African Food Crisis

Paul Van Mele (PhD, Wageningen University) is an agricultural scientist who has managed agricultural R&D projects dealing with sustainable agriculture across the global South for over three decades. Since 2002, Paul has spearheaded farmer-to-farmer training video, coordinated research on video-mediated learning and taken it to scale. He runs his own company, Agro-Insight, and co-founded the non-profit organisation Access Agriculture to support South-South learning on agroecological transformation.

"Drawing on three years of research by African and Asian specialists, involving study of secondary data, interviews with key individuals, and questioning over 3000 households in more than 100 villages, this is an important study deserving critical attention from the agricultural development community." New Agriculturalist, 2005"

• 1: African Food Crisis - The Relevance of Asian Experiences, G Djurfeldt, H Holmen, M Jirstrom and R Larsson 2: Global Perspectives on Agricultural Development, G Djurfeldt 3: The State and Green Revolutions in East Asia, M Jirström 4: The Puzzle of the Policy Shift - The Early Green Revolution in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, G Djurfeldt and M Jirström 5: Spurts in Production - Africa's Limping Green Revolution, H Holmén 6: The State and Agricultural Intensification in Sub-Saharan Africa, H Holmén 7: Crisis and Potential in Smallholder Food Production - Evidence from Micro Level, R Larsson 8: From Roller Coasters to Rocket Ships: The Role of Technology in African Agricultural Successes, S Haggblade, IFPRI, Zambia 9: The Role of the State in the Nigerian Green Revolution, T Akande, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Nigeria 10: Why the Early Promise for Rapid Increases in Maize Productivity in Kenya Was Not Sustained, W Oluoch-Kosura and J T Karugia, University of Nairobi, Kenya 11: From Ujamaa to Structural Adjustment - Agricultural Intensification in Tanzania, A C Isinika, G C Ashimogo and J E D Mlangwa, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania 12: Smallholders and Structural Adjustment in Ghana, A W Seini and V K Nyanteng, University of Ghana, Ghana 13: Green Revolution and Regional Inequality: Implications of Asian Experience for Africa, K Otsuka, and T Yamano, Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development, Japan 14: Conclusions and a look ahead, T Akande, G Djurfeldt, H Holmén and A Isinika