Africa

This working paper sought to identify ways in which smallholder agricultural finance inclusion in Zambia can be deepened. There are a number of notable gaps that could foster increased finance flows, like the absence of a credit registry that includes the unbanked. One recommendation to deepen smallholder agricultural finance inclusion is to embrace technology that will reduce cost of financial service delivery. »

This article aims to asses to what extent information and communicative mechanisms of digital platforms facilitate trust building for value chain credit cooperation in smallholder maize farming in Ghana. Digital Platforms (DPs) show potential to help overcome some information and communication gaps that impede traditional value chain credit arrangements. »

These six papers in a special issue of Climate Risk Management presents innovations, insights and evidence from efforts to make climate services work for smallholder farmers in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Identifying the intended users and understanding how their identities, roles and responsibilities within larger agrarian communities to which they belong impact their climate service needs and ability to act on the information provided. »

This policy brief analyses the potential of agribusiness to address youth unemployment in Kenya and calls for increased collaboration between agribusiness owners, government and educationalists through entrepreneurship development. Entrepreneurship education and training is vital in preparing young people for the job opportunities that could be available to them and for the evolving nature of the agricultural sector. »

This article assesses to what extent positive selection over several seasons can reduce six different virus incidences in seed lots of different starting quality in Southwestern Uganda. The results clearly show that crops planted with seeds from positive selection have a reduced virus incidence compared to those from farmers’ selection when the treatments are applied over multiple (in this case, three) seasons, thereby reducing the level of secondary infection in the next-season crop. »

This study explores the role of rural women in the production of indigenous vegetables in Rwanda, especially in view of the preponderance of, and the consumer preference for, modern exotic vegetables in the country’s recent history. Furthermore, the study probes into the nutritional and economic importance of indigenous vegetables in Rwanda, with emphasis on how rural women stand to expand their earning power by upgrading their indigenous vegetable production capacity. »