Scoones
Seasons Of Hunger Launch – Devereaux
Seeds In Africa Sussex
SG Paper 1
SG Paper 2
SG Paper 3
Smallholder Agriculture
Social Protection
Social Protection Food Security Kenya
SoHPresentation-Bapu
State Minister Speech
SupermarketWorkshopReport
S P Synth Rep Sept07 Final
Tef Paper
Thompson Rethinking Agriculture
Tripp IDS Cereal Seed2
White Paper
Workshop Report March2006
Spielman And Birner – 2007 – WB – Innov Indic For Nat Agr Innov Sys
Doss – 2003 – Understanding Farm-level Tech Adopt
LANG#1FF
Raney – 2006 – Economic Impact Of Transgenic Crops In Developing Countries
Smale Et Al – 2008 – The Economic Impact Of Transgenic Crops In Developing Countries A Note On The Methods
Integrating FAC Themes with CAADP pillars
Future Agricultures has attempted to align its thematic areas with CAADP pillars.
For example, the Policy Process theme is a perfect complement to the pillars since none of them explicitly address policy formulation. This weakness was in fact raised during the discussion.
The Growth and Social Protection theme is also a perfect complement to the pillars. CAADP focuses on growth and says very little on social protection. The current thinking is there must be a balance between growth policies and social policies to bring about development. The trickle down theory has almost become irrelevant. Even if countries achieve high levels of growth, there are millions who fall out of the net. These citizens need protection!
There are also areas where the Future Agricultures themes could learn from the pillars. For example, Pillar II is strong on markets which the Commercialisations theme could benefit from. Similarly, the technology theme could benefit from Pillar IV immensely.
CAADP Country Specific Engagement
The Consortium commissioned its representatives in the three countries (Ethiopia, Malawi, and Kenya) to undertake a very basic investigation of the status of each country. This involved, interviewing CAADP focal persons, if any, and other relevant institutions.
Malawi
Malawi signs CAADP Compact. Malawi’s CAADP Roundtable and Compact Signing was held in Lilongwe on 19 April 2010. FAC’s Ephraim Chirwa and Mirriam Matita participated in the CAADP Roundtable and Compact Signing.
The CAADP Compact Signing was preceded by the official launch of the Agriculture Sector-Wide Approach (ASWAp) which detailed Malawi’s prioritised and harmonized agricultural development agenda of realizing at least 6 percent annual growth of the agricultural sector (picture below). The ASWAp focuses on three key areas: food security and risk management; commercial agriculture, agro-processing and market development; and sustainable agricultural land and water management. The ASWAp document was informed by FAC research and FCA was also involved in the development of the Agriculture Development Programme (ADP).
Malawi signs CAADP Compact and commits to increased investments in Agriculture (NEPAD.org)
Ethiopia
This preliminary investigation revealed that Ethiopia has a problem with pushing the CAADP agenda. This was ironic because (i) Ethiopia is among the first countries to complete the two early steps, namely government buy-in and assigning CAADP focal person and (iii) at the time of writing, Ethiopia chairs NEPAD.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development indicated the launch of CAADP was delayed for capacity problems. Facilitating the Country Round Table requires human and material resources. On this point, COMESA actually finances the process. What it requires is readiness from the countries concerned.
Key informants form the Ministry indicated that there is a weak-link with COMESA and country focal persons. The technical backstopping from COMESA was inadequate, which has contributed to the delay in holding the Round Table and subsequently launch CAADP. There is also a feeling, subject to verification, that membership of the World Trade Organisation may have something to do with the support given.
The relevance of the educational and professional background of focal persons to the pillars is also an important factor. One must feel that he or she is contributing to the debate. This was not the case in Ethiopia. Due to the recent restructuring of the Ministry, things are bound to be delayed until the dust settles!
Kenya
The Kenya country team will explore on how we envision Future Agricultures’ role in the CAADP process. There is generally muted interest on CAADP in policy circles at the moment due to greater attention being paid to the current famine (seriously affecting about ten million people) and agricultural policy reforms in the country.
