World Bank Strategy for the Agricultural Sector in Africa

摘要

What I would like to do during this presentation is quickly to go over what the French call "la problematique" of the World Bank in the agricultural sector in Africa. It is something of a field to which I am relatively new, so I come to it unprejudiced. The key points are first that agriculture is central to the Bank's strategy for Africa — no "ifs," "buts," reservations, or qualifications. This is where the battle line is drawn and where the battle will either be lost or won. Four percent growth ofthe sector is still very much what we feel we ought to shoot for and, eventually, what I believe you and I will be judged upon. It is a floor, not a ceiling, and it is the minimum growth needed to avoid tremendous problems with food provision over the next 20 years.