Center for Effective Global Action

Agriculture continues to be prominent in its contribution to GDP, export earnings and employment of most Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The sector plays a key role in the region’s food security, trade and industrial development. SSA’s agriculture is characterized by subsistent smallholder production that exhibit fluctuating production levels, low productivity and low quality; which has resulted to most countries in the region becoming food deficit hence net importers of food. According to the 2006 FAO regional conference in Bamako, Mali, the factors affecting competitiveness of agriculture in SSA are discussed under three broad areas namely; production-related factors, markets and institutional-related factors, and macroeconomic- related factors.