2009 CAADP Africa Forum
On November 30 in Nairobi, more than 160 delegates from across Africa met for the fourth CAADP Africa Forum, organized by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) from 30 November-4 December 2009. The Forum’s theme is ‘The Bottom of the Pyramid: Agricultural Development for the Vulnerable’.
The forum opened with addresses from Kenya’s Minister of Agriculture, Hon. William Ruto and Kenya’s Permanent Secretary for agriculture, Hon. Romano Kiome who outlined five priorities for Kenya agriculture, largely focused on improving access and all requiring leadership, efficiency, and good governance; they are:
- inputs
- credit
- markets
- irrigation
- institutions
As the day continued, delegates had questions about the ongoing planning phase of CAADP and its added-value to national agriculture policies. As well, delegates discussed if CAADP could provide assistance at the national level and what are the windows of opportunity within CAADP for effective cooperation with the state, existing poverty strategy plans and initiatives with donors.
Download: Africa Forum’s CAADP Reader (736.14 kB 2010-02-18 13:15:43)
What is CAADP?
- The pursuit of six percent average annual growth in the agricultural sector at national level; and,
- Allocation of ten percent of national budgets to agriculture.
A framework rather than a roadmap, CAADP is composed of a set of key principles and targets for achieving these aims by 2015. It is at once flexible enough to accommodate the need for approaches toward poverty and hunger alleviation to be tailored to regional and national contexts, and broad enough to address policy and capacity issues across the entire agricultural sector and across the entire African continent.
CAADP’s vision of agriculture as a driver of poverty and hunger alleviation is underpinned by four pillars.
You can learn more about each pillar directly from the CAADP website by clicking on the respective links.
- Pillar 1: Extending the area under sustainable land management and reliable water control systems
- Pillar 2: Improving rural infrastructure and trade-related capacities for market access
- Pillar 3: Increasing food supply and reducing hunger
- Pillar 4: Agricultural research, technology dissemination and adoption
Wadonda Consult (WACO)
{jathumbnail off}Wadonda Consult (WACO) is an independent consulting firm established in 1996 and is registered under the Business Names Registration Act. WACO operates on the basis of partnership with consultants in economic and social research. They provide consultancy services to government departments, international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector.
Their mission is to offer excellent consultancy services and to conduct high quality research in supporting the economic and social development in Malawi and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) within an international context.
The overall corporate objectives are to conduct economic and social research and offer consultancy services with the aim of informing decision-makers in public and private institutions in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their programmes or activities. Specific objectives include to:
- Initiate and generate ideas for economic and social research, both academic and policy-oriented research, which will attract funding from international and local organisations.
- Conduct training in form of short courses, in economic management and economic policies, project management, social policy and research methods.
- Offer consultancy services in the following areas of competence: sector analyses; economic management and policy analyses; food security and nutrition programmes; socioeconomic studies; evaluation of economic and social programmes, and any other areas.
- Conduct research in productivity analysis and provide consultancy services on the most efficient use of scarce resources in the public and private sectors.
- Link Malawian researchers and fully utilize their expertise by subcontracting and organising them in teams for specialized research or consultancy activities.
- Disseminate research results to decision/policy makers through publications, conferences, workshops and seminars.
Judith Good
Judith Good is a Senior Lecturer in Informatics at the Universitt of Sussex, Brighton, UK. She is also Director of the IDEAs Lab, which is part of the Human Centred Technology Group (along with the Interact Lab).
Prior to this, Judith was an assistant professor in the Organizational Learning and Instructional Technology (OLIT) program at the University of New Mexico and, before that, worked as a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh (where she did a PhD in Artificial Intelligence).
She is interested in any uses of technology that incite people to engage with learning, and do so in meaningful ways.
Specifically, she focuses on the use of immersive virtual environments for learning, educational simulations, constructivist and constructionist learning environments, the design of visual programming languages for fostering understanding, and the use of game creation environments to foster children’s skills in programming, media creation and narrative.
For more info, please check her web page.
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David Hughes
David Hughes
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Lorenzo Cotula
Lorenzo Cotula has extensive experience in legal and social science research, capacity building and policy advocacy on the role of law in sustainable development, focusing on land rights and on natural resource investment (agriculture, extractive industries). He is currently working at International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) on land rights, contributing to the investment work (especially on investment law and contracts). He is also conducting research on large-scale land acquisitions for agricultural investment in Africa (agrifood, biofuels).
