Evidence on Key Policies for African Agricultural Growth

Evidence on Key Policies for African Agricultural Growth PDF Author: Xinshen Diao
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Book Description
It is widely agreed that reducing poverty in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) depends largely on stimulating growth in agriculture. To this end, heads of state in Africa rallied to form the pan-African Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) with the goal of raising investments and improving strategy implementation. However, while implementing an agricultural agenda under the CAADP framework, more and more countries have realized that increasing public investment in agriculture alone is not enough. Policy can play an important role not only to make public investment more efficient, but also is crucial for incentivizing private sector and farmer investment in agriculture. Against this backdrop this paper takes stock of current agricultural policies in SSA with a view to identifying policies that are working as well as areas for improvement. The paper examines policies to encourage the adoption of agricultural inputs, initiate greater private-sector investment in agriculture and agro-industries, and manage price volatility while encouraging openness. The paper further reviews successful land tenure policies and property rights systems, reviews the evidence on the synergies between agriculture and nutrition, and examines how CAADP is laying the institutional architecture for improved policy formulation in Africa. In general, the paper finds that although substantial progress has been made, there is considerable scope for improvement. This is not surprising given the relatively primitive and deeply rooted nature of smallholder farming in Africa. Evidence synthesized in the paper supports the view that most policies cannot be implemented in isolation. Rather, policies tend to be most effective when implemented along with complementary policies and public investments.

Evidence on Key Policies for African Agricultural Growth

Evidence on Key Policies for African Agricultural Growth PDF Author: Xinshen Diao
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 84

Get Book

Book Description
It is widely agreed that reducing poverty in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) depends largely on stimulating growth in agriculture. To this end, heads of state in Africa rallied to form the pan-African Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) with the goal of raising investments and improving strategy implementation. However, while implementing an agricultural agenda under the CAADP framework, more and more countries have realized that increasing public investment in agriculture alone is not enough. Policy can play an important role not only to make public investment more efficient, but also is crucial for incentivizing private sector and farmer investment in agriculture. Against this backdrop this paper takes stock of current agricultural policies in SSA with a view to identifying policies that are working as well as areas for improvement. The paper examines policies to encourage the adoption of agricultural inputs, initiate greater private-sector investment in agriculture and agro-industries, and manage price volatility while encouraging openness. The paper further reviews successful land tenure policies and property rights systems, reviews the evidence on the synergies between agriculture and nutrition, and examines how CAADP is laying the institutional architecture for improved policy formulation in Africa. In general, the paper finds that although substantial progress has been made, there is considerable scope for improvement. This is not surprising given the relatively primitive and deeply rooted nature of smallholder farming in Africa. Evidence synthesized in the paper supports the view that most policies cannot be implemented in isolation. Rather, policies tend to be most effective when implemented along with complementary policies and public investments.

Successes in African Agriculture

Successes in African Agriculture PDF Author: Haggblade, Steven
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 0801895030
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
Sub—Saharan Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. Because most Africans work in agriculture, escaping such dire poverty depends on increased agricultural productivity to raise rural incomes, lower food prices, and stimulate growth in other economic sectors. Per capita agricultural production in sub—Saharan Africa has fallen, however, for much of the past half—century. Successes in African Agriculture investigates how to reverse this decline. Instead of cataloging failures, as many past studies have done, this book identifies episodes of successful agricultural growth in Africa and identifies processes, practices, and policies for accelerated growth in the future. The individual studies follow developments in, among other areas, the farming of maize in East and Southern Africa, cassava across the middle belt of Africa, cotton in West Africa, horticulture in Kenya, and dairying in East Africa. Drawing on these case studies and on consultations with agricultural specialists and politicians from across sub—Saharan Africa -- undertaken in collaboration with the African Union's New Partnership for Africa's Development -- the contributors identify two key determinants of positive agricultural performance: agricultural research to provide more productive and sustainable technologies to farmers and a policy framework that fosters market incentives for increasing production. The contributors discuss how the public and private sectors can best coordinate the convergence of both factors. Given current concerns about global food security, this book provides timely and important resources to policymakers and development specialists concerned with reversing the negative trends in food insecurity and poverty in Africa.

