ABSTRACT
Since the publication in 1964 of Theodore W. Schultz's Transforming Traditional Agriculture, economists have generally accepted the thesis that farmers engaged in traditional agriculture are producing at high levels of efficiency, measured by marginal returns to resources in alternative uses. Nevertheless, Sub-Saharan Africa has so far not followed this technology-based path to agricultural development. African farmers, it seems, have resisted adopting available new biological and mechanical technologies even though such technologies have demonstrated their "superiority." At first sight, African farmers appear to be anything but efficient. The description by De Schlippe sums up the impression made on many Westerners by an African farm even today: When one enters a Zande homestead for the first time, the impression is that of complete chaos. Most investigations of the efficiency of African farming have focused on the effect of technological innovation on farming patterns.