Since 2006 he has coordinated the programme “Legal tools for citizen empowerment: Getting a better deal from natural resource investment in Africa”, in collaboration with partners in Ghana, Mali, Mozambique and Senegal. Prior to his work in IIED, he was a research consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO); collaboration with two Italian NGOs. He has worked in in Africa (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, South Africa) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan). He holds a PhD in Law from the University of Edinburgh, as well as a MSc in Development Studies (Distinction), London School of Economics
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Ruth Hall
Ruth Hall holds a Masters degree in Development Studies from the University of Oxford and an Honours degree in Political Studies from UCT. She is currently registered for a doctoral degree in Politics at Oxford. She joined the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) in 2002 to work on an evaluation of land and agrarian reform in South Africa.
Before joining PLAAS, she was Senior Researcher at the Centre for Rural Legal Studies (CRLS), Stellenbosch, where she led research on farm workers’ wages and conditions of employment in South Africa as part of an investigation by the Department of Labour into minimum wages for farm workers. She has also done research on land reform policies and practices in South Africa and in India, focusing on gender equity.
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Thomas Tanner
Tomas Tanner is a social scientist specialising in the policy and practice of adaptation to climate change, particularly in linking approaches to development, disasters and climate change. He is currently a Research Fellow on the Vulnerability and Poverty Reduction Team at the Institute of Development Studies. His research interests include climate risk management, child-centred development, social protection, knowledge management, organisational change, and linking science with policy processes.{jcomments off}
Jeremy Lind
Jeremy Lind is a development geographer with over 10 years research and advisory experience on livelihoods in conflict areas and the difficulties of aid delivery in such contexts, including one year researching the impacts of armed violence on pastoralist livelihoods in northern Kenya. He is currently Research Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the University of Sussex and a Research Associate of the Centre for Civil Society at the London School of Economics. {jcomments off} {jathumbnail off}
Prior to joining IDS in 2009, Jeremy was Lecturer of Human Geography at the University of Sussex, where he taught a range of undergraduate and graduate courses relating to environment, development and conflict. Previously he was Research Officer at the LSE, where he researched changing approaches on aid and civil society in the post-9/11 context.
He has extensive fieldwork experience in north-east Africa, where he lived and worked for three years as a Research Fellow for a Nairobi-based international research institute. More recently he has worked in Afghanistan and India conducting research with international donor and aid agencies, local civil society, human rights activists and lawyers. His advisory experience includes work with the Overseas Development Institute, Oxfam GB, Christian Aid, Medicines Sans Frontieres-UK, the BBC World Service, and the British-Irish Afghanistan Agencies Group. He is co-author with Jude Howell of “Counter-Terrorism, Aid and Civil Society: Before and After the War on Terror” (Palgrave, 2009), co-editor with Jude Howell of “Civil Society Under Strain: The War on Terror Regime, Civil Society and Aid Post-9/11” (Kumarian Press, 2009), co-editor with Kathryn Sturman of “Scarcity and Surfeit: The Ecology of Africa’s Conflicts” (Institute of Security Studies/ACTS, 2002), as well as author of numerous refereed articles and reports.
Views: Global Food Crisis
In February 2009, FAC researchers spoke out about the causes, the results, and the remedies of the global food crisis.
