Africa strives to revitalize agriculture
Similarly across Africa, governments are seeking to unlock the enormous potential of the continent's agricultural sector, \"the engine of economic growth,\" as a conference of agriculture ministers in East and Southern Africa put it. Yet many are also driven by a sense of urgency. Although food supplies in sub-Saharan Africa improved during the 1996/97 season, some 40 per cent of the population remains chronically undernourished and 17 countries, as of August, were confronting serious food emergencies, mainly due to drought and civil conflict. \"Hunger and poverty are a serious threat to the peace and security of the continent,\" notes Mr. Idris Nur at the Department of Natural Resources of the Organization of African Unity.
To overcome the legacy of past neglect of agriculture, many governments have raised producer prices, liberalized marketing, and carried out other policy reforms in recent years, as part of broader adjustment programmes. But the results so far have been mixed. And with only a few exceptions, financially strapped African governments have not been able to devote significantly greater budgetary resources to agriculture. Meanwhile, donor assistance for the sector has tended to stagnate or decline, and the downward trend of world market prices for many of Africa's key agricultural exports has frustrated efforts to earn more from increased output.
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The problem, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni noted at a meeting on agricultural research last year, is that agricultural productivity in Africa is very low, with most farmers still relying on traditional practices and using few inputs, such as fertilizer, improved seeds or irrigation. \"If our countries are to achieve higher economic growth rates,\" he said, \"then we must increase agricultural productivity and overall production. This can only occur if we transform our agriculture from the traditional type to a more scientific and technology-based one,\" while also placing a high priority on \"conserving natural resources such as land and water.\"

Africa's hunger - a systemic crisis
In essence Africa's hunger is the product of a series of interrelated factors. Africa is a vast continent, and no one factor can be applied to any particular country. But four issues are critical:
Decades of underinvestment in rural areas, which have little political clout.
Wars and political conflict, leading to refugees and instability.
HIV/Aids depriving families of their most productive labour.
Unchecked population growth.
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The result is that a continent that was more than self sufficient in food at independence 50 years ago, is now a massive food importer. The book The African Food Crisis says that in less than 40 years the sub-continent went from being a net exporter of basic food staples to relying on imports and food aid.

Arable land
In geography, arable land (from Latin arare, to plough) is an agricultural term, meaning land that can be used for growing crops.

Oh... der nächste Kriegsschauplatz im Forum...

moment, ich hole mal Chips und Popcorn.

manche Leute recherchieren echt gut.

Nebenbei bemerkt schreibt man Philantrop mit \"h\"= Philanthrop