A seminar on African economic and social development will take place in Dar es Salaam today.

Participants in the event will also explore the position of Africa in the world agricultural trade.

According to a report, Africa whose agricultural produce accounted for 5.4 per cent of trade in agricultural products in the world in 1980s declined to 3.2 per cent in 2006.

However, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) hopes that the increasing food shortages globally following the surging demand for food crops to produce biofuels will prompt Africa to raise food production.

"The crisis of higher food prices could be turned to Africa's advantage with agriculture finally becoming a business," says the OECD Development Centre report.

However, agriculture in Africa is mainly subsistent and its productivity is stagnating.

The African Development Bank (AfDB), OECD and the Italian Embassy in Dar es Salaam will organise the seminar which will be premised on two reports - the African Economic Outlook 2008, and the Business for Development 2008: Promoting Commercial Agriculture in Africa.

The Italian ambassador to Tanzania, Francesco Catania; the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Mr Peniel Lyimo; AfDB resident representative Sipho Moyo; and OECD's Dr Kiichiro Fukasaka are among dignitaries who will take part in the event.