News
Timely news and information about agricultural research in Africa. Collected from a variety of sources, we are also happy to accept your suggestions for relevant research to include.
Latest articles
What we have done so far: some key findings
March 3, 2010 / News The importance of politics and policy processes in making policies and plans real on the ground and a framework for thinking about the political economy of agricultural policy. Insights drawn from our comparative studies in FAC’s focal countries fed into
Direction, Distribution, Diversity Three Key Concepts
February 2, 2010 / News Despite their depth and breadth, established political and economic understandings tend to take a somewhat circumscribed view of innovation and development alike. Amidst the many rich subtleties, there tends to be an emphasis on what might be called the ‘scalar’
Some New Ideas about Research for Development
February 2, 2010 / News By Erik Arnold, Technopolis, UKMartin Bell, SPRU-ScienceTechnology Policy Research, UK This is a background paper, provided to the Commission on Development Related Research in Denmark. Its purpose is to inform the Commission about current thinking relevant to the funding of
Can Ethiopia Realise a Better Agriculture in its ‘Third Millennium’? The Role and Dilemma of Farm Prices
January 25, 2010 / News Ethiopia celebrated the start of its third millennium on 11th of September 2007. This seems an appropriate moment to take stock of the state of smallholder agriculture - the sector in which over 80% of the population derives their livelihood,
Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture: Beyond the Hype? November 2007
January 25, 2010 / News There has been much hype about the prospects of ‘sustainable agriculture’, but little rigour on exactly what we mean by a sustainable agricultural system. Work by Jules Pretty and colleagues has attempted to assess the range of experiences, but the
Seasonality: four seasons, four solutions?
January 25, 2010 / News What is seasonality and why does it matter?Seasonality has long been recognised as a major determinant of poverty, food insecurity and hunger in tropical countries. Agricultural seasonality arises from the peculiar feature of farming in the tropics: that farmers harvest
To subsidise or not to subsidise? Debating the effectiveness of state subsidies for fertiliser in Malawi.
January 25, 2010 / News The Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) recently published an in depth evaluation of the 2006-07 Malawian government subsidy programme for fertilisers. The evaluation, by Andrew Dorward (FAC and University of London) and Ephraim Chirwa (FAC and University of Malawi), assesses the
Fiddling in Rome While the World Burns?
January 25, 2010 / News FAC member John Thompson reflects on the 2008 World Food Summit, arguing that any solutions will require the international community to move beyond simple, short-term technical or market ‘fixes’ and address the political economy of food and agriculture. The UN
Growth Linkages in Agriculture:
January 25, 2010 / News Growth it seems is the current development mantra. With agriculture often the dominant sector in the economy, getting agriculture onto a growth path is increasingly the core theme of policy documents whether from donors or from national governments. Similarly in
The Role of Agriculture in Growth Revisited for Africa
January 25, 2010 / News Dercon and El Beyrouty make several important points in their note of Dec 4 about the role of agriculture in economic growth and the relationship between agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in the process of structural transformation. Where Dercon and El
Aid Modalities to Agriculture: The end of the SWAp?
January 25, 2010 / News A Sector Wide Approach (SWAp) is usually defined as a process in which funding to a sector supports a single policy and expenditure programme, under government leadership and using common financial management procedures across the sector.
“The Role of Agriculture in Growth Revisited for Africa”
January 25, 2010 / News What is the role of agriculture in Africa's economic growth? An opinion article by Stefan Dercon and Kareen El Beyrouty critiques arguments for "agriculture first" programmes. Michigan State University Food Security Group provide comment and stress the importance of re-investing
Will Formalising Property Rights Reduce Poverty?
