This book contributes to the debate about the role of agriculture in poverty reduction by addressing three sets of questions: (1) Does investing in agriculture enhance/harm overall economicgrowth, and if so, under what conditions? (2) Do poor people tend to participate more/less in growth in agriculture than in growth in other sectors, and if so, when? (3) If a focus on agriculturewould tend to yield larger participation by the poor, butslower overall growth, which strategy would tend to have the largest payoff in terms of poverty reduction, andunder which conditions?

Do current stylized facts about African agriculture and rural livelihoods reflect reality? In rapidly-changing and data-scarce environments they risk being outdated and misleading. This report re-examines conventional wisdom about African farmers, from the bottom up and recognising the complexities involved.