THE LOW INPUT FARMING SECTOR IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: LESSONS AND EXPERIENCES / DIE LAE-INSET BOERDERYSEKTOR IN AFRIKA SUID VAN DIE SAHARA: LESSE EN ONDERVINDINGS

The small-scale farming sector continues to battle with the daunting task of moving from the “subsistence syndrome” to the “plane of entrepreneurship”. This paper provides a review of some of the attributed factors which continue to affect the performance of the sector. Suggestions about ways to improve efficiency and to beautify the landscape of the small-scale farming sector are also made. One of the suggestions that runs through the paper is the need for the various governments of Sub-Saharan Africa to overhaul and review their agricultural policy to make it more relevant to the needs and aspirations of the small-scale farmers who constitute about 60 per cent to 70 per cent of the farming sector.