African Farmers, Value Chains and Agricultural Development

African Farmers, Value Chains and Agricultural Development PDF Author: Alan de Brauw
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303088693X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
This book provides a thorough introduction to and examination of agricultural value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa. First, the authors introduce the economic theory of agri-food value chains and value chain governance, focusing on domestic and regional trade in (and consumption of) food crops in a low-income country context. In addition to mainstream and heterodox thinking about value chain development, the book pays attention to political economy considerations. The book also reviews the empirical evidence on value chain development and performance in Africa. It adopts multiple lenses to examine agricultural value chains, zooming out from the micro level (e.g., relational contracting in a context of market imperfections) to the meso level (e.g., distributional implications of various value chain interventions, inclusion of specific social groups) and the macro level (underlying income, population and urbanization trends, volumes and prices, etc.).Furthermore, this book places value chain development in the context of a process the authors refer to as structural transformation 2.0, which refers to a process where production factors (labor, land and capital) move from low-productivity agriculture to high-productivity agriculture. Finally, throughout the book the authors interpret the evidence in light of three important debates: (i) how competitive are rural factor and product markets, and what does this imply for distribution and innovation? (ii) what role do foreign investment and factor proportions play in the development of agri-food value chains in Africa? (iii) what complementary government policies can help facilitate a process of agricultural value chain transformation, towards high-productive activities and enhancing the capacity of value chains to generate employment opportunities and food security for a growing population.

Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme

Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme PDF Author: New Partnership for Africa's Development
Publisher: Nepad
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description


Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support Systems for Agriculture and Rural Development in Africa

Strategic Analysis and Knowledge Support Systems for Agriculture and Rural Development in Africa PDF Author: Michael Johnson
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 0896297845
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description


Re-establishing Agriculture as a Priority for Development Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Re-establishing Agriculture as a Priority for Development Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: Awudu Abdulai
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 9780896293335
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
Prerequisites and priorities for sustainable economic development. The impact of changing export sector incomes on local rurl economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Macroeconomic policies and the contribution of agriculture to regional economic development. The Uruguay round agreement on agriculture and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Role of Agriculture in Development

The Role of Agriculture in Development PDF Author: Xinshen Diao
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 0896291618
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 74

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Book Description
Changes in the global environment have led some to question whether the conventional wisdom on the role of agriculture in economic development is still relevant to Africa today. This report critically examines the literature on this issue, taking both the conventional and skeptical views into account. It complements this review with case studies of five African countries. The findings indicate that agricultural growth will play an essential role in promoting overall economic growth and reducing poverty in most of Africa's agrarian-based economies. This holds true even for countries that have the potential for industrial growth driven by natural resources. The results also show that only smallholder food-staple and livestock production can generate broadbased agricultural growth. By demonstrating that Africa's agricultural and food subsector cannot be bypassed, this report contributes to an important ongoing debate in development studies.

African Economic Development

African Economic Development PDF Author: Christopher Cramer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198832338
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
"This book challenges conventional wisdoms about economic performance and possible policies for economic development in African countries. Its starting point is the striking variation in African economic performance. Unevenness and inequalities form a central fact of African economic experiences. The authors highlight not only differences between countries, but also variations within countries, differences often organized around distinctions of gender, class, and ethnic identity. For example, neo-natal mortality and school dropout have been reduced, particularly for some classes of women in some areas of Africa. Horticultural and agribusiness exports have grown far more rapidly in some countries than in others. These variations (and many others) point to opportunities for changing performance, reducing inequalities, learning from other policy experiences, and escaping the ties of structure, and the legacies of a colonial past. The book rejects teleological illusions and Eurocentric prejudice, but it does pay close attention to the results of policy in more industrialized parts of the world. Seeing the contradictions of capitalism for what they are - fundamental and enduring - may help policy officials protect themselves against the misleading idea that development can be expected to be a smooth, linear process, or that it would be were certain impediments suddenly removed. The authors criticize a wide range of orthodox and heterodox economists, especially for their cavalier attitude to evidence. Drawing on their own decades of research and policy experience, they combine careful use of available evidence from a range of African countries with political economy insights (mainly derived from Kalecki, Kaldor and Hischman) to make the policy case for specific types of public sector investment"--

Food Security and Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

Food Security and Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa PDF Author: Weldeghaber Kidane
Publisher: FAO
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description
"This publication contains the main report of a study championing the case for increased public support to agricultural and food security in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It advances four main reasons why agriculture in SSA deserves more public support. The first is a moral imperative: SSA governments cannot and should not ignore a sector on which about 70 percent of their population directly depend for their livelihoods if they are serious about their commitment to MDG1. Second, in spite of its generally poor performance, SSA countries do not have any realistic strategic option that they can rely upon for achieving sustainable economic development other than agriculture. Third, there is evidence from a number of SSA countries that appropriate policies and direct public sector investment have combined to trigger agriculture sector-led economic growth. This publication argues for countries to build on their success stories and for others to explore such opportunities, taking into account their specific environmental, economic and social conditions. Fourth, on average, agriculture in SSA has generally performed better than most other sectors, except in countries endowed with mineral resources."--Publisher's description.

Africa's Changing Agricultural Development Strategies

Africa's Changing Agricultural Development Strategies PDF Author: Christopher L. Delgado
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 0896296105
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 28

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Book Description
Similarities and dominant paradigms; Chronology and elements of the dominant paradigms of agricultural development; Insights for paradigms of African Agricultural Development.