Report

This chapter “Innovative and inclusive finance for youth in agriculture”, was contributed by CTA as part of the 2015 Africa Agriculture Status Report. This chapter focused on analysing youth access to credit, savings, insurance or other forms of financing to promote their entrepreneurship drive. It starts with a brief review of the challenges preventing young agripreneurs from accessing needed finance. It went further to assess the current state of financing available to youth in agriculture, observing that financing youth in agriculture is already happening. Authors summarized their analyses and recommendations into five key points. »

This paper investigates, by means of scenario analyses, how reductions in food loss and waste in the European Union (EU) could influence prices in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – as a source and destination of traded agricultural and food products. Four 50 percent reduction scenarios are enacted, each focussing on a different type of food loss or waste. The analysis provides insights on potential impacts in terms of medium- to long-term global and local price changes in SSA and the mechanisms behind them (changes in production, consumption and trade patterns). »

This paper by IFAD looks at the role of agriculture in fostering inclusive and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa. It discusses how improving agricultural productivity, smallholder access to markets and expanding agribusiness opportunities can accelerate transformation, investment and industrialization. The paper presents key investment and policy elements to be considered and points to the centrality of smallholders for the rural transformation process to be inclusive. »

This report argues that the benefits of urban agriculture are important but may be overstated. The report examines the benefits and limitations of agriculture and provides an overview of the documented outcomes of urban agriculture so far. Urban agriculture’s most significant benefits center around its ability to increase social capital, community well-being, and civic engagement with the food system. However, special attention should be paid to ensure that residents have a voice in decision-making. »

This report argues that the global food system must transform to feed growing cities and that this transformation need to create opportunities for small-scale and especially female farmers. The growth of cities fuels an unprecedented demand for food, due to changing diets of people moving to cities, in combination with increase population growth, climate change. Feeding cities presents a major opportunity to improve the plight of millions of small-scale farmers and rural residents trapped in subsistence agriculture and joblessness. »

This report recommends a dietary shift from animal-based protein to more plant-based protein. People who consume high amounts of meat and dairy could significantly reduce the pressure on the environment from agriculture through shifting to diets with a greater share of plant-based foods. The overall recommendations are that dietary shifts are needed that: 1) reduce overconsumption of calories; 2) reduce overconsumption of protein through reducing consumption of animal-based foods; 3) reduce consumption of beef specifically. »