Agricultural Economics in Africa: Trends in Theory and Method
Explicit theory about the process of economic development is notoriously scanty and underdeveloped.** Thus this paper will deal as much with emerging challenges to implicit theorizing and neglected areas in explicit theory as with trends in what explicit theory exists. Although the state of economic theory relevant to the agricultural sector of developing countries still leaves much to be desired, there have been some fascinating trends in the last ten years. Over the same period there have been fundamental changes in methodology as well. The central focus of those concerned with the course of economic change in developing economies is consideration of how the rate of economic development can be effectively increased and maintained. Economists working on the agricultural sector are most interested in theory that deals either with the relationship between change in the agricultural sector and change elsewhere in the economy, or with means of accelerating and sustaining development of the agricultural sector itself, of interest not only because the course of events in agriculture affects aggregate development but also because satisfactory progress in agriculture contributes to national goals other than development. Agricultural development affects development in other sectors of the economy in several ways: through provision of goods and services needed elsewhere in the economy and for export; through generation of rural purchasing power which can be a critical component of the stimuli needed to evoke satisfactory rates of development of other sectors; and through generation of savings, investment, and manpower needed elsewhere. Agricultural
Strategy Options for Angola's Agricultural Sector after 27 Years of War: A Perception Based Field Study
The decline in agricultural output over the years and the subsequent pervasive food crisis in most of Africa have motivated governments and international organizations to develop a variety of strategies, policy alternatives and programs aimed at promoting agricultural production and food security. Many of these strategies have been conceived and implemented by international organizations, and in some cases the strategies have fail to address the root cause of failure of the agricultural sector to perform to its potential. Therefore, this field study uses scenario analysis to engage key players in the agriculture industry to identify causes of Angola’s loss of production capacity over the years, the factors needed to revitalize the agricultural-led economy, factors that can help stabilize the agricultural sector and conditions required for the development and coordination of the food supply chain in Angola. The framework provided in the paper was based on an evaluation of perceptions of future demand for locally produced agricultural products; the country’s supply response capability; the role of the informal and formal markets; infrastructure needs; and the development of formal supply chains for domestic and export markets. The methodology used was an adaptation of a methodology used in Industry Strategic Planning and Coordination, and the Technological Demands Determination by Prospective Analysis. The study revealed that in spite of its high resource endowment, Angola will first need to address institutional and structural agricultural development constraints and develop systems that allow better coordination of development efforts among institutions, before it is able to produce food for export markets. The development priority for the next five years includes creating conditions that stimulate local production, help the country produce enough to become food self sufficient, and gradually reduce food imports. Nevertheless, the production for import substitution should not preclude efforts towards targeting export niche markets.
Live birth in the Devonian period
The extinct placoderm fishes were the dominant group of vertebrates throughout the Middle Palaeozoic era, yet controversy about their relationships within the gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates) is partly due to different interpretations of their reproductive biology. Here we document the oldest record of a live-bearing vertebrate in a new ptyctodontid placoderm, Materpiscis attenboroughi gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation of Australia (approximately 380 million years ago). The new specimen, remarkably preserved in three dimensions, contains a single, intra-uterine embryo connected by a permineralized umbilical cord. An amorphous crystalline mass near the umbilical cord possibly represents the recrystallized yolk sac. Another ptyctodont from the Gogo Formation, Austroptyctodus gardineri, also shows three small embryos inside it in the same position. Ptyctodontids have already provided the oldest definite evidence for vertebrate copulation, and the new specimens confirm that some placoderms had a remarkably advanced reproductive biology, comparable to that of some modern sharks and rays. The new discovery points to internal fertilization and viviparity in vertebrates as originating earliest within placoderms.