Academic article

The analysis in this article uncovers the drivers for the variation in household food availability in sub-Saharan Africa. It suggest that targeting poverty through improving market access and off-farm opportunities is a better strategy to increase food security than focusing on agricultural production and closing the yield gaps. The analysis builds on data from 93 sites in 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, across contrasting agro-ecologies and calculated a simple indicator of food availability. »

This article provides an overview and analysis of youth employment in Sub-Saharan Africa. While many refer to the youth employment problem as the ‘youth unemployment problem’, unemployment is not high in low-income sub-Saharan Africa (3%) or in middle-income countries outside of Southern Africa. Since jobs remain elusive in the formal wage sector, youth have found innovative ways to express and exploit their talents and capabilities in the agriculture and household enterprises (informal sector). »

This article examines the willingness-to-pay of consumers on small island states for locally produced and organic food products. To attain food security, successful production in agriculture is key. The authors argue that to this end, strategies are needed that tackle agricultural development through the production and consumption of sustainable food products. »

This article in the Agronomy for Sustainable Development Journal review knowledge on urban versus conventional agriculture. Urban agriculture appears to be a means to combat the environmental pressure of increasing urbanization and food demand. However, there is hitherto limited knowledge of the efficiency and scaling up of practices of urban farming. The authors review the claims on urban agriculture’s comparative performance relative to conventional food production. »

In attempting to achieve household food security for smallholder farmers, synergies and tradeoffs exist between cash cropping, food cropping and food security. Available evidence on the impact of cash cropping on food security shows mixed results. The objective of this paper was to assess the impact of export horticulture farming on food security of smallholder farmers in Kenya in two provinces in different agro-ecological zones with different resource and infrastructural endowments, crop growing and marketing conditions. »

This article provides a macroeconomics analysis of the youth employment problem in the low and lower middle income countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While concerns about youth employment are often voiced, the discussions tends to lack context due to the absence of labor market data and analysis. This article tries to reduce this gap through analyzing macroeconomic changes and indicators in SSA. »