African Nations Boost Farm Output, Report Says

Africa, although still struggling to overcome failures in agriculture, has made some strides in the past year in increasing its farm output, according to a report released Saturday.

The report, contained in a yearbook published by the World Resources Institute and the International Institute for Environment and Development, said notable success in raising farm output has been attained in Tanzania, Mauritania, Zaire and Guinea.

But, it said, “the most dramatic transformation in African agriculture has occurred among Zimbabwe’s black farmers” since independence in 1980.

“An increasing number of countries have begun to implement policies to raise producer prices--often resulting in a swift response in increased output,” the groups said in the yearbook called “World Resources 1987,” an annual compilation of statistics on health, energy, food, water and other topics.

The World Resources Institute is a Washington-based environmental research organization and receives support from both environmental and business groups. The International Institute for Environment and Development is based in Washington, London and Buenos Aires and advocates protection of natural resources in economic development.

Under the former regime in Zimbabwe, according to the yearbook, “white farmers got preferential prices for their maize (corn), and preferential access to credit and extension advice.”

White farmers got yields of 80 to 96 bushels per acre--on a par with Canada--and black communal farmers got 10 to 11 bushels per acre.

Loans to Blacks Rose

Under the new Zimbabwe regime, fertilizer, high-yielding seed and seed dressings were made available in promising areas, at loans of about $61 per acre for which crop proceeds were pledged.

Loans by the Agricultural Finance Corp. to black farmers increased from 4,400 in 1979 to 96,000 in 1985. Prices were raised, increasing 57% by 1981, the year after independence.