Abstract:
Due to increasing competition resulting from globalization, Africa is losing the battle to supply
agricultural products at competitive world market prices. Lack of efficiency and the inability to
adapt to changing world markets mean that African fanners find it increasingly difficult to sell
their products into traditional export markets and to service higher value markets. Moreover, this
lack of market competitiveness makes African countries the final marketplace for surplus or low
quality products from other exporting countries. The challenge for agricultural development
researchers is, therefore, to enable African fanners to produce a wider range of agricultural
products at prices and quality standards that are competitive with the world market