| Sumario: | Africa stands at the dawn of a new era. In spite of the global financial meltdown and spiraling food prices, the continent has shown remarkable resilience. On the economic front, Africa has achieved remarkable progress in recent years. Reforms have opened up political and economic space for the private sector, including traders and farmers, and have allowed civil-society organizations to actively participate in national agriculture development. Eighteen countries in the region have maintained average economic growth of 5.5 percent per year during the past decade, while more than half of the continent's countries have recorded agricultural growth exceeding 4 percent during the past five years. Africa is moving toward social and political stability, albeit slowly. Africa's impressive gains, however, were not enough to compensate
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