The slow adoption of new agricultural technologies is an important factor in explaining persistent productivity deficits among smallholders in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Farmers delay in particular the uptake of technology packages. Since knowledge constraints are an important barrier to adoption, effective extension approaches are key. In recent decades, extension systems in many SSA countries have moved towards decentralized “bottom-up” models involving farmers as active stakeholders.
The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have serious health and economic ramifications in Africa. This paper presents a technical position on demand and supply shocks associated with the COVID19 pandemic within the African context. We document the disruptions associated with containment measures implemented by various governments and their implications on labour mobility, import and export of food commodities, production and productivity of major staples and prices of food items.
This paper documents wages and working conditions for landless female and male agricultural labourers in Morocco. We found that higher-paid equipment-intensive tasks were predominantly assigned to men whereas women often performed lower-paid, time-intensive tasks. Women were systematically paid less than men even when they performed the same tasks. Enforcing existing legislation in Morocco to ensure equal pay for women is an essential first step towards enabling women to benefit equitably with men from their agricultural labour contributions.