Understanding Economic Transformation in Africa Through Country Studies

Abstract

Economic transformation typically entails changes in the structure of output and the movement of labor from rural to urban areas as the significance of agriculture declines. In most rich countries, this process is accompanied by industrialization. Little is known about this process in Africa at least in part because of a lack of reliable data. To bridge this gap in knowledge, each of the six Africa based country strategy support programs of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) commissioned papers on economic transformation in Africa. The countries studied are Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda. In May 2011, IFPRI together with Ghana's Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) hosted a conference in Accra in May 2011 where the papers were presented and discussed. These papers are published in this volume and this note provides an introduction to these papers.