July 14, 2013 / China and Brazil in African Agriculture
This IDS Bulletin brings together the first collection of empirical and review articles on how China and Brazil are engaging in African agriculture. It focuses on financial arrangements, practices and politics of engagement, the 'encounters' that occur during negotiations, and
July 5, 2013 / FAC blog
Lessons for ProSavana from Mozfoods This FT article looking at ProSavana’s challenges draws on a UK-based company’s experiences in Mozambique to highlight the challenges faced in turning a profit on agricultural developments in the region. The article concludes that finding
July 5, 2013 / Land
As part of its series on global land deals, The Journal of Peasant Studies has released a collection of 5 new articles on the problem of recording accurate and reliable information on global land deals. The edition includes contributions from
July 5, 2013 / FAC blog
This ‘land rush’ has been accompanied by a ‘literature rush’, with a fast-growing body of reports, articles, tables and books with varied purposes, metrics and methods. Land grabbing remains a hot political topic around the world, discussed amongst the highest
July 5, 2013 / FAC blog
Four types of work The basic idea is that work opportunities can be seen to fall into four categories: Protective work, such as food-for-work and labour intensive public works schemes, provides relief from the immediate effects of deprivation. These opportunities
July 3, 2013 / Journal special issues
Scoones, I., Cabral, L. and Tugendhat, H.IDS Bulletin 44.4 Order a copy from the IDS Bookshop View abstracts and subscribe to the IDS Bulletin Free to download – pre-submitted Bulletin articles This IDS Bulletin draws on work from the Future
June 26, 2013 / FAC blog
Donor conditions on Mozambique and Chinese logging The 19 donors and funding agencies who provide direct financial support to the Mozambique state budget have pledged around $580 mil for 2014, but have warned they want to see progress in corruption
June 26, 2013 / Science, Technology and Innovation
Today (26 June 2013) sees the launch of two reports from the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition: #5 Biofuels and food security, and #6 Investing in smallholder agriculture for food security. Report 6, according to
June 26, 2013 / Working Papers
Full title: Graduation of Households from Social Protection Programmes in Ethiopia: Implications of Market Conditions and Value Chains on Graduation Future Agricultures Working Paper 63 Feyera Sima June 2013 The purpose of this research is to analyse how market conditions
June 26, 2013 / Working Papers
Future Agricultures Working Paper 62 Laura Silici and Anna Locke June 2013 Private equity (PE) and venture capital are forms of investment that bring together specialised fund managers and investors to provide equity investments into private (i.e. non-publicly listed) companies.
June 26, 2013 / Working Papers
Full title: Dynamics of Maize Seed Production Systems in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana: Agricultural Modernisation, Farmer Adaptive Experimentation and Domestic Food Markets Future Agricultures Working Paper 61 By Kojo Sebastian Amanor, June 2013 This Working Paper examines the
June 26, 2013 / Working Papers
Future Agricultures Working Paper 60 By Kassahun Berhanu, May 2013 This study examines the motives that underlie the drives of the Ethiopian government in embracing the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) as a national plan of action aimed at
June 26, 2013 / Journal articles
Samuel Asuming-Brempong, John K. Anarfi, Samuel Arthur and Seth AsanteAmerican Journal of Experimental Agriculture (2013), ISSN: 2231-0606,Vol.: 3, Issue.: 3 (July-September) Smallholder commercialisation may be broadly defined as the situation where farmers of small individual and family farms have greater
June 24, 2013 / Journal articles
by Stephen WhitfieldClimatic Change, June 2013 Drawing on social constructivist approaches to interpreting the generation of knowledge, particularly Stirling’s (Local Environ 4(2):111–135, 1999) schema of incomplete knowledge, this paper looks critically at climate-crop modelling, a research discipline of growing importance
June 24, 2013 / FAC blog
It was a fascinating process, not just because of the mystery of the sophisticated computer programmes through which vast data sets gradually became simple pictures of the future world, but also because of the way that understandings and meanings became
June 14, 2013 / Policy Briefs
Future Agricultures / PLAAS Policy Brief 56 by Emmanuel Sulle and Ruth Hall A dedicated investment in smallholder farmers to enable them to improve their land use and productivity is critical to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth in African countries.
