Africa

This ICRISAT study aimed to revisit this issue of gender and commercialization of crops. They developed a ‘women’s crop tool’ that measures how much control women have over different crops. This tool was used to compare women’s perceived level of control at different stages of commercialization and to compare the perceptions of men and women regarding women’s control. »

This book presents a study that identifies indicators that farmers use to prioritize agricultural innovations, in general and climate-smart agriculture (CSA) in particular. The study was held in Kilolo and Mbarali Districts in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania. Using a participatory approach, the study finds that yield, income, cost, labour, availability of inputs and equipment, time, and knowledge are important indicators for farmers to prioritize agricultural practices that they implement. »

In preparation for a side-event on the African Development Bank (ADB) annual meetings, the INCLUDE Platform launched a series of one pagers on Africa’s agricultural transformation and how it can be made inclusive for women and youth. This one pager introduces the concepts of agricultural transformation and agribusiness and identifies the key challenges in making both inclusive. The series of one pagers assess how an inclusiveness lens can best be applied. It does so in the form of four briefs on the most pressing issues of inclusive agribusiness. »

This article gives a nuanced analysis of changing gender roles in the commercialization of “women’s crops”. The authors explore the relationship between commercialization and gender for groundnuts in Eastern Province, Zambia, using a mixed methods approach. Women saw themselves as having greater control over groundnuts than other crops, and both sexes saw groundnuts as controlled by women. »

This paper in the World Development Journal, introduces a Special Section on Chinese and Brazilian engagements in African agriculture. The paper asks if a new paradigm for development cooperation is emerging, and argues that we must move beyond the simplistic narratives of either “South–South” collaboration or “neo-imperial” expansion of “rising powers” to look at the dynamic and contested politics of engagement, as new forms of capital and technology enter African contexts. »

This report from the Oakland Institute exposes how a coalition of four donor countries and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is shaping a pro-business environment in the agricultural sector of developing countries, especially in Africa. The report focuses on the Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) project, implemented by the World Bank. »