Governmer:t. 's ability to purchase all the available feed surplus. In addition, seed and fertilizer were not available at the criti- 56 E/EC\/C~l. 9/5 cal r.lvmerJt in 1981, and ody 25 per cent of the tractor fleet of 280 \vas functiorJinq. The Gcverr;rnent has er..barked upor; a series of proqrammes to return aqriculturul prcducticn to the pre- independence level. Ir. Uqarxia, follu1inq the drastic decline in output cf the rna j cr export crcps, ac;ricul ture '-las qi ve r· hiqhest priority in the packaqe of reforms anr.ounced by the Gcverr:ment in June 1981. 91. In a larqe ~ajority of African develcpinq ccuntries, aqricul tural producti en has bee rJ hampered by the set ti r:o of offi­ cial prcducer prices at ur.remurerative levels. In some countries the producer prices of mcst aqricul tural e}:pcrts ha Vl: rerr.a i r.ed frozen or have barely ir.creaseC for a number of years, or have been revised only recently. In some others, the rise i r· producer prices has beer~ \'Jell belC\l the rate of inflation, aoo is there­ fore ur~ikely tc stir..ulate peasant productior, fer expert. F'arm­ lnq for food was larqely neqlecteo durino the cclor:ial period, and producer pricE~s fer foc.('l crops have beer raised £ar more slowly than these fer cash crops. In scme cases, unifcrr prices are prescribed fe-r all reoions without due reqard beir,q paid tc heavy tra nspcrt costs, althouqh sane ccur:tries are v:crkinq tc correct such ar.ornalies. Ir: Bots\·iana, for e>~amr-'le, a r..ajc.r policy initiative in 1981/82 v~as the financial restructurirq of the .bots ..... ·ana Aoricultural t·!arketinq Board. APe\: pricinq policy has been introduced wl1ich tal~es transpe;rt and distributicr, cc~ts intc accc,u nt in set ti r.q producer prices. This rtestructuri nq i~ expec­ ted to assist in creatinq incentives for increase(; aqricultural 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the challenges faced by agriculture in a country, specifically the lack of availability of feed, seed, and fertilizer, as well as the impact of government policies on agricultural production. It also mentions the need to increase agricultural production to pre-independence levels and the introduction of a new pricing policy to incentivize farmers.

**Category**
Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Economic development