Farming in Africa: Cold comfort farms | The Economist
▻http://www.economist.com/blogs/baobab/2013/09/farming-africa?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/bl/coldcomfortfarms
IF POTENTIAL were edible, Africa would have the best-fed people on earth. The vast continent has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, most of it unfarmed. The land already under cultivation, mostly by small farmers, could produce far more. Crop yields in Africa are between one-third and one-half of the global average. The quality of soil is often poor, because of overfarming, but that could be fixed by fertilisers. With the right know-how and inputs, Africa’s farmers could double productivity.