Knowledge Portal

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. »

This report presents an updated geographic and demographic picture of the world’s mountain areas and assesses the vulnerability to food insecurity of mountain dwellers in developing countries. The report is a follow-up on FAO-report from 2003. »

This article is highlighting the way millions of African farmers, with their indigenous systems, adapt to climate change. 33 case studies released by the Oakland Institute demonstrate with facts and figures how an agricultural transformation respectful of the farmers and their environment can yield immense economic, social, and food security benefits while also fighting climate change and restoring soils and the environment. »

This expert opinion of Dominic Clover assesses to what extend India’s thriving seed sector can play a role in delivering affordable, high-quality seeds to African farmers. Clover argues that India shares some of the diverse agro-ecologies and crops found in Africa, so technologies and methods used by Indian farmers might also be relevant to African situations. India’s development story, as an emerging economy with millions of its own small-scale cultivators, might indeed provide relevant knowledge, expertise and investments to help develop the seed sector in Africa. »

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. »