Investing in Sub-Saharan African agricultural research: Recent trends

As a region, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) relies heavily on agriculture. The sector accounts for close to 20 percent of total gross domestic product and about 60 percent of the total labor force -- though many SSA countries depend on agriculture to a much greater extent than these regional averages indicate. Small-scale farmers predominate in a climate of increasing population pressure, food insecurity, very low (and declining) levels of agricultural productivity, and rapid natural-resource degradation.