Why Can't We Transform Traditional Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa? *
Why Can't We Transform Traditional Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa? *
复制标题
为什么我们不能改变撒哈拉以南非洲的传统农业？
DOI：
10.1111/j.1467-9353.2006.00295.x
复制
发表时间：
2006
影响因子：
5.8
通讯作者：
K. Otsuka
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
K. Otsuka
虽然撒哈拉以南非洲的人口持续快速增长，但未开垦的土地已基本耗尽。由于单位土地粮食产量几十年来基本保持不变（图1），该区域的人均粮食产量一直在下降（图2）。因此，全世界越来越关注撒南非洲普遍、持续甚至恶化的贫困和粮食短缺问题。这与亚洲发展中国家的经历形成鲜明对比。20世纪60年代后期，由于开发了对肥料敏感的高产现代稻麦品种，稻麦产量开始大幅增长，这被称为”绿色革命“。“在过去四十年中，热带亚洲的粮食产量增加了一倍多，人均粮食产量显著增加。问题是，为什么我们未能在撒哈拉以南非洲重复亚洲的绿色革命。这对发展经济学家提出了严峻的挑战，因为人们普遍认为舒尔茨（1964）对传统农业进行了准确的描述，并提出了将其转变为现代农业部门的适当处方。这篇短文试图评估Schultz论文对撒哈拉以南非洲农业发展的相关性。Schultz论文的相关性Schultz（1964）认为，技术的变化，如更好的作物品种和改良的牲畜，是改造传统农业的关键。由于农民被认为在资源分配方面是有效的，考虑到几代人使用的现有技术，农业推广并不起作用，
While population continues to grow rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), uncultivated land has been largely exhausted. Since the yield of food grain per unit of land has remained largely unchanged for more than several decades (figure 1), per capita food production in the region has been declining (figure 2). Therefore, there are growing worldwide concerns regarding the widespread and persistent or even worsening poverty and food shortages in SSA. This is in sharp contrast to the experience in developing countries in Asia. Rice and wheat yields began to grow dramatically in the late 1960s, due to the development of fertilizer-responsive, high-yielding modern rice and wheat varieties (MVs), which is heralded as the" Green Revolution." Grain yield more than doubled and the per capita grain production significantly increased in tropical Asia over the last four decades. The question is why we failed to repeat the Asian Green Revolution in SSA. This poses a serious challenge for development economists, because it is widely believed that Schultz (1964) provides an accurate characterization of traditional agriculture and proposes an appropriate prescription to transform it into a modern agricultural sector. This short article attempts to assess the relevance of the Schultz thesis for the development of agriculture in SSA.The Relevance of Schultz Thesis Schultz (1964) argues that changes in technology, such as better crop varieties and improved livestock, are the key to transforming traditional agriculture. Since farmers are supposed to be efficient in resource allocation, given the available technology used over generations, agricultural extension does not play