The World development report 2010: development and climate change highlights the link between biotechnology, development, and environment. Aside from recognizing biotechnology's potential to improve crop productivity, increase crop adaptation to climatic stresses such as drought, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, the report emphasizes the need to establish science-based regulatory systems 'so that risks and benefits can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, comparing the potential risks with alternative technologies' (World Bank 2010).
Following the food price crisis in 2008, African governments implemented policies aiming at crowding in investment in rice value chain upgrading to help domestic rice compete with imports. This study assess the state of rice value chain upgrading in West Africa by reviewing evidence on rice millers’ investment in semi-industrial and industrial milling technologies, contract farming and vertical integration during the post-crisis period 2009–2019. We find that upgrading is more dynamic in countries with high rice production and import bills and limited comparative advantage in demand.
We assess a new method for assessing AC at a sectoral level and operationalize AC measurement based on an SLA to assess the ability of the European agricultural sector to adapt to extreme droughts.
This policy brief reports on a recent study, implemented by RUAF Foundation and supported by the Food & Business Knowledge Platform (F&BKP) and the CGIAR Water, Land and Ecosystems Research Program (WLE/ IWMI), on the role of the private sector in building more sustainable and resilient city region food systems
This thematic note discusses the role of innovation brokers in bridging communication gaps between various actors of innovation systems. On the basis of recent experience in the Netherlands, it outlines the success of brokers in finding solutions adapted to the needs of farmers and industry, and thus their positive impact on innovation adoption. This section also examines some issues on how brokers function, particularly with regard to balancing interests, funding their activities, and the role of government.
This report provides a short summary of the recent history of the seed industry. Although the informal seed system still accounts for an estimated 85 percent of planted seed, the formal sector has been transformed in 20 years from control by a monopoly parastatal to competition among 23 registered companies, with at least 5 or 6 being serious players. Significantly, the relief seed industry that dominated and distorted the formal seed trade during the Northern Uganda conflict has withered away, leaving room for a sustainable, market-driven seed industry to develop.
This document examines the macroeconomic and sectoral context and the trends and outlook for crops, livestock, fisheries, forests and rural well-being, as well as the public policies and institutional framework for these sectors. Based on an analysis of the trends and prospects, each chapter offers a series of recommendations for the consideration of decision-makers, in an effort to help address the challenges posed by the global economic dynamics and to take advantage of opportunities.
The Nile Story is one of immense challenges and remarkable achievements for the economic development of the region. It begins in 1999, when the ministers in charge of water affairs in the Nile countries agreed to form the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). Between 2003 and 2015, the Nile Basin Trust Fund (NBTF) supported and coordinated cooperative work in the region, which has been delivered mainly through the NBI.
Over the last 20 years, poor rural farmers in Nigeria have seen the benefits of community organization as a tool for local economic development under the National Fadama Development Project series. They have witnessed improvements in rural areas that have embraced a more inclusive and participatory model of local economic decision making. Many communities have come together under the umbrella of new institutional arrangements for addressing local issues. These arrangements have visibly improved economic conditions, boosted agricultural incomes, and helped reduce rural poverty.
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve this Africa has to define agriculture as a force in economic growth by: advancing scientific and technological research; investing in infrastructure; fostering higher technical training; and creating regional markets.