January 25, 2010 / News Formalising property rights - and granting title in particular - is argued by some to be an essential part of the route to economic growth and the movement out of poverty. But will such moves really help in all circumstances,
Transforming Agriculture through Farmer-Centred Innovation
January 25, 2010 / News Agriculture is an urgent global priority and farmers find themselves in the front line of some of the world’s most pressing issues—climate change, globalization and food security. Twenty years ago, the Farmer First workshop held at the Institute of Development
Soils and Fertilizers
January 25, 2010 / News One of the 'quick wins' identified by the Millennium Project's assessment of how to halve hunger by 2015 was for a massive effort to replenish nutrient depleted soils in Africa through a combination of chemical fertilizers and agroforestry. Nigeria is
Global Assessments and the Politics of Knowledge
January 25, 2010 / News Lessons from the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology In recent years, global assessments have become the focus of considerable international scientific interest and the mobilisation of vast institutional, technical, human and financial resources. These frequently attempt to combine
An African Green Revolution? Some Personal Reflections
January 25, 2010 / News Momentum for investments and action to promote an African Green Revolution are gaining ground, with African Governments (individually and through CAADP), with international and bilateral donors, with private donors, with farmer organisations, and with the private sector (see: http://www.agra-alliance.org/ and http://www.yara.com/).
COP15: Statement of Outcomes
January 22, 2010 / News A group of more than 350 policymakers, farmers and scientists meeting in Copenhagen urged on negotiators at the United Nations Climate Change Conference to recognise agriculture’s vital role in climate change adaptation and mitigation. The event came on the heels
Success Stories from African Agriculture: What are the Key Elements of Success?
January 20, 2010 / News Success is not a word often heard when dealing with contemporary issues in agriculture in sub- Sahdepharan Africa. For 30 years, the overall pictureas been one of failure.While other regions of theveloping world have seen increases in agriculturalroduction per capita,
New Directions for African Agriculture
January 18, 2010 / News By Ian Scoones, Stephen Devereux and Lawrence Hadda This year’s UN Millennium Report highlights the lack of progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in sub-Saharan Africa.The Commission for Africa report (2005) similarly highlights the major challenges of poverty
In Search of Africa’s Future Farmers
January 12, 2010 / News {jathumbnail off}The economic, social and cultural contexts of agriculture are changing fast, as evidenced by significant shifts in the patterns of food production and consumption. An increasingly globalised world also means that there is now greater access to fast-evolving communication
Rights Talk and Rights Practice: Challenges for Southern Africa
November 14, 2009 / News “Rights-based approaches” are increasingly seen as a core component of development by donors, NGOs and governments alike (see, for example, Häussermann 1998, Maxwell 1999). With clearly specified, legally-enshrined and universal rights, it is argued, citizens can voice their demands on
Challenges for Rural Development in South Africa
November 14, 2009 / News Livelihoods in southern Africa are in crisis. One of the worst ever food crises has hit the region, with over 14 million reported to be at risk. Newspapers carry appeals from charities for support, and TV images of food queues
JacobVanEtten
November 3, 2009 / News Postdoctoral fellow, International Rice Research Institute (2008-2009)Assistant professor, School of Biology, IE University(2009-)
Tansey IDSseedsJul09
November 3, 2009 / News Biological – ecological History – global restructuring Human needs – multi-dimensional – physiological – social– cultural
FAC Mid Term Review
November 2, 2009 / News NOVEMBER 2007 Consultants: Frank Ellis and Godfrey Bahiigwa The findings are based on written and timeline evidence provided to the reviewers by the consortium, including the complete published output of its current phase, and 17 telephone interviews with FAC members
Pastoral Innovation Systems
September 9, 2009 / News {jathumbnail off} This project aims to generate debate about pastoral innovation options, focusing on pastoral areas of Kenya and Ethiopia, linking insights from pastoral areas to the wider debate about science and technology in Africa.
YARA Prize
April 21, 2008 / News The Yara Prize for a Green Revolution in Africa is awarded annually by a foundation set up by Yara International ASA, which has been doing business in Africa for 30 years. The prize honors significant contributions to the reduction of
FANRPAN supports women farmers
April 21, 2008 / News The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) announced today a three-year pilot project to help rural women farmers influence agricultural policy development in Southern Africa. Funding for the programme is provided by a $900,000 grant from the
Millennium Villages: Is this at last the solution to African poverty?
