Editorial from ROAPE Volume 15 Number 43
Africa's Food Crisis: What is to be done?

There is far more written about the nature, causes and effects of the agrarian crisis facing Africa than about possible solutions. Several contributions to this Issue attempt to shift the discussion to these matters of policy. Some critically review prescriptions that are on offer from the international agencies or in the literature: Bienefeld's polemic against neo-classical economics’ answers to the general economic crisis that are shared by certain ‘Marxists’ ; Gavin Williams’ meticulous dismembering of what the WB prescribes for Nigeria's agriculture. One book review looks at the WB's view of Famine and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's master plan for African agriculture while another explores how far mechanisation can solve the problems of agriculture. Other articles offer critiques of actual policies in Somalia and Zimbabwe and present their own alternatives.