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/s7TsyRH7F8A&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Amdissa Teshome”}Amdissa Teshome – Country Coordinator for Ethiopia {/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/AnaAyrEBZ00&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Andrew Dorward”}Andrew Dorward – Researcher {/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/PUX1K5aLfI4&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Blessings Chinsinga”}Blessings Chinsinga – Researcher{/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/mvkeDS-7LBM&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Colin Poulton”}Colin Poulton – Policy Processes Theme Convener{/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ZvEtTDSw17g&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Ephraim Chirwa”}Ephraim Chirwa – Country Coordinator for Malawi{/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/0i_jZ7LC7LQ&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Eva Ludi”}Eva Ludi – Researcher {/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/x0jYa3aihz4&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Gem Kodhek”}Gem Kodhek – Researcher {/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ZEbrZS1tA6g&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”John Omiti”}John Omiti – Country Coordinator for Kenya {/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/HCb-_RBLDgA&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Lydia Ndirangu”}Lydia Ndirangu – Researcher {/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/U5HkCqLG014&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Samuel Gebreselassie”}Samuel Gebreselassie – Researcher {/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/PYAUC09Fuz4&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Stephen Devereux”}Stephen Devereux – Social Protection Theme Convener{/japopup}
{japopup type=”youtube” content=”http://www.youtube.com/v/w6dYDPKIJgk&hl=en&fs=1″ width=”640″ height=”380″ title=”Steve Wiggins”}Steve Wiggins – Researcher {/japopup}
FAC Overview
General FAC Presentation – overview of research and themes
Fertiliser Subsidies: Lessons from Malawi & Kenya
Opportunities, Challenges and Future Prospects: presentations and panel discussion
10 February 2009 PanAfric Hotel, Nairobi. As Kenya’s food crisis is declared a national disaster and 10 million people face hunger, scientists from the Future Agricultures Consortium have set out new recommendations to help the country maximise the benefits of fertiliser subsidies for its farmers. Kenya Minister of Agriculture Hon. William Ruto was presented with new proposals to help in the effective, sustainable and equitable delivery of ‘smart’ fertiliser subsidies, drawing on lessons from both Malawi and Kenya.
The high-level ‘Fertiliser Subsidies: Lessons from Malawi and Kenya’ meeting in Nairobi heard that Malawi’s experience shows how a subsidy on fertiliser can boost national production of maize and eliminate the need for imports. Subsidies can be costly, however, and may deter the development of private enterprise. Kenya’s experience of liberalised fertiliser markets shows that the private sector can establish a network of dealers and reduce the costs of distribution of fertiliser. Yet fertiliser may still remain unaffordable to poor farmers. Subsidies may thus be needed to allow them to use fertiliser and increase their yields.
A key question then, is how can subsidies be made ‘smart’ – that is, effective and efficient? The lessons from the two countries are:
- It is small farmers who need a subsidy to buy fertiliser, not large farmers. Giving vouchers to small farmers can direct subsidies to those who need them, while containing the cost of the subsidy.
- Subsidies should help the development of networks of input dealers, rather than undercutting them. Kenya has seen a remarkable expansion of its private dealers since the early 1990s. Rather than having fertiliser distributed directly by state agencies, fertiliser should be channelled through the existing dealers.
- If poor households — most of whom are net buyers of staple foods — are to benefit from fertiliser subsidies, then enough additional maize needs to be produced to make maize available at lower prices. Yet prices must remain high enough to give farmers incentives to produce. Judicious intervention in maize markets to ensure that prices remunerate farmers while providing consumers with affordable food is an important complement to subsidies.
- Fertiliser subsidies rightly attract political interest. The danger here is that political parties compete for votes by offering ever more generous and indiscriminate subsidies. Monitoring the costs and results of subsidies, and publicising them, are one way to encourage politicians to consider the effectiveness of subsidies.
The practical recommendations were put together by researchers from the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development and the Future Agricultures Consortium, after extensive research of the fertiliser subsidy systems in Kenya and Malawi.
Mr Ruto, addressing the conference, said the Kenyan government intends to increase fertiliser usage from 400-500 tons a year to a million tons a year within the next ten years: “Food security helps us deal with poverty, so it is a very serious issue that requires our utmost attention,” he said.
And working closely with the private sector was key, the minister added: “I know fertiliser dealers and traders are not too happy because of governmental intervention in the private sector, but I have very few options because the price of fertiliser has increased in the last 12 months from an average of Sh 1,800 to an average of Sh 6,500.” However agreements with the private sector were needed, including a potential joint venture blending facility to make fertiliser affordable and customer-sensitive.
