Rapport This is Africa : Smallholder value chains

As smallholder farmers provide the bulk of food produced in developing countries — up to 80 percent in sub- Saharan Africa — and agriculture employs the majority of the labour force, real transformation in the sector will not happen without the integration of smallholders into markets. Farming must be transformed from a largely subsistence activity to one that is run as a business and generates enough income that smallholders can improve their livelihoods and make a greater contribution to the national economy. For the poorest people, GDP growth originating from agriculture is about four times more effective at raising incomes than growth outside the sector.