Knowledge Portal

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. »

Youth and young people are becoming a hot topic among development donors and actors. But who exactly do these “labels” apply to, and are they too broad for effective policies? Or do they create too narrow a focus which is blind to larger structural issues? »

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 guide by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has been developed to help enterprises observe existing standards for responsible business conduct along agricultural supply chains. These standards include the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems, and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security. »

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. »

This report by Root Capital explains how a blend of capital can help build resilience against a dwindling supply and rising demand in commodities such as coffee, cacao, and tea. The report states that investment in agriculture—perhaps more than any other sector—has the potential to bring about unprecedented change today and into the future, from food security and nutrition to environmental sustainability and economic growth. »