John Omiti, Senior Policy Analyst and Head of Productive Sector Division, KIPPRA, and Future Agricultures Country Coordinator for Kenya said: “Fertiliser subsidies can be an effective means of raising rural incomes and boosting agricultural productivity. The challenge is to find efficient and equitable mechanisms to deliver fertiliser and other key inputs to farmers in ways that optimise benefits to the largest number, while limiting problems of diversion, leakage and political manipulation. Our research from Malawi and Kenya shows this can be achieved, but it requires state commitment to supporting a vibrant private sector, strong civil society oversight and transparent political decision making. ”
The ‘Fertiliser Subsidies’ conference brought together key decision-makers for the future of agriculture in Kenya, including members of government, private sector companies, international donors and researchers. The conference set out suggestions to address Kenya’s current food crisis by harnessing key lessons from Malawi’s successful fertiliser subsidy programme – which boosted maize production by 15-22% in 2005-2006 but has proved less successful as time has gone on. Now Kenyan solutions are needed for Kenyan’s specific political and economic needs.
Sustained (but not indefinite) input subsidies were a major part of successful Green Revolution packages in the past making a critical and contribution to ‘kick starting markets’, first within staple food supply chains and then in the wider rural economy.
Kenya already has one of the highest rates of fertiliser usage in Africa delivered by a successful private sector, which the government’s current approach is in danger of damaging, the new research shows. Therefore an urgent need exists for more constructive government/private sector engagement, to minimise state intervention and maximise the effectiveness of the market.
But the political processes underlying this issue need careful attention. The research revealed that political interest often trumps economics and sound policy making; costs can escalate to higher than expected levels; and governance failures occur when large amounts of money are involved.
Last month Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki declared the food crisis a national disaster, asking international donors for $400 million to help the 10 million people facing shortages. The World Food Programme estimates 3.2 million are in urgent need of aid. Drought coupled with high fertiliser and commodity prices have led to a grain deficit. The impact has been worsened by the displacement of people after last year’s post-election violence.
The Kenya Ministry of Agriculture has embarked on a major campaign called Vision 2030 to address the challenges facing Kenya’s agricultural sector, which Mr Ruto has said include low productivity, marketing inefficiencies, inadequate value addition, inadequate financial services and low and inappropriate use of in such as fertilizers and certified seeds. According to the government 35,000 farmers currently benefit from free seeds and fertilizers, with plans double this figure during this financial year.
Link
- News at IDS – Maximising Fertiliser Benefits for Kenyan Farmers David Hughes, IDS, 12 February 2009
- Kenya contemplates fetiliser subsidies Dumisani Nsingo, Sunday News, Zimbabwe 16 February 2009
- Kenya must pay the political price to make fertilizer subsidies work, experts say Naftali Mwaura, Africa Science News Service (ASNS), 13 February 2009
- Workshop Photos
EDITOR’S NOTES
Research authors are available for interview
Photos available upon request
The Future Agricultures Consortium aims to encourage critical debate and policy dialogue on the future of agriculture in Africa. The Consortium is a growing partnership involving research-based organisations in Africa and the UK, with core funding from the UK Department for International Development (DFID). Through stakeholder-led policy dialogues on future scenarios for agriculture, informed by in-depth field research, the Consortium aims to elaborate the practical and policy challenges of establishing and sustaining pro-poor agricultural growth in Africa. https://www.future-agricultures.org
Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis is an autonomous public institute whose primary mission is to provide quality public policy advice to the government of Kenya and to the private sector in order to contribute to achievement of national development goals. http://www.kippra.org/
Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development is a policy research institute under the Division of Research and Extension of Egerton University Kenya. The institute is widely recognized as a centre of excellence in agricultural policy research and analysis in Kenya. Tegemeo has undertaken empirical research and analysis on contemporary economic and agricultural policy issues in the country. Among the areas studied are reforms and their impact on the key agricultural enterprises and natural resource management. http://www.tegemeo.org/
Achieving Pro-Poor Growth through Agriculture: The Challenges
The Future Agricultures consortium convened six meetings to discuss key issues in agricultural policy for pro-poor growth. The meetings took place at ODI’s offices in London and began in October 2006 with ‘Effective Rural Institutions: The Missing Link in Market-based Agricultural Development?’, speaker: Jonathan Kydd from Imperial College.
