ABSTRACT
Small scale agriculture in Africa is still being pursued in a Natural Society setting that remains an enigma to scientists and policymakers who continue spending money and energy on trying to develop it. In conclusion, this chapter confirms the relevance of a Big History perspective on African development as a way of getting policies right and allowing for a process that acknowledges the importance and value of “working with the grain.” The insights gained from this volume are many, notably that farm innovation is complex, that it is place-based, and needs to fit into local livelihood logics. These logics are products of the uncertainty under which they are pursued, relying as they are on diversification and risk aversion rather than specialization and the risks associated with “putting all eggs in one basket.” The policy implications of the studies presented in the volume include the value of learning from mistakes, the limits of rationalism in transcending the Natural Society logic, and the need for an enabling environment to build local ownership into the change process. A final observation is that rural Africa may be one of the least developed parts of the world, but it is also the repository of values such as subsistence and sharing that many people elsewhere would like to embrace. In this perspective, it is significant that the United Nations have declared 2019 the “Year of Family Farming,” drawing attention to the many insights and conclusions that this volume highlights.
