Independence for Africa has not resulted in the expected economic development of industrialization. Mineral-poor states in Africa must rely on limited prosperity coming from an expansion of agricultural commodities. The problem is that despite the prevalence of an agriculture economic base, most African leaders are committed to industrial development. The foundations of this antipathy of Africa's educated leadership and masses toward agriculture can be traced back to the period of colonialism when imperial interest created fluctuating monoculture states, status problems, agricultural coercion without incentives emphasizing authoritarian rules and orders, and disastrous agricultural experimentation. Migration to urban center and influences by the European boarding school system alienated Africans physically as well as psychologically from agriculture. Independence, then, exposed a dilemma in Africa between a passion for education and a reluctance to acknowledge the critical role of agriculture. Suggested strategies for improving attitudes toward agriculture include reorientation and political risks on the part of leaders, imaginative programs, encouragement of local participation in decision making, provision of economic incentives, possible land consolidation, creation of agricultural programs in all levels of education, and development of community schools. (Author/SJM)