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?

This report begins by evaluating Africa's data landscape to monitor poverty. It maps out and assesses in detail the availability and quality of the data needed to track monetary poverty (expenditures, prices, GDP) and also reflects on the governance and political processes that underpin the current situation.

L idee que l on se fait de l Afrique a radicalement change. Encore considere comme le continent des guerres, des famines et de la pauvrete chronique a la fin des annees 90, le continent africain est maintenant evoque sous l angle de - l Afrique qui monte - et du - XXIe siecle africain -. Deux decennies de croissance economique sans precedent devaient en principe ameliorer sensiblement le bien-etre des populations africaines. Il est toutefois difficile de dire si c est effectivement le cas en raison de la mediocre qualite des donnees, de la nature du processus de croissance (s agissant...

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 In rapidly-changing and data-scarce environments they risk being outdated and misleading.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.