
Analysing the pathways to agricultural commercialisation in sub-Saharan Africa

ABOUT APRA
Which pathways to agricultural commercialisation are the most effective in empowering women, reducing rural poverty and improving food and nutrition security in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) is a six-year research programme of the Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) which aims to address this question through in-depth, interdisciplinary, comparative research across nine countries. Through this work, APRA is generating high-quality evidence and policy-relevant insights on more inclusive pathways to agricultural commercialisation.
With headquarters at the Institute of Development Studies, APRA will run from 2016 to 2022 with the generous support of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).
AREAS OF OPERATION

NEWS
The third and final APRA e-Dialogue: Transition pathways and strategies for supporting more equitable and resilient food systems in Africa
March 3, 2022Starting in October 2021 and running through 2022, the e-Dialogue series on agricultural commercialisation, agrarian change and rural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa has examined a range of topics including the emerging challenges and regional realities of smallholder transformation and COVID-19’s effects on food systems and rural livelihoods. Now, in the third and final event of this series, we turn our attention to transition pathways and strategies for supporting more equitable and resilient food systems in Africa. This last e-Dialogue, to be held on Wednesday 23 March 2022, will seek to move the focus of food system transformations from ‘what needs to happen’ to ‘how to make it happen’ to support more equitable and inclusive forms of food system transformation.
BLOG
How important is farm size to agricultural productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa?
December 1, 2022The finding that smallholder farms are more productive than medium- to large-scale farms has long been documented, and has led to smallholder-led agricultural and development strategies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, evidence for this assertion has been largely limited to data from farms operating 5ha and below. More recent evidence from Nigeria suggests that productivity varies widely within farms, regardless of farm size. This blog examines our recent study, utilizing data over a wider range of farm sizes over two years in Nigeria to further investigate how productivity relates to farm size.
Newsletter
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LATEST PUBLICATIONS
APRA Working Paper 95: Agricultural Technology, Food Security and Nutrition: Insight From Oil Palm Smallholders in Ghana
Country: Ghana
Regional Hubs
Future Agricultures has a diverse network of partners in Africa and worldwide, working together on research, communications and policy engagement.
CONTACT
DIRECTORATE/IDS
John Thompson, CEO: j.thompson@ids.ac.uk
Rachel Sabates-Wheeler, Research Director, UK: r.sabates-wheeler@ids.ac.uk
Oliver Burch, Programme Manager: o.burch@ids.ac.uk
Lesley White, Impact, Communications and Engagement Officer: l.white@ids.ac.uk
Amrita Saha, Post-doctoral Research Officer: a.saha@ids.ac.uk
EAST AFRICA REGIONAL HUB/CABE
Hannington Odame, Regional Coordinator: hsodame@gmail.com
SOUTHERN AFRICA REGIONAL HUB/PLAAS
Cyriaque Hakizimana, Regional Coordinator: chakizimana@plaas.org.za
Ruth Hall, Regional Coordinator: rhall@uwc.ac.za
WEST AFRICA REGIONAL HUB/UNIV OF GHANA
Joseph Yaro, Regional Coordinator: yarojoe@yahoo.com