Subsistence farming on small farms is poverty. Thomas is right, farm sizes have shrunk from subdivision as rural populations have grown. It is a myth that there is a lot of unused available farmland out there. In fact there is not. Farmland in Africa is increasingly over-cultivated, leading to nutrient depletion and erosion. This is caused by too many people trying to live from farming and putting destructive pressure on the land.
It is necessary to get large numbers of people out of villages and away from the land into other livelihoods besides farming. Only this can take pressure off the land. A smaller number of farmers working larger farms can produce the benefits Thomas mentions - adoption of technology, mixing of livestock and cropping, higher productivity, more food, sustainable use of the land.
Migrating people from rural to urban areas need new skills and jobs, but this, along with increasing the technology and productivity on larger farms, can supply African countries with the food they need as well as modernise the economy.
Subsistence farming on small farms is poverty. Thomas is right, farm sizes have shrunk from subdivision as rural populations have grown. It is a myth that there is a lot of unused available farmland out there. In fact there is not. Farmland in Africa is increasingly over-cultivated, leading to nutrient depletion and erosion. This is caused by too many people trying to live from farming and putting destructive pressure on the land.
It is necessary to get large numbers of people out of villages and away from the land into other livelihoods besides farming. Only this can take pressure off the land. A smaller number of farmers working larger farms can produce the benefits Thomas mentions - adoption of technology, mixing of livestock and cropping, higher productivity, more food, sustainable use of the land.
Migrating people from rural to urban areas need new skills and jobs, but this, along with increasing the technology and productivity on larger farms, can supply African countries with the food they need as well as modernise the economy.