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The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative: what’s in it for Africa?
May 15, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog The huge Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Forum recently concluded in Beijing. 37 heads of state attended, along with droves of policy advisors and numerous thinktanks and research institutes, including IDS where I work. Monica Mutsvanga, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services,
Challenging desertification myths
May 10, 2019 / FAC blog Tales of desertification across the world’s drylands are a recurrent theme in policy. This week’s blog reviews an excellent book that takes issue with many of the assumptions around desertification – The End of Desertification? Disputing Environmental Change in the Drylands.
Seeing Conflict at the Margins: understanding community experiences through social research and digital narrative in Kenya and Madagascar.
May 8, 2019 / News This month a new website is being launched for a project called ‘Seeing Conflict at the Margins: understanding community experiences through social research and digital narrative in Kenya and Madagascar.’ Their activities and some links are introduced below – for
APRA involved at the event: Towards a Pan-African Transformation: Innovative Approaches to Evidence uptake and use in Africa.
May 3, 2019 / Events News Date: 02 May 2019 – 03 May 2019 CABE Africa (https://www.cabe-africa.org/) are hosting Utafiti Sera, a policy research community of practice, via PASGR (Partnership for African Social & Governance Research). Hannigton Odame of APRA is conducting a presentation: “Charting the
It is impossible to commercialise agriculture in Malawi: A quick political economy audit
May 3, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog Introduction Agriculture is the mainstay of Malawi’s economy; it contributes between 30 to 40 % of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); employs 85 % of the workforce; accounts for about 60 % of rural income; and, contributes about 90 %
EVENT – APRA Public Debate on the Character of the Agrarian Question in the Contemporary Africa
May 3, 2019 / Events News The event will take place on 14 May 2019, from 13:00-15:00 at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
Cyclone Idai hits Agriculture in Beira Corridor: Preparing for the Future
May 1, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog ESA: “This Copernicus Sentinel-1 image indicates where the flood waters are finally beginning to recede west of the port city of Beira in Mozambique. The image merges three separate satellite radar images from before the storm on 13 March, from
PLAAS hosting new roundtable: ‘What is the character of the Agrarian Question in contemporary Africa?’
April 30, 2019 / APRA blog Events News The APRA South Africa Hub at the Institute of Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) is hosting a roundtable on the question: ‘What is the character of the Agrarian Question in contemporary Africa? Perspectives from East, West and Southern Africa’?
Building Livelihoods: Young People and Agricultural Commercialisation – Tanzania Country Study
April 18, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog With many African young people living in rural areas, their economies are characterised by small manufacturers and high rates of youth unemployment. Unemployment has been a major concern especially for graduates who seek formal employment in the urban areas. However,
Consultation, Involvement, and Ownership: Key Messages from a Dissemination event on Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) study.
April 17, 2019 / News On 14 February 2019, in partnership with the Rift Valley Forum, the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) of the University of Western Cape, and APRA conducted a panel discussion to disseminate a new report – ‘Participation, Voice
So Near Yet So Far: Some Reflections on Land Reforms in Southern Africa
April 12, 2019 / FAC blog Land is the most critical productive asset in southern Africa, yet it remains a subject of unending contestations. The protracted land efforts in most of these countries have not yielded acceptable outcomes to all stakeholders. The land question is very
The Changing Face of African Agriculture: Farm Size Distributions in Sub-Saharan Africa
April 10, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog In Jeffrey Herbst’s seminal book, States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control, African states and local traditional authorities are struggling over control of land. Herbst’s prescient observation, written in 2000, continues to unfold in dramatic ways
Agricultural Commercialisation Pathways and Household Outcomes: The Tale of Four Oil Palm Output Sales Arrangements in South-Western Ghana
April 3, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog The availability of well-developed markets for agricultural output is crucial for boosting commercialisation and reducing poverty in rural sub-Saharan Africa. Oil palm, Ghana’s most important traditional export crop besides cocoa is widely produced in south-western Ghana, particularly the Ahanta West
At what level is market participation by smallholder farmers considered commercial farming?
March 27, 2019 / FAC blog There is consensus in literature that smallholder agriculture commercialisation occurs when farmers produce more output per unit of land and labour by using improved technologies, such as improved seed and inorganic fertiliser; produce greater surpluses; and, increase their market participation,
Irrigating Africa: can small-scale farmers lead the way?
March 22, 2019 / FAC blog Ian Scoones, University of Sussex We often hear that irrigation in Africa is too limited, and that the key to a “green revolution” on the continent is to expand to levels seen in Asia. But what if there is much
Youth engagement with commercialisation hotspots in Ghana
March 21, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog Youth unemployment and underemployment are key development challenges facing many developing countries, especially in Africa. In working to address these challenges, there is a belief among policymakers and development practitioners that the rural economy – built around agriculture, but encompassing
Models for integrated resource assessment: biases and uncertainties
March 20, 2019 / FAC blog What are the most appropriate ways of understanding changes in natural resource change in rural areas, particularly in the context of climate change? How can we make use of data that is patchy and uncertain? How can models help decision-making
Animal vs tractor power: emerging mechanisation dynamics in Mvurwi
March 15, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog Debate on agricultural mechanisation has largely been framed as policy choices between markets versus state intervention. Within the market conceptualization, adoption of tractors is seen as a derivative of changes in the costs within factors of production such as land,
The politics of land occupations in Zimbabwe
March 13, 2019 / FAC blog How land was invaded and occupied during Zimbabwe’s land reform in 2000 remains a contentious issue. The lack of detailed empirical work uncovering the histories of occupations has hampered the debate, but this is now changing. To date, there have
An Invisible Sugar Subsidy: Distress Cattle Sales by Bodi Agro-Pastoralists in Southern Ethiopia
March 7, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog In South Omo in 2011, the Ethiopian government commenced its flagship sugar industrialisation project – one of the most controversial elements of its broader ambitions to build a developmental state. The plantations were planned to cover about 175,000 hectares of
Cocoa Commercialisation in Ghana: History and Social Values
March 1, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog Agricultural commercialisation is by no means new to Africa and emerged in the early 19th century, with the development of export crops for the European market. Since the cocoa industry has developed across various policy epochs, this history can provide
Injera: Is Rice Commercialisation Changing Traditional Ethiopian Recipes?
February 21, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog The most traditional food item commonly found on the table of Ethiopians for breakfast, lunch and dinner is injera, which is made from teff. However, there appears to be a change occurring – and not only in the extent of
Corridors Mini-Series: Agricultural Commercialisation along Mozambique’s Growth Corridors
February 14, 2019 / FAC blog People cannot eat gas, oil or coal Since he took office in 2015, president Filipe Nyusi has sought to redirect the attention of Mozambicans, from the prospect of wealth associated with the exploration of natural resources, to increasing agricultural production
Corridors Mini-Series: Accumulation and Contested Commercialisation in Tanzania
February 13, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog Tanzania, like many other African countries, needs significant investment in agriculture to achieve key development goals – poverty alleviation, economic growth and industrialisation, food security and improved nutrition. Since the late 2000s, the Tanzanian government, in partnership with donor agencies
Corridors Mini-Series: Anticipating Lamu’s New Corridor on Kenya’s Coast
February 12, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog The