ABSTRACT
The importance of agriculture for national economic growth is reflected by the proliferation of literature and of aid programs for agricultural development. A wide range of roles has been attributed to agriculture in economic development: as a source of food for the expanding urban population and as a captive market for expanding industrial production. Throughout the continent over 100 million people are dependent on traditional forms of agriculture, a number which must increase. In the late 1950’s senior agricultural administrators observed the growing emphasis on economics in agriculture. Descriptive reports were written by individual fieldworkers and issued by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1966 and 1967. In the Colonial Agricultural Service the improvement of agriculture was synonymous with increased production through better yields per acre, in the British tradition. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
