Knowledge Portal

This report aims to provide insights into the possible futures, challenges and opportunities facing the food and agriculture systems. Three alternative scenarios are presented, depicting alternative pathways in the period leading up to 2050. The three scenarios “Individual, fossil fuel-driven growth”, “citizen-driven, sustainable growth” and “fast, globally-driven growth” differ in the amount of co-operation between countries; the focus on economic, environmental or social issues; and technological developments in different domains. »

This report from CTA demonstrates how young agro-entrepreneurs across the developing world are tackling some of the value chain’s most substantial challenges through using information communication technologies (ICT). The authors argue that when it comes to building a more efficient and equitable value chain, the potential impact of ICTs is more than incremental; it is catalytic. One reason for this is that through having better access to information, farmers can save time and faster access the information they need to support their work. »

Is agriculture the sector of opportunity for youth in sub-Saharan Africa? That was the question that was asked as part of a debate for the Mastercard Young Africa Works Summit in November 2015. Dr. Nteranya Sanginga – Director General International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Jim Sumberg from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), highlighted the pro’s and cons of this debate. Jim Sumberg presented four reasons to be cautious. »

In this article the authors argue a re-conceptualization of the concept of adoption of technology is needed. The notion of adoption is central to efforts to measure technological change in African agriculture, and plays an important role in the evaluation of return on investment in agricultural research and technology development. However, the adoption concept, as it is commonly used in both the literature and development research practice, is seriously flawed and leads to inaccurate and misleading conclusions.
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This article examines the existing challenges and opportunities of small scale dairy production in Ethiopia. The importance of dairy livestock as a source of livelihood for pastoralists in eastern Ethiopia cannot be overstated. »

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) have partnered to address youth- and gender-inclusive value chain development. This working paper provides a basis for SNV-KIT collaboration on gender and youth inclusive value chain development as well as offering inspiration and food for thought to others engaging on these issues. The paper looks at the changing ‘who’ in agriculture and challenges related to inclusive agricultural value chain development. »