Table 1.
Average annual growth rates for food crops in Africa 1961–2018 a
| Crop | 2016–18 | Average annual growth rates (%) b | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production | Area | Yield | Production | Area | Yield | |||||||
| (000 t) | (000 ha) | (t ha‐1) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Cassava | 170 275 | 18 670 | 9.1 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 3.1 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.9 |
| Maize | 79 122 | 39 495 | 2.0 | 3.1 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Yams | 71 038 | 8305 | 8.6 | 3.0 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 2.1 | 5.4 | 3.8 | 2.4 | ‐0.3 |
| Rice, paddy | 32 770 | 14 043 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Sorghum | 29 199 | 29 943 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 1.8 | 1.5 | ‐0.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Wheat | 26 445 | 10 064 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 2.1 |
| Sweetpotato c | 25 885 | 4557 | 5.7 | 2.2 | 5.2 | 3.7 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 3.6 | ‐0.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| Potato c | 25 021 | 1828 | 13.7 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 4.6 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| Plantain | 23 268 | 4139 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 1.1 | 1.6 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Banana | 20 386 | 2000 | 10.2 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 0.9 |
| Beans, dry | 6756 | 7599 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
Source: FAOSTAT (accessed in January–February 2020) and calculations for this study.
For this study, Africa includes North, South, East, Central and West Africa. Following FAO's classification, North Africa refers to Algeria*, Egypt*, Libya*, Morocco*, Tunisia* and Western Sahara*. South Africa consists of Botswana*, Eswatini*, Lesotho*, Namibia* and the Republic of South Africa*. East Africa is made up of Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti*, Eritrea*, Ethiopia*, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan*, South Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Central Africa includes Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and ṇSao Tome and Principe. West Africa covers Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde*, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea‐Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania*, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. * FAOSTAT reports these territories produced no cassava in 2016–2018.
1 = 1988‐90 vs 1961–63; 2 = 2016–18 vs 1988–90; 3 = 2016–18 vs 1961–63, where the average annual growth rate is calculated as follows: