ABSTRACT
The chapters of this book which consider contemporary economic trends in the individual countries of NorthWest Africa show that. despite starkly contrasting economic policies. many common constraints on economic development were encountered. Agricultural production. whether under private or state management. continued to vary greatly from year to year and region to region in response to unpredictable environmental conditions. In all four countries the fundamental problem. which both governments and agriculturalists failed to solve. was how to supply sufficient food from the country's delicate agricultural resources to feed the rapidly growing population. In some sectors and in certain countries (such as the production of sugar beet in Morocco) progress was achieved. but these advances were outweighed by failures in other forms of agricultural production. resulting in a net shortfall in food production. and a trend in all four countries towards an increasing bill for food imports.
