Knowledge Portal

This report stresses that the world’s livestock diversity remains at risk and that institutional frameworks for the management of animal genetic resources needs to be improved. Some of its key findings are that livestock diversity is important to improve the adaptation capabilities and resilience of production systems to future climate challenges; that roles and values of genetic resources remain diverse, especially in poor people’s livelihoods; and that the impact of livestock-sector trends are increasingly impacting the animal genetic resources. »

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 working paper scrutinizes to what extend agricultural development interventions have had a sustainable impact on the poorest rural households. The paper argues that conventional agronomic interventions, focused on raising land productivity through intensification often exclude the poorest households. The authors describe five factors that play a key role in allowing the rural poor to escape poverty. »

Starting from recently published articles and new research this book presents a structured approach, which offers opportunities and challenges for local and regional food systems, that we see re-emerging globally. Based on a new classification of local food systems the book goes into adequate governance structures. This is demonstrated by a number of examples chosen from all over the world. »

This article in the Financial Times elaborates on the impact of extreme weather on food prices and on the reasons for the declining global food prices despite climate concerns and the impacts of El Niño. International food prices, including sugar and dairy, have been falling for the past four years, with only one exceptional spike in October, particularly for sugar. The sudden spike in sugar prices illustrated the economic impact of the unusual weather events triggered by El Niño, which is expected to further disrupt commodity prices in 2016. »