Dryland Farming In Africa

Crop production in the drought-prone tropics has been relatively neglected by research and development workers, largely due to its poor potential for commercial exploitation. Despite this, a considerable amount of information is available on this subject, but there have been few attempts to draw it together and to relate it to the needs of subsistence and small farmers, and to the particular set of constraints under which they labour. This work is an attempt to examine the components of dryland farming in such a context, not simply in order to supply "solutions", but to help agricultural and development workers understand the issues involved, and therefore, to work out with farmers themselves possible ways ahead. The increasing frequency and severity of famine in the dry regions, especially of Africa, do not result simply from drought, neither can they be prevented solely by agricultural means. But they are a reminder of the long-term neglect of farming, particularly in semi-arid areas, and should serve to stimulate a desire to understand dryland farming systems better.