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Sub-Saharan Africa Smallholder Farmers Agricultural Productivity: Risks and Challenges

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Food Security for African Smallholder Farmers

Part of the book series: Sustainability Sciences in Asia and Africa ((SAFS))

Abstract

Smallholder farmers are important in the fight against hunger and undernutrition in rural communities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Even though agriculture contributes close to 23 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP, the continent has remained a net food importer for the past three decades. Furthermore, sub-Saharan Africa loses billions of dollars annually through food imports because it fails to exploit its vast agricultural production potential. While African governments have provided resources to catalyse agricultural productivity, smallholder farmers continue to face barriers that affect their profitability and production capacities. The chapter highlights challenges that sub-Saharan Africa smallholder farmers face and suggests possible interventions to increase agricultural productivity. Gender imbalances, lack of climate change mitigation and adaptation tools, inadequate government support, lack of and unequal access to inputs/extension services, inadequate finance systems (credit and insurance services), public health issues, and infrastructure bottlenecks, among others, possess severe constraints for agricultural productivity for smallholder farmers. Increasing the rates of agricultural mechanisation, promoting climate-smart agricultural practices, better focused public and private sector support for smallholder farmers, and capacity support to strengthen agricultural value chains are some measures to enhance and sustain agricultural productivity amongst smallholder farmers.

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  • 28 February 2022

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre, University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa

    Patrick Nyambo

  2. Norton, Zimbabwe

    Peter Nyambo

  3. Boksburg, South Africa

    Zira Mavunganidze

  4. Networking HIV&AIDS Community of Southern Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Violet Nyambo

Authors
  1. Patrick Nyambo
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  2. Peter Nyambo
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  3. Zira Mavunganidze
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  4. Violet Nyambo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patrick Nyambo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. SANUMARC, University of Namibia, Henties Bay, Namibia

    Hupenyu Allan Mupambwa

  2. Agricultural Research Council—Natural Resources & Engineering, Pretoria, South Africa

    Adornis Dakarai Nciizah

  3. Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RAVAC), University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus, South Africa

    Patrick Nyambo

  4. Graduate School of Business Leadership, University of South Africa, Midrandx, South Africa

    Binganidzo Muchara

  5. Department of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Namibia, Hentiesbaai, Namibia

    Ndakalimwe Naftal Gabriel

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Nyambo, P., Nyambo, P., Mavunganidze, Z., Nyambo, V. (2022). Sub-Saharan Africa Smallholder Farmers Agricultural Productivity: Risks and Challenges. In: Mupambwa, H.A., Nciizah, A.D., Nyambo, P., Muchara, B., Gabriel, N.N. (eds) Food Security for African Smallholder Farmers. Sustainability Sciences in Asia and Africa(). Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6771-8_3

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