3) or Pupils' Book (Grade 4 to 6) using familar examples from daily Jamaican life. Each book is supported by a Teacher's Guide.

First published in 1997, this volume is intended to make a contribution to both the literature and the contentious debate on the relationship between structural adjustment and reconstruction and development in Africa, as seen from the multidisciplinary perspective of academics and practitioners working in Africa on African development problems and issues. The implementation of structural adjustment in Africa has spawned a considerable, and still on-going, debate with vociferous advocates on both sides of the issue, particularly with respect to the efficacy of structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) as an antidote to Africa’s development crisis. This book contributes to that debate with a rich mixture of analytical views and ideas covering a wide range of countries and sectors on the role and impact of structural adjustment programmes on the process of reconstruction and development in Africa.

Similarities and dominant paradigms; Chronology and elements of the dominant paradigms of agricultural development; Insights for paradigms of African Agricultural Development.

Our Continent, Our Future presents the emerging African perspective on this complex issue. The authors use as background their own extensive experience and a collection of 30 individual studies, 25 of which were from African economists, to summarize this African perspective and articulate a path for the future. They underscore the need to be sensitive to each country's unique history and current condition. They argue for a broader policy agenda and for a much more active role for the state within what is largely a market economy. Finally, they stress that Africa must, and can, compete in an increasingly globalized world and, perhaps most importantly, that Africans must assume the leading role in defining the continent's development agenda.