ABSTRACT
The mixed cropping systems of the African type are in most cases inimical to dramatic technological change has long been appreciated in disciplines other than economics. But economists have been slow to grasp the crucial importance to the sustainability of agricultural production in Africa of maintaining the soil biomass, and thus of fostering the development of mixed cropping in innovative ways. Research on African agriculture needs to be pursued in the framework of the sustainability of agricultural production. There have been very few studies by agronomists, however, of the relationship between African farmers' management practices and the sustainability of agricultural production. By a conservative estimate, there are 200 million low-resource fanners in Sub-Saharan Africa. They represent a potent force for growth in production and for growth in consumption. Rural Africa constitutes a huge market for agricultural products, and particularly food. In Kenya, 80 percent of the total market demand for maize comes from the rural sector.
