Volume 4, Issue 2

Agricultural development: A panacea to economic challenges in Africa

Author

Abanikannda Dahood Tunji* and Oke Olanrewaju Oluwaseun

Abstract

The paper expatiated on the salient matters of the economy development in
Africa through Agriculture in the following three sub-headings; food
security, health and employment opportunity. It is imperative to know that
agriculture is the backbone of Africa’s economy. About 70% of Africans and
roughly 80% of the continent’s poor live in rural areas and depends mainly
on agriculture for their livelihood. Furthermore, the Current and emerging
research in Africa focuses on most critical issue on agriculture related health
problems such as; malnutrition, water-related diseases, health effects of
pesticide use, food safety, livestock-related health and zoonotic diseases,
aflatoxins, and medicinal plant production and when well managed could
save the nation from excessive spendings which bounce back on national
economy. Another reason why agriculture needs to be developed is that it has
a way of providing an employment opportunity and curbs the problems that
might want to spring forth from unemployment vogue in the economy. The
unemployment problem has increased poverty rate, prostitution, ethnic
conflicts, dejection, increase in crime as well as family disputes and broken
marriages. Unemployed individuals become more and more dissatisfied and
resort to riots and demonstrations. Due to unemployment, the economy’s
GNP will be less than the potential GNP. Therefore it is then recommended
that, more effort should be made on Agricultural sector because of the
strategic relevance of the sector to the nation’s economy especially in the
areas of health, food security and employment generation.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.62226/ijarst20150203

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