June 14, 2013 / FAC blog
In a blog for the Guardian, Raj Patel argues that the G8’s vision for tackling hunger is ignoring the politics of malnutrition – and that the link between hunger and poverty is being written out of public statements. “One of
June 14, 2013 / Land
Through the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, G8 countries are seeking to mobilise the private sector and multi-national corporations to boost African agriculture. A new Future Agricultures / PLAAS briefing (pdf) looks at how African countries are engaging
June 14, 2013 / Climate Change
Is climate-crop modelling opening the way for more 'non-expert' contributions? A journal article in Climatic Change discusses the impact of climate impact models on policies and programmes. Climate change adaptation is increasingly targeted within policies, programmes and interventions across a
June 12, 2013 / News
The Future Agricultures Consortium has instituted a regional, Africa-centred structure to support its research and policy engagement activities, with ‘hubs’ in Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and the UK. Find out more about our new 'hubs' Video: introducing the hub convenors
June 11, 2013 / FAC blog
China welcomes Japanese aid commitment Following the $32billion aid commitment made by Japan to Africa, the Chinese government has sought to downplay the idea of competition between the two nations. An official spokesperson welcomed the initiative adding that China will
June 10, 2013 / Policy Processes
As the G8 prepares to discuss transparency, hunger and nutrition, the approaches on the table have crucial implications for African agricultural policy. In a new blog post, Ian Scoones asks if the political dimensions of the global food system are
June 10, 2013 / FAC blog
Tim Lang of City University in London was quoted in the UK Sunday newspaper the Observer as commenting: “We’ve had many summits talking about hunger…, but not enough has happened to change the food system. My worry is that this
June 5, 2013 / FAC blog
Extra Funding Needed for ProSavana Mozambican Minister for Agriculture, whilst at TICAD has said that they are planning to secure extra funding for the ProSavana project. Currently Japan is the biggest investor in the project with $11 million USD.(Macauhub) Separately,
June 4, 2013 / Journal articles
James Sumberg, Jens Andersson, Ken Giller and John ThompsonThe Geographical Journal, Vol 179, Issue 2, pages 183-185, June 2013 We suggest that a recent commentary piece in The Geographical Journal on Conservation Agriculture (CA) and the System of Rice Intensification
June 4, 2013 / FAC blog
In African policy debates it is often assumed that rejection of agriculture by rural young people – and their mass migration to urban areas – is the primary cause of the aging farm population. It is further assumed that among
June 3, 2013 / Working Papers
Full title: Governing REDD+: global framings versus practical evidence from the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, Kenya STEPS Centre Working Paper 55by Joanes Atela This paper explores the governance and feasibility of globally-linked REDD+ projects in local African settings, focusing on
May 30, 2013 / FAC blog
WFP signs $1.6m deal with Chinese food-company in Ghana The World Food Programme has signed a $1.6 million deal with Chinese company HNA to provide school meals for children in Ghana. This is part of the government initiated Ghana School
May 29, 2013 / Land
Zimbabwe's recent land reform had a major impact on farm labour, with much displacement of workers from large-scale commercial farms. However, the scale and implications of this are much disputed and poorly understood. A new paper by Walter Chambati examines
May 29, 2013 / News
The Advisory Council provides advice on the strategy and focus of our work. Members are invited on the basis of their experience and expertise in research and policy on African agriculture.
