Africa, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, has experienced moderate agricultural productivity growth since mid-1980s, but a sustainable agricultural growth in Africa will require more policies and investments in agricultural research and development at regional and country levels. This is the study presented by the Regional Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support System (ReSAKSS) Africa-wide coordinator Samuel Benin at the recently closed 8th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme’s Partnership Platform in Nairobi.

The presentation is about how to raise and maintain high agricultural productivity across different parts of Africa by analyzing the trends and spatial patterns and determinants of agricultural productivity trends in Africa. ReSAKSS’ study finds out that although the urgency to increase agricultural productivity has been realized in the past few years, very little technical change has been made in Africa, and the infrastructure and capacities of agricultural R&D in most African countries are still lagging behind its global peers due to years of underinvestment. To accelerate the Africa’s technical transformation, more policies and investments in agricultural R&D are needed, especially those that address location-specific technologies and diversity of farmers. A comprehensive regional agricultural R&D strategy, with complementary policies and extension systems that maximizes technology spillovers, will also help fill the technological gaps and facilitate scale economies.

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