In 2008, Africa¿s population, which is mostly rural, topped the 976 million mark. For the majority of
these inhabitants, agriculture is the main source of livelihood. The underperformance of this important
sector especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is borne by the facts that between 1990 and 1992, the
number of chronically undernourished people in SSA was 173 million. By 1997-1999, this number
increased to 250 million. In 2000, Africa spent USD 18.7 billion on food import. The desire to eliminate