January 14, 2010 / Young People & Agrifood
Youth’s inclination toward agriculture and future farmers was highlighted in regional consultations. Schools children were asked to describe their homes in the past present and future. We put the images that children created on display. Their views far surpassed their
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Interlocking uncertainties: new challenges for food and agriculture The interlocking food, fuel, financial and climate crises present major challenges fordevelopment. This is particularly so in Africa - and for the poor across the world. The bottom billion is now not
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
The prevailing orthodoxy is to see the problem of smallholder agriculture in Ethiopia strictly as a technical and resource related problem. This view identifi es the low level of agricultural productivity as the key problem. In response, the government of
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
When the Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) began, there was a different context in debates about agriculture. Policy research was being done, but not much. FAC was providing a space that was underrepresented at that time – not any longer. There
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Progress and Challenges Didn’t get started until December Long delay in contracts (DFID contract, PP time allocation) Getting team together (methodology and detailed planning for MOA district study) Main policy engagement Tuesday Fertiliser workshop MoA study
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Outputs Working Papers Series – 7 papers based on secondary sources based on FAO / FAC work – intersection between seasonality, SP and smallholder ag, country cases (3 FAC countries + Ghana + overviews + seasonality) FAC briefing papers –
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Kenya perspective CAADP agenda, MDG agenda, Vision 2030 all circulating around same set of issues – difficult to isolate CAADP process from other strategies/processes Philosophical differences about bottom-up processes – decision makers often disagree about how to introduce participatory processes
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Top of Ag Advisers – Global Partnership for Agriculture and Food Security (GPAF). Top of the agenda: Global Partnership of Agriculture and Food Security During the food price crises – Dfid asked: “What could we do about without spending too
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Wrap-up All these activities should be about process – but still debate about how narrow/broad the focus should be on particular content Climate change/environmental sustainability – needs to be there, but shouldn’t drive the agenda – how do changes in
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Ethiopia team has expanded to new thematic areas for FAC: Investing in agriculture and pastoralism and ‘future pastoralisms’ – understanding patterns of investment – rural/urban, agric/pastoral areas Climate change, environment and sustainable development – building on capacity on CC, understanding
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Activities National Stakeholder workshop is being held in June this year. Progress on the Commercialisations and Social Protection methodology. Working to raise the visibility level of FAC at the national level. People are interested and knowledgeable and many places (e.g.
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
Circumstances in Malawi are similar to those in Kenya: there is limited policy space. As well, there is an impending general election so after May 09 there should be more openings in Ministry of Agriculture that will want to talk
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
{jathumbnail off}“Agriculture is the mainstay of the Ethiopian Economy”. This statement has almost become acliché for development professionals in Ethiopia. Those who went to school 50 years ago,read it; and later on wrote about it. So has the present generation.
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
{jathumbnail off}Agricultural input subsidies were a common element in agricultural development in poor rural economies in the 1960s and 70s, including successful green revolutions. Although subsidies have continued, to a greater and lesser extent, in some countries, conventional wisdom as
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
{jathumbnail off}Professor Jeremy Swift specialises in the development of pastoral economiesin Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. His particular interests include; poverty, famine, land tenure and pastoral governance. Pastoral policy-making has lagged far behind other policy domains mainly because
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
{jathumbnail off}Ethiopian representatives and leading international thinkers deliberate overthe state of pastoralism, making a new analysis of potential futures Understanding of Pastor Pastoralism alismEthiopia has Africa’ Africa’s largest livestock population. Over 60% of its land area iss semi-arid lowland, dominated by
January 14, 2010 / Miscellaneous
{jathumbnail off}The Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC) aims to encourage critical debate and policy dialogue on the future of agriculture in Africa. The Consortium is a partnership between research-based organisations in Africa and the UK, with work currently focusing on Ethiopia,
January 12, 2010 / FAC blog
Against this backdrop, we also have the largest population ever of young people in the developing world. In all, there are roughly 1.5 billion people aged 12-24 worldwide, 1.3 billion of whom live in developing countries. Sub-Saharan Africa is
January 12, 2010 / Policy Briefs
By Samuel GebreselassiePolicy Brief 001 Land and land tenure is a hot policy issue in Ethiopia. Three key issues are raised – farm size and fragmentation and the question of what is a ‘viable’ farm unit; tenure security and whether
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
January 11, 2010 / FAC Documents
This twelve-month outreach plan aims to identify/distil key lessons and messages from FAC’s published and ongoing research and use communication channels or “pathways” to target specific agriculture policy stakeholders with these lessons and messages. The timing of outreach activities should
December 21, 2009 / FAC Documents
By Blessings ChinsingaFebruary 2007 This case study argues that political context matters in agricultural development issues. No matter what the technical or economic arguments for or against particular policy positions are, it is ultimately the configuration of political interests that
December 21, 2009 / FAC Documents
Soils and Fertilizers – December 2005 Will Formalising Property Rights Reduce Poverty? – January 2006 Millennium Villages – the solution to African poverty? – June 2006 Aid modalities to agriculture – the end of the SWAp? – November 2006 Growth
December 21, 2009 / Miscelleanous
By Andrew Dorward, Peter Hazell and Colin PoultonMarch 2008 Agricultural input subsidies were a common element in agricultural development in poor rural economies in the 1960s and 70s, including successful green revolutions. Although subsidies have continued, to a greater and
December 21, 2009 / FAC Documents
Agricultural input subsidies were a common element in agricultural development in poor rural economies in the 1960s and 70s, including successful green revolutions. Although subsidies have continued, to a greater and lesser extent, in some countries, conventional wisdom as well
December 5, 2009 / Conference Publications
Recognizing that agriculture is the mainstay of most African economies, NEPAD has taken the lead inhighlighting the critical role agriculture must play to reduce food insecurity and poverty. The Com- prehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has been endorsed by
December 2, 2009 / FAC blog
The lessons and ideas are to be used as an input into country-driven development of the agricultural and rural sector, he said. The five day forum is under the theme The Bottom of the Pyramid: Agricultural Development for the Vulnerable.
