Africa is backward in economic growth, food security, child nutrition, and
health, and is combating environmental degradation, is beset by conflicts,
and has the highest population growth rate in the world. One of the core
contributing factors is the weak performance of the agricultural sector. Liberalisation
of agricultural markets became a core issue in development policy,
but this does not address the problem.
This study discusses the question of whether developing countries have lost
their comparative advantage in agricultural products due to a change in productivity
growth rates....