Africa

This study in the Journal of Culture, Society and Development aimed at highlighting age, gender participation and the role of literacy in small scale farming among the trained youth in Kiambu County, Kenya. »

This report by PROIntenseAfrica discusses the role of improved farm power and mechanization, seed priming, improved soil fertility (microdosing) and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices in the intensification of agricultural production in Mali and Sudan. Capacity building, awareness creation through farmers training and access to credits are crucial for the adoption and sustainable use of agricultural technologies in Mali and Sudan. Given the very high loss due to pest damage, intensification of crop production without an adequate protection from pest damage is not economically viable. »

This report by PROIntenseAfrica provides advice on and prospects of the sustainable intensification of the value chains of different fruits and vegetables in Ethiopia and the potential impacts on the various stakeholders. There is growing recognition of the emergence of a “triple burden” of malnutrition with hunger, overconsumption, and micronutrient deficiency (“hidden hunger”) occurring simultaneously among low-income countries. »

This policy note explores key findings from a farm-level analysis of smallholders’ crop choice under different policy and risk scenarios. Smallholder farmers planting decisions are examined for five major crops – maize, tobacco, common bean, groundnut, and soyabean – using a farm-level risk model. The policy scenarios include: (a) reducing the volatility of farm gate soyabean prices by 25 percent; and (b) introducing a loan package for soyabean inputs. These simulations were conducted both without and in the presence of a loan package for tobacco inputs. »

In this blog, Grace Mwaura questions the nature of livelihood opportunities that young people are being encouraged to pursue and their implications for the future. She highlights three key issues around the narrative of enticing young people into agriculture: the ecological footprint, the markets, and the policy incentives. »

This publication assesses how to improve agricultural value chains, particularly value chains that include smallholders. Despite increasing use of innovation-system and value-chain approaches to promote rural income growth, poverty reduction, and greater gender equity, there is little systematic knowledge about how to operationalize value-chain approaches in different contexts and how best to evaluate innovation and value-chain development. This book consists of 14 papers that present results of recent work associated with CGIAR and its partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. »