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ECONOMY April 13-18 2022 Weekly Digest 13

development component like the EU Common Ag-
ricultural Policy (CAP) program and a component of
conservation and environmental management. Af-
rican environments are already vulnerable, and de-
graded with poor soil health, high rates of deforesta-
tion, poor watershed management amongst others,
therefore, halting environmental degradation is also
critical in the success of agricultural production. The
rural development component would help to address
other challenges such as market and infrastructural
development such as roads, and storage facilities.
A compelling case
The continuous failure of African smallholder farm-
ers to increase productivity to meet their own and
the region’s food demands, even with all the inter-
ventions that continue to be implemented across the
region, suggest that more assistance is needed.
If any improvements are to be made, it may be time
for governments and policy makers to consider the
introduction and or re-introduction of agricultural
subsidies in this region, borrowing valuable lessons
from other countries such as the EU, USA, China and
India, that have successful subsidy programs in place.
The new subsidy programs could incorporate not just
inputs, but mechanization, irrigation, and rural devel-
opment, all of which are lacking in the African small-
holder sector. Hence, there is a compelling case for
agricultural subsidies, as these subsidies could be the
bridging gap that take smallholder farming to more

profitable, and viable levels of production required to
meet the regions food needs and their own.
— Africanthinker

Talent Ndabenhle Ndlovu is a qualified Agricultur-

al Economist. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Agri-
cultural Economics from the University of Zimbabwe
(2005) and Master’s degree in Agricultural Science
specializing in Agricultural Economics from the Uni-
versity of Pretoria (2016). Her main work experience
is in research analysis. Her work has covered a wide
variety of agricultural issues including land reform,
agricultural development, climate change, agricul-
tural marketing, and natural resources management.
She has contributed to national review reports, arti-
cles, conference presentations, and book chapters.
Beyond research, Ms. Ndlovu’s work has also covered
banking, microfinance, business analysis, and man-

agement.