May 22, 2013 / FAC blog
Chinese pressure on Zimbabwean debts China has insisted that Zimbabwean companies and state institutions settle outstanding arrears before more loans are released for further infrastructure projects. New commitments include the expansion of a dam and the construction of a new
May 21, 2013 / Other Resources (Political Economy 2013)
Full title: How to Promote Institutional Reforms in the Agricultural Sector? A case study of Uganda’s National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) Patience, B. Rwamigisa, Regina Birner, Margaret, N. Mangheni and Arseni Semana
May 21, 2013 / FAC blog
Some 852 million people were estimated to be undernourished in 2010–12. Micro-nutrient deficiencies, especially of vitamin A, iodine, iron and zinc, are even more widespread, with perhaps as many as two billion persons affected owing to insufficient vitamins and minerals
May 20, 2013 / Working Papers
Colin Poulton and Karuti Kanyinga Working Paper 59 May 2013 In March 2004 the Kenyan government set out its radical Strategy for Revitalising Agriculture (SRA). Almost a decade on, remarkably little progress has been made on its priority areas. Beyond
May 19, 2013 / News
In early 2013, Future Agricultures moved to a regional structure to support our growing network of researchers in Africa and beyond. In these short videos, the co-ordinators of our three ‘hubs’ in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, and our CAADP
May 17, 2013 / Working Papers
John Baptist D. Jatoe, Damien G. Lankoandé and James Sumberg May 2013 This paper tests the ‘systems of innovation’ hypothesis for a selection of crops in Ghana and Burkina Faso that have shown significant growth in production over an approximately
May 17, 2013 / Working Papers
Walter Chambati April 2013 This paper begins highlights some key features that shape agrarian labour relations in Zimbabwe, illustrated through the setting of Goromonzi district. The new agrarian structure that forms the basis of the reconfigured agricultural production systems and
May 17, 2013 / News
Report from a seminar on pastoralism and development in Africa in Nairobi on 29 April 2013, produced by the Rift Valley Institute. The seminar was hosted by the RVI in collaboration with Future Agricultures.
May 17, 2013 / Pastoralism
On 29th April 2013 the RVI hosted a seminar to discuss the book Pastoralism and Development in Africa: Dynamic Change at the Margins, in collaboration with the Future Agricultures Consortium. The seminar brought together researchers, policy makers and practitioners to
May 15, 2013 / FAC blog
This final point raises the interesting question of perspective. The paper’s scope was limited to the opinions of those working in private sector companies, but there are many other important actors in the food system. In particular, the role of
May 15, 2013 / FAC blog
Olam to increase investments in Mozambican Cotton Olam’s Mozambique subsidiary has stated that it plans to make “large investments” in Mozambique’s cotton production. No further details on this are given, but the article highlights that Olam already has production agreements
May 15, 2013 / Working Papers
Full title: Making Sense of Gender, Climate Change and Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa: Creating Gender-Responsive Climate Adaptation Policy Christine Okali and Lars Otto Naess May 2013 Attention to gender and climate change has increased steadily over the last decade. Much
May 14, 2013 / Land
Have biofuel projects taken off as expected? A report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) looks at the situation in five countries which were seen as key destinations for the industry – and what effects the developments may have on
May 13, 2013 / Land
What are the impacts of different types of large farming developments in Africa? On the blog, Rebecca Smalley explains the highlights from a literature review from our new project, Land and Commercialisation in Africa (LACA). The project looks at contract
May 13, 2013 / FAC blog
Examining the evidence The LACA (Land and Agricultural Commercialisation in Africa) project, begun last year, looks at some of those impacts in more detail. This three-year project studies the socio-economic impacts of commercial agricultural developments, including types of development that
May 3, 2013 / FAC blog
Nigerian agricultural research council be more like Embrapa The Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has said that he wants Nigeria to transform its Agricultural Research Council to be more like Brazil’s equivalent, Embrapa. This comes
May 3, 2013 / LDPI Working Papers
Full title: The land of our ancestors: Property rights, social resistance, and alternatives to land grabbing in Madagascar LDPI Working Paper 26Benjamin D. Neimark
May 3, 2013 / LDPI Working Papers
Full title: Gaining neighbours or big losers – what happened when large-scale, land-based investment in the Ghanaian oil palm sector met the local population on the ground? LDPI Working Paper 24Susanne Johanna Väth
May 3, 2013 / LDPI Working Papers
Full title: Shifting the debate about ‘responsible soy’ production in Paraguay: A critical analysis of five claims about environmental, economic, and social sustainability LDPI Working Paper 23Laureen Elgert
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