Received: 2 July, 2007. Accepted: 18 October, 2007.

SUMMARY

Sub-Saharan Africa is trapped in a complex unsustainability spiral with demographic, biophysical, technical and socio-political dimensions. Unravelling the spiral is vital to perceive which policy actions are needed to reverse it and initiate sustainable pro-poor growth. The article presents an evolutionary, multi-agent modelling framework that marries a socio-ecological approach to a world system perspective and takes agriculture as the engine for sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa. A number of possibilities for empirical validation are proposed.

KEY WORDS

multi-agent systems, development, poverty trap, degradation, social capital, sub-Saharan Africa

CLASSIFICATION

JEL:	O13, O33, O55, Q20