ABSTRACT
The majority of countries in contemporary Africa are still agricultural-based economies and rural sub-Saharan Africa has one of the highest poverty scores in the world. Despite trends towards increasing non-farm incomes, the agricultural sector remains the most important economic sector for reducing poverty. There is therefore a need to find ways of stimulating an agricultural transformation process in order to achieve structural transformation and reach sustainable economic development. It is argued by some schools that in agricultural-based societies where the agricultural sector is dominated by smallholder production, the transformation process should be broad based in order to be successful. This entails an inclusive process with an initial distribution of productive resources that is relatively equal. Such a broad-based transformation process tends to have strong demand and supply linkages with the local economy and a poverty reducing impact (World Bank 2007). To encourage agricultural growth and development, it will be pivotal that smallholders are offered increased access to production services like agricultural extension, capital and markets.