Friday, 28 October 13.00–14.30, at Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JD Effective rural institutions: the missing link in market-based agricultural development? Speakers: Jonathan Kydd, Imperial College and John Harriss, Director, DESTIN |
Friday, 04 November 13.00–14.30, at Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road
Agriculture and the rural non-farm sector: rivals or complements? Speakers: Deborah Bryceson, Leiden and Peter Hazell, Imperial College |
Friday, 11 November 13.00–14.30, at Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road What priorities for improved agricultural technology? Speakers: Michael Lipton, Sussex and Anita Ingevall, ILEIA Centre for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture
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Friday, 25 November 13.00–14.30, at Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road Politics, policies and agriculture: the art of the possible in agricultural development Speaker: Peter Bazeley |
Friday, 02 December 13.00–14.30, at Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road Is there a future for small farms? This session draws on the proceedings of a workshop held at Imperial College in June 2005. Speakers: Colin Poulton, Imperial College and Steve Wiggins, Overseas Development Institute
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Friday, 09 December 13.00–14.30, at Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road
Agricultural growth and social protection: can we have both? Speakers: Stefan Dercon, Oxford and John Farrington, Overseas Development Institute |
Further reading:
Farming and the Poor: Seven New Challenges
Policy Research and African Agriculture: Time for a dose of Reality?
Social Protection and Pro-Poor Agricultural Growth: What Scope for Synergies?
Cash Transfers – Mere ‘Gadaffi Syndrome’, or Serious Potential for Rural Rehabilitation and Development?
Responding to HIV/AIDS in Agriculture and Related Activities
The Niger food crisis: How this happened? What should be done to prevent a recurrence?
Farm Subsidies: a problem for Africa too
Restoring Growth in African Agriculture
Rethinking Rural Development
Six Characters (and a few more) in search of an author: how to rescue rural development before it’s too late
Achieving a Uniquely African Green Revolution
How can Africa’s farmers, scientists, development practitioners, private entrepreneurs and publicofficials, with the support of the international community, spark a Green Revolution in Africa,one that responds to the region’s unique social, political and ecological conditions? That was thechallenge presented to the over 113 delegates from 29 countries who attended a set of linkeddiscussions at the Salzburg Global Seminar in late April/early May 2008.
The main purpose ofthe deliberations was to assess the most critical issues and to review, refine and articulate anagenda for a new sustainable “Green Revolution” for Sub-Saharan Africa. The delegates weretasked with answering the question: What are the core elements of a “uniquely African GreenRevolution?”
What we have done so far: some key findings
Ethiopian Economic Association
{jathumbnail off}Ethiopian Economic Association (EEA) is a non-profit making, non-political and non-religious professional Association which is registered with the Ministry of Justice in 1991 to accomplish the following objectives:
- to contribute to the economic policy formulation capability and broadly to the economic advancement of Ethiopia ;
- to promote the professional interest of its members;
- to promote the study of economics in the country’s educational institutions;
- to promote economic research and assist in the dissemination of the findings of such research in Ethiopia ;
- to provide fora for the discussion of economic issues, and
- to promote professional contacts between Ethiopian economists and those of other countries.
EEA has actively engaged in Economic research, training, organization of International and National conferences and round table discussions on the Ethiopian economy and the dissemination of the results of these activities through its professional journals and various publications.
EEA has more than 2500 registered members from all over the country. The Association has established chapters at regions so as to realize its objectives through expanding its outreach services to potential members and stakeholders /clients/ of the Association. So far, EEA established two Chapters at Awassa and Bahir Dar towns and has completed its preparation to open additional three chapters at Alemaya and Harari, Dira Dawa and Mekelle.
A – Z Consult
{jathumbnail off}A-Z Capacity Building Consult (A-Z Consult) is a consultancy service registered in Addis Ababa and has been operating since 1997-98.The Chief Consultant, Dr Amdissa Teshome, has a Certificate of Professional Competence from the Ethiopian management Institute (EMI).
The broad aim of A-Z Consult is to provide development-focused training & consultancy service.
