Agrarian Change and Rural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Agrarian Change and Rural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Three e-Dialogues led by APRA will be held in January and February 2022. The aim will be to not only draw ideas and insights from APRA research, but also from other complementary initiatives across Sub-Saharan Africa. These events will feature new evidence and analyses to highlight the critical political, economic, social, institutional and technical factors that enable or constrain small and medium producers, farm workers and processors to invest in agriculture. They will show how and why agriculture is an important source of food and income for most rural households but needs to be seen in the context of multiple livelihood activities - both on and off the farm - as a large proportion of small and medium producers in Africa live in poverty and fail to achieve a ‘living income’ from farming alone.

The e-Dialogues

20 January 2022.   Emerging Challenges and Regional Realities. This first e-dialogue will involve analyzing the dynamics of agricultural commercialization and agrarian change across East, West and Southern Africa in three parallel regional discussions leading to a continental-level panel involving expert commentators and audience questions.

2 February 2022. COVID-19 and its Effects on Local Food Systems and Rural Livelihoods (Wednesday, 2 February 2022). The second in the series will highlight policy-relevant lessons on the effects of the COVID-19 emerging from two multi-country comparative studies, one analyzing household-level livelihood responses and outcomes and the other focusing on the differential effects of COVID on agricultural value chains.

22 February 2022. Transition Pathways and Strategies. Finally, in February, for this initial series of e-dialogues, this event will assess options and scenarios for creating more equitable and inclusive forms of agricultural commercialization and rural transformation, with a focus on the specific challenges for different types of farmers, farm workers and processors, given their scale, gender, assets or geographic and market context.