Megatrends and the future of African economies

This article argues that these projections about Africa’s future are a good deal less certain than the conventional wisdom might suggest. Foresighting exercises are often based on tenuous evidence of key underlying trends and tenuous assumptions about the degree to which these trends are inevitable...

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Main Authors: Traub, Lulama, Yeboah, Felix K., Meyer, Ferdinand, Jayne, Thomas S.
Format: Book Chapter
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149852
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author Traub, Lulama
Yeboah, Felix K.
Meyer, Ferdinand
Jayne, Thomas S.
author_browse Jayne, Thomas S.
Meyer, Ferdinand
Traub, Lulama
Yeboah, Felix K.
author_facet Traub, Lulama
Yeboah, Felix K.
Meyer, Ferdinand
Jayne, Thomas S.
author_sort Traub, Lulama
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This article argues that these projections about Africa’s future are a good deal less certain than the conventional wisdom might suggest. Foresighting exercises are often based on tenuous evidence of key underlying trends and tenuous assumptions about the degree to which these trends are inevitable exogenous forces. Most current trends are neither irreversible nor inevitable. Just as the current trends being observed in African food systems are the outcomes of the policies and public investment patterns of prior decades, the future will be shaped and transformed by today’s policy actions—either those taken proactively or those taken passively as a result of no action (Seidman 1973). This point may be underappreciated by development thinkers who speak in terms of inevitable transformations
format Book Chapter
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institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2015
publishDateRange 2015
publishDateSort 2015
publisher International Food Policy Research Institute
publisherStr International Food Policy Research Institute
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spelling CGSpace1498522025-11-06T04:11:41Z Megatrends and the future of African economies Traub, Lulama Yeboah, Felix K. Meyer, Ferdinand Jayne, Thomas S. economic development agricultural research agricultural development This article argues that these projections about Africa’s future are a good deal less certain than the conventional wisdom might suggest. Foresighting exercises are often based on tenuous evidence of key underlying trends and tenuous assumptions about the degree to which these trends are inevitable exogenous forces. Most current trends are neither irreversible nor inevitable. Just as the current trends being observed in African food systems are the outcomes of the policies and public investment patterns of prior decades, the future will be shaped and transformed by today’s policy actions—either those taken proactively or those taken passively as a result of no action (Seidman 1973). This point may be underappreciated by development thinkers who speak in terms of inevitable transformations 2015-12-21 2024-08-01T02:50:05Z 2024-08-01T02:50:05Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149852 en https://doi.org/10.2499/9780896298927 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Traub, Lulama; Yeboah, Felix K.; Meyer, Ferdinand; and Jayne, Thomas S. 2015. Megatrends and the future of African economies. In Beyond a Middle Income Africa: Transforming African Economies for Sustained Growth with Rising Employment and Incomes. Chapter 3. (Eds) Badiane, Ousmane and Makombe, Tsitsi. ReSAKSS Annual trends and outlook report 2014. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149852
spellingShingle economic development
agricultural research
agricultural development
Traub, Lulama
Yeboah, Felix K.
Meyer, Ferdinand
Jayne, Thomas S.
Megatrends and the future of African economies
title Megatrends and the future of African economies
title_full Megatrends and the future of African economies
title_fullStr Megatrends and the future of African economies
title_full_unstemmed Megatrends and the future of African economies
title_short Megatrends and the future of African economies
title_sort megatrends and the future of african economies
topic economic development
agricultural research
agricultural development
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149852
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