Its Specific objectives are to:
- Povide efficient training & consultancy service through self-discipline and good time management
- Contribute to the quality of training & consultancy service provision in Ethiopia
- Promote good working relationship between consultants and clients
- Facilitate good working relationship between government, non-government organisations, donors and the private sector
- Assess training & consultancy needs of its clients on a regular basis
CABE – Centre for Africa Bio-entrepreneurship
{jathumbnail off}CABE is an international knowledge sharing organization under the Non-Governmental co-ordination Act of Kenya. CABE works to enhance and improve the welfare of smallholder and youth entrepreneurs in Africa by mobilising support, linking them to markets and non-market agencies, protecting their rights and assisting them to improve their entrepreneurship. CABE was founded in September 2003 in the Netherlands and one year later, it was formally registered in Kenya.
Key Successes
- The founding members have for many years, been involved in the farmer mobilization in Western and Central Kenya.
- CABE is one of the few NGO’s to conduct a study on local agro-seed trading in Western Kenya.
- CABE with its local partners successfully conducted a study on constraints in smallholder farmers’ return.
- CABE conducted interactive dissemination workshops for smallholder farmers, scientists and intermediaries on Bio-technology governance in Kenya.
- CABE is Currently establishing community agro-forest nurseries in Western Kenya.
Dadimos
Dadimos Development Consultants was officially established and registered by Ministry of Industry and Trade as per the Book II Title of the Ethiopian Commercial Code of the 1960. The company has extensive experience in the field of development studies. {jathumbnail off}
Dadimos focuses its research and consulting services in the following four thematic areas:
- Sustainable Livelihood Security
- Governance and Institutional Capacity Building
- Project Management
- Climatic Change and Sustainable Environment
Institute of Development Studies (IDS)
{jathumbnail off}The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) is a leading global organisation for research, teaching and communications on international development. IDS was founded in 1966 and enjoys an international reputation based on the quality of its work and its commitment to applying academic skills to real world challenges. Its purpose is to understand and explain the world, and to try to change it – to influence as well as to inform.
IDS hosts five dynamic research teams, eight popular postgraduate courses, and a family of world-class knowledge services. These three spheres are integrated in a unique combination – as a development knowledge hub, IDS is connected into and is a convenor of networks throughout the world.
The Institute is home to approximately 100 researchers, 70 knowledge services staff, 65 support staff and about 200 students at any one time. But the IDS community extends far beyond, encompassing an extensive network of partners, former staff and students across the development community worldwide.
Cash Transfers and High Food Prices: Explaining Outcomes on Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program
Rachel Sabates-Wheeler and Stephen Devereux
January 2010
An ongoing and highly politicised debate concerns the relative efficacy of cash transfers versus food aid. This paper aims to shed light on this debate, drawing on new empirical evidence from Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP). Our data derive from a two-wave panel survey conducted in 2006 and 2008. Ethiopia has experienced unprecedented rates of inflation since 2007, which have reduced the real purchasing power of PSNP cash payments. Our regression findings confirm that food transfers or ‘cash plus food’ packages are superior to cash transfers alone – they enable higher levels of income growth, livestock accumulation and self-reported food security. These results raise questions of fundamental importance to global humanitarian response and social protection policy. We draw out some implications for the design of social transfer programmes and describe some steps that could be taken to enable ‘predictable transfers to meet predictable needs’
The Role and Performance of the Ministry of Agriculture in Eldoret West District
Booker W. Owuor, Job O. Ogada, Colin Poulton, and Gem Argwings-Kodhek
June 2010
Agriculture is the backbone of Kenya’s economy. Well managed, agriculture can be the single source that will spearhead the economy and alleviate poverty among the over 80 percent of Kenya’s population dependant on it. The sector has been fragmented into 10 ministries that all came out of a large Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) that is still seen as the parent Ministry and is viewed as the main player in the sector. This study was aimed at gaining a better understanding of how the sector is managed, and to critically examine the structure, capacity and coordination capabilities of the Ministry of Agriculture in Eldoret West District.
Key Challenges for Technology
Agricultural development is a sine qua non for imprurroving livelihoods in Africa’s predominantlyal economies, yet agricultural productivity has hardly improved and African food production per capita continues to decline. This is not because of ahlack of planning efforts, but rather because theseave not been of the scale required to have an impact onsuch huge problems.
Dawit Alemu
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