April 14, 2008 / News The Millennium Villages project based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University certainly think they have cracked the problem of African poverty and hunger. The solution they suggest is a series of integrated, low cost packages which can be implemented
Rising Food Prices: A global crisis
April 1, 2008 / News Soaring food prices pose problems for three groups. First, the poor whose ability to buy food is undermined. Second, governments of low-income countries facing higher import bills, soaring costs for safety net programmes and political unrest. Third, aid agencies juggling
Evaluation of the 2006/7 Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme, Malawi: Final Report
March 1, 2008 / News This report evaluates the 2006/7 Malawi Government Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme (AISP). The main objective of the evaluation is to assess the impact and implementation of the AISP in order to provide lessons for future interventions in growth and social
Policy Making in a Federal Context: Views from the Regions on the Future of Agricultures in Ethiopia
June 7, 2007 / News By Amdissa Teshome & Stephen Devereux 7-9 June 2007 Ethiopian Economic Association, Fifth International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy Addis Ababa
Kenynote: An Overview of Issues and Activities
June 7, 2007 / News An Overview of Issues and Activities Ethiopian Economics Association Fifth International Conference on the Ethiopian Economy Addis Ababa – 7-9 June 2007
Commercialisation in Ethiopia: Which pathways?
June 7, 2007 / News Kay Sharp, Eva LudiOverseas Development Institute Commercialisation in Ethiopia: Which pathways?
Commercialisation in Ethiopia: Which pathways? II
June 7, 2007 / News Kay Sharp, Eva Ludi Overseas Development Institute
The Fall and Rise of Smallholder Agriculture?
June 7, 2007 / News By Blessings Chinsinga The Fall and Rise of Smallholder Agriculture? Reflections and Debates about the Future of Agriculture in Malawi.
Commercialization of Smallholder Agriculture in Coffee and Tef Growing Areas of Ethiopia
June 1, 2007 / News Presentation by Samuel Gebreselassie
Policy and Process In Kenya
June 1, 2007 / News Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture: 2004-2014 Need Competitive Sectors Require Best Services Focus Government Vs Private Sector Roles 1. Legal and Regulatory Reform 2. Reform of Parastatals and Govt Departments 3. Reform of Agricultural Research and Extension 4. Agricultural Inputs and
Commercialisations in Smallholder Agriculture: A General Framework
June 1, 2007 / News By Jennifer Leavy,IDS Sussex and Colin Poulton, Imperial College London Commercialisations in Smallholder Agriculture: A General Framework.
Livestock R&D In East And Southern Africa
June 1, 2007 / News By Norman Clark of the African Centre of Technology Studies (ACTS), James Smith at the University of Edinburgh, and Maija Hirvonen at the University of Edinburgh The concept of ‘innovation system’ is used increasingly in current science policydiscourse as a metaphor to
Cashing in or Crashing Out? Pastoralist Livelihoods in Somali Region, Ethiopia
March 26, 2007 / News Cashing in or Crashing Out? Pastoralist Livelihoods in Somali Region, Ethiopia Presentation by Stephen Devereux. Institute of Development Studies, Sussex
The Future of Pastoralism in Ethiopia
January 1, 2007 / News Ethiopian representatives and leading international thinkers deliberate over the state f pastoralism, making a new analysis of potential futures. Ethiopia has Africa’s largest livestock population. Over 60% of its land area is semi-arid lowland, dominated by the livestock economy. Today
Livelihood Dynamics: Rural Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe
June 1, 2006 / News By SLSA Team IDS Bulletin Vol 34 No 3 2003 Rural people in southern Africa make a living in diverse ways, often in harsh physical and economic environments. Such contexts are fast-changing, requiring shifts in livelihood strategies and mixes of
Key Challenges for Technology Development and Agricultural Research in Africa – 4
June 1, 2005 / News By Monty Jone Agricultural development is a sine qua non for improving livelihoods in Africa’s predominantlyrural economies, yet agricultural productivity has hardly improved and African food production percapita continues to decline. This is not because of a lack of planning
Neo-patrimonialism and Policy Processes
June 1, 2005 / News In the 1990s economic liberalisation replaced state support for agriculture across much of Southern Africa. As well as reducing costs, it was assumed that liberalisation would ensure food availability and access to food through positive effects on production and trade