Infrastructure for Agricultural & Rural Development in Sub Saharan Africa: Need for a Comprehensive Program and Adequate Investment

Abstract

This study unanimously confirms that rural infrastructure is a sine qua non for significantly improving the quality of human life and phenomenally accelerating the process of agricultural development in Africa. Infrastructure projects, however, involve huge initial capital investments, long gestation periods, high incremental capital output ratio, high risk, and low rate of returns on investments. Rural infrastructure has direct and strong relationship with farmers’ access to institutional finance and markets, and increasing crop yields, thereby promoting agricultural growth. Agricultural infrastructure has the potential to transform the existing traditional agriculture or subsistence farming into a most modern, commercial and dynamic farming system in Sub Saharan Africa. Increase in investment of agricultural infrastructure leads to increase in output and employment, a full investment formulation that meets the needs of domestic or external (multilateral and bilateral) funding sources will have to be carried out. Overall, a flexible, participatory approach will be needed, with full national and local involvement and commitment, while international partners, including Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), give initial assistance to New partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) in this process. The paper therefore recommends that technical and financial assistance will be required to help build capacity in African countries to face the challenges and take full advantage of the opportunities flowing from the multilateral trading systems.