However, these traditional methods have not been able to increase farm output rapidly enough to match either present population growth rates or increases in demand for agricultural products resulting from more rapid growth in per capita income. Fifth, poverty and particularly rural poverty as manifested by increasing food insecurity are a major problem in Africa. The poverty situation has been made worse by Structural Adjustment programmes that began in early 1980. Sixth, women play a central role in Africa's agriculture. Most food producers are women.
Women support children through subsistence farming and informal sector.
But they are a neglected group of farmers. The land tenure system and agricultural credit in many African countries favours men. These and other factors have adversely affected womens' contribution in agricultural productivity. Apart from little investment, African countries have made little attempt to integrate these infrastructures spatially. The list is long but these are the major factors.