This massive publication in two volumes presents a total of 137 contributions made to a conference in Tanzania in 2007, which brought together a large, international group of scientists to discuss agricultural innovations that might lead to an African “Green Revolution”. The presentations have been organised according to four sections:
1. Constraints and opportunities for the African Green Revolution (11 papers).
2. Potential and feasibility of use of external input and improved soil and crop management to achieve the African Green Revolution (74 papers).
3. Limitations to access and adoption of innovations by poor farmers (27 papers).
4. Innovation approaches and their scaling up/out in Africa (25 papers).
Almost half the number of papers deals with aspects of soil fertility and crop nutrition, often emphasizing integrated methods that combine mineral fertilisers with applications of organic materials, crop rotations and/or intercropping. Much less attention is paid to the crucial aspects of land and water management/conservation and soil health. Only a few papers deal with the socio-economic and policy issues/environments that are widely known to be most constraining to African agricultural development. Some attention is paid to market access and extension/rural communication, yet the roles, needs and views of family (smallholder) farming, supposedly the major target group, are largely missing. The overall emphasis is quite strongly on external inputs (seeds and mineral fertilisers) and external assessments by (research) experts, while the views of the major actors concerned, i.e. smallholder farmers, remain seriously underexposed. It is rather unfortunate that following an avalanche of information and a barrage of ‘silver bullet’ innovations, the book finishes abruptly with a contribution on agroforestry. Instead, one would have liked to see a coherent synthesis and critical analysis about how Africa's huge agricultural potential is to be exploited effectively and sustainably in the future, and this above all to the benefit of local communities. A final concern is whether or not the high price of the book (€349) will make it rather inaccessible for African scientists and certainly students.
