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The change is emblematic of a much broader transition taking place across Africa: the evolution from subsistence to commercial agriculture. The implications for the continent are radical. Seven out of 10 Africans live off the land. Commercializing agriculture — increasing the scale and profitability of farming — would spur meaningful participation in an economy, often for the first time, by 700 million people. Moving from subsistence farming to more competitive, scalable agriculture could spell the end of chronic poverty on the continent. Studies by the International Food Policy Research Institute and the World Bank suggest that every 1% rise in agricultural income per capita reduces the number of people in extreme poverty by 0.6% to 1.8%. Moreover, while aid agencies warn that high food prices fall hardest on the poor, high prices only sharpen the opportunity for Africa’s farmers — if they can manage to hold on to enough of the profits. “This is huge,” says ECX chief executive officer Eleni Gabre-Madhin. “This is catalytic. It affects millions. It touches every part of the economy.”

The world has had agricultural revolutions before, and their effects can be profound. The domestication of plants and animals 13,000 years ago was a prerequisite for civilization. In 16th century Britain, enclosure, mechanization, crop rotation and selective breeding produced the surplus and the spare workforce that drove the Industrial Revolution. India’s Green Revolution, which introduced irrigation, fertilizer, pesticide and high-yield seeds in the late 1960s and the 1970s, ended widespread famine in that country and turned it into a rice exporter. (See pictures of plant life in India.)

Now it is Africa’s turn. The continent’s economies are based on industrial commodities: gold, oil and gas, diamonds, minerals and timber. But much of the wealth from these sectors, which are capital- but not always labor-intensive, has gone to corrupt governments or multinational companies rather than Africans. Food could be different. With just a bit more capital, better infrastructure, technological help in the form of things like exchanges that create larger markets, and better planning around development and aid, farmers could cash in. Certainly, growing global demand is on their side. Just as higher oil prices have made exploration of difficult-to-extract reserves in Siberia and the deepest oceans economically viable, so sharply rising food prices are making African agriculture look more attractive. Global food prices are up 50% in the past two years, and the World Bank has projected that global food demand will jump by half in 20 years, ensuring they will remain high.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2097417,00.html#ixzz1c5FMRCyJ

(via growingupstrong)