Contents -- Abbreviations -- Acknowledgments -- Foreword -- Avant propos -- Prefácio -- Preface -- Préface -- Nota Preliminar -- Executive Summary -- Synthèse -- Resumo Executivo -- Management Response -- Réponse de la direction -- A Resposta da Administração -- Chairperson's Summary: Committee on Development Effectiveness (CODE) -- Rapport de synthèse du Président : Comité pour l'efficacité du développement (CODE) -- Resumo do Presidente:Comissão sobre a Eficácia do Desenvolvimento (COED) -- Evaluation Snapshot in Selected Languages -- 1 Introduction -- The Role of Agriculture in Africa -- Study Purpose -- Study Scope -- Methodology -- 2 African Agriculture and the Bank -- The Agriculture Sector in Africa -- The Aid Architecture for Agriculture in Africa -- The World Bank's Strategic Approach -- Main Constraints to Africa's Agricultural Development -- 3 Bank Support for Agriculture and Portfolio Performance -- Analytical Work -- Policy Advice -- Lending -- Overall Performance of Agriculture Projects -- 4 Key Factors of Performance -- Internal (Bank) Factors -- Country Factors -- 5 The Bank's Contribution-A Thematic Assessment -- Agro-Ecological Diversity -- Fluctuating Rainfall and Droughts -- Soil Fertility -- Credit and Rural Finance -- Transport Infrastructure -- Extension -- Land Reform -- Price and Marketing Reform -- 6 Findings and Recommendations -- Key Findings -- Recommendations -- Appendixes -- A: Methodology -- B: Categorization of Countries by Factor Endowments and Agriculture's Share of GDP -- C: Agro-Ecological Diversity, Production Systems, and Growth Rates of Food and Cash Crops -- D: The Bank Portfolio and Its Performance -- E: Lending to Agriculture from Bilateral and Multilateral Donors -- F: Bank Staff Survey Results -- G: Sector Staffing Analysis -- H: Selected Extension Approaches.

I: Cotton Sector Reforms: An Unfinished Story -- J: Marketing Reform -- K: Irrigation Data -- L: Cassava Transformation in Nigeria -- M: Preparation Costs and Risk Ratings for Agriculture Projects -- Endnotes -- References -- Box 2.1 Constraints to Development of Access to Credit and Rural Finance in Africa -- Box 3.1 Bank's Coding System and Inadequate Reflection of Important Agricultural Activities -- Box 4.1 Weak Political Commitment Has Been a Factor in Performance -- Box 4.2 The History and Challenges of National Research Capacity in Africa -- Box 5.1 Bank Support for Fadama Project I in Nigeria: Achievements Constrained by Lack of a Multifaceted Approach -- Box 5.2 Cassava: A Missed Opportunity for the Bank to Contribute to Food Security -- Box 5.3 New Uganda Extension System Improves Efficiency But Faces Challenges -- Box 5.4 Zimbabwe Pilot for Land Reform Fails to Take Off -- Box 5.5 Agricultural Market Reform in Africa: The Expectations -- Box 5.6 Negative Impacts of Policy Sequencing on Traditional Export Crop Sectors in Cameroon -- Figure 2.1 Changes in Cereal Production Produced by Changes in Area and Yield, 1961-2001 -- Figure 3.1 Sectoral Distribution of Investment Lending in Africa, Fiscal 1991-2006 -- Figure 3.2 Outcome and Sustainability Ratings -- Figure 3.3 Performance of Bank Projects with Greater than 50 Percent Agricultural Component -- Figure 5.1 Production of Maize and Cassava in Six Drought-Affected Countries of Southern Africa.