December 2, 2009 / Ghana
By Lucas Barasa*Nairobi, 2nd December 2009 - A major conference to help enhance food security in Africa and share lessons on best practices entered its third day in Nairobi Wednesday.The Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) head Richard Mkandawire who
December 2, 2009 / FAC blog
By Lucas Barasa*Nairobi, 2nd December 2009 - A major conference to help enhance food security in Africa and share lessons on best practices entered its third day in Nairobi Wednesday.The Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) head Richard Mkandawire who
November 30, 2009 / FAC blog
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
November 30, 2009 / Ghana
The Bottom of the Pyramid: Agriculture Development for the Vulnerable.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
November 30, 2009 / FAC blog
The Bottom of the Pyramid: Agriculture Development for the Vulnerable.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
November 28, 2009 / Events
A major conference to help enhance food security in Africa and share lessons on best practices took place in Nairobi from 28 - 30 November 2009. The Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) head Richard Mkandawire who spoke on behalf
November 15, 2009 / Pastoralism
Drought in the Horn of Africa – again. With the region's worst drought in over a decade, pastoral households around the Ethiopian, Kenyan and Somali borders have been hard hit. Alongside the humanitarian response, a re-emerging debate on the future
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
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
November 11, 2009 / Working Papers
Jennifer Leavy and Colin Poulton September 2007 According to this thinking, smallholder agriculture is uniquely positioned to deliver broad-based growth in rural areas (where the vast majority of the world?s poor still live). However, others fear that strategies for commercialising
November 11, 2009 / Working Papers
Various explanations have been advanced for the persistent under?performance of agriculturein many African countries, where smallholder farming is still the dominant livelihood activityand the main source of employment, food and income. Some of the oldest argumentsremain the most compelling. African
November 11, 2009 / Working Papers
Stephen Devereux January 2009 This Working Paper draws on nearly twenty years of research in several African countries on the inter-related themes of food insecurity, seasonality, coping strategies, famine, formal and informal safety nets and social protection. The paper has
November 11, 2009 / External Analysis
Studies on systems of agricultural innovation in Kenya and other African countries have shown that the concept of innovation exists in form of technologies, products, processes and organizational forms. Notable also is the existence of indigenous systems of innovation which
November 11, 2009 / Discussion Papers
By Samuel Gebreselassie Land is a public property in Ethiopia. It has been administered by the government since the 1975 radical land reform. The reform brought to an end the exploitative type of relationship that existed between tenants and landlords.
November 11, 2009 / Discussion Papers
By John Omiti and Timothy NyanambaAugust 2007 Vulnerability and human suffering are major challenges facing large sections of Kenyan society who depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. Policy reforms have failed to adequately address social protection issues afflicting particularly the
November 11, 2009 / Discussion Papers
By Rachel Sabates-Wheeler, Andrew Dorward, John Omiti, Stephen Devereux, Amdissa Teshome, Ephraim Chirwa October 2007 This report describes the main activities and outputs of the Future Agriculture Consortium (FAC) under the theme of Growth and Social Protection for Phase I.
November 11, 2009 / Discussion Papers
By Ian Scoones In this viewpoint piece I want to argue that, as currently organised, R and D systems – both public and private – don’t necessarily respond well to the needs of poor people in developing countries. Despite all
November 11, 2009 / E-debates
Everyone is agreed that one of the central components of achieving an „African Green Revolution? is to tackle the widespread soil fertility constraints in African agriculture. To this end, AGRA – the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa –
November 11, 2009 / E-debates
Atlest in the semi-arid regions of Africa,if within-field soil variability is not taken into account,efforts to increase soil fertility will be less efficient and less likely to be adopted by farmers. Most of these farmers already practice precision agriculture and
November 11, 2009 / Media
Presenter: Nik Gowing Guests: Dr Makanjuola Olaseinde Arigbede; Andrew Bennett; Kevin Cleaver; Crawford Falconer; Professor LouiseFresco; Anthony Gooch; Duncan Green; Simeon Greene; The Honourable Kate Kainja Kaluluma; Paul Nicholson;Esther Penunia; Professor Norah Olembo; Peter Robbins; Dr. Pedro Sanchez NIK GOWING:
November 8, 2009 / External Commentaries
By Presenter Nik Gowing Small farmers produce the majority of all the food we consume wherever we are in this world – but in the rich countries and the poorer countries, in the developed world and the developing world, in
November 6, 2009 / African Green Revolution - Theme 1
If you think in terms of systems, or if you live long enough, you come to the view that structural incentives are very very important in shaping outcomes. Other factors -- like capacity, supply drivers, and values -- matter too,
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BBC World Debate: Failing the Farmer?
November 8, 2009 / External Commentaries By Presenter Nik Gowing Small farmers produce the majority of all the food we consume wherever we are in this world – but in the rich countries and the poorer countries, in the developed world and the developing world, in