Poverty, Hunger, and Democracy in Africa

The book evaluates alternative policy options for the African countries to overcome the food crisis and the changing structure of world trade to sustain their impressive growth of the early 2000s.These policies must go beyond economic reforms and seek a solution to the entrenched political problems that divided the continent.

Autorentext
DAVID BIGMAN is Professor and Honorary Chair in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Wageningen University, and Visiting Professor at Stanford University and Woosong University, Korea. In 1977 he received a PhD in Economics at Johns Hopkins University. He was formerly Senior Lecturer and Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Senior Economist at the IMF, the World Bank and the CGIAR. He has published 10 books, 75 articles in peer-reviewed journals and books, and 80 research papers.

Inhalt
Introduction PART I: WHO IS IN CHARGE? THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND OF THE STATE PART II: OBSTACLES TO GROWTH: GEOGRAPHY, DEMOGRAPHY AND THE ENVIRONMENT Introduction Landlocked countries Inland Obstacles: Access and Infrastructure The Threat of Global Warming The Demographic Changes The Resource Curse The Haunting Malthusian Predicament o Limits to Growth o The Environmental Threat o How to Achieve Sustained and Fair Limits to Growth o The New Phase of the Malthusian Predicament o Will SSA Be Able to Feed its Growing Population? o Malthus Outlook Further Into the Future PART III: POLITICAL REFORMS TO BUILD THE AFRICAN ECONOMY PART IV: WHY HAVE THE ADVANCED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES BYPASSED SSA? Introduction The Reforms to Increase Agricultural Productivity The First Great Leap Forward: The Green Revolution The Second Great Leap Forward: The Gene Revolution The Driving Force of Agricultural Productivity: Agricultural R&D PART V: THE FOOD CRISIS Introduction and Overview The Causes of the Escalating Food Prices The Impact of the Structural Factors on the Rise in Food Prices Is This Sufficient to Explain the Excessive Overshooting Grain Prices? Other Factors That Exacerbated the Food Crisis The Consequences of the Food Crisis: The Threat to 'Glocal' Stability PART VI: THE LONGER TERM REFORMS TO COMBAT HUNGER IN AFRICA Introduction The Role of the Public Sector The Main Reforms • Production Barriers to Industrialization • Barriers on Agricultural Reforms • Barriers on Diversifying Agricultural Incomes The Sagging Rural Economy The Common Principles of the Alternative Reform Programs The New Partnership for Africa's Development: The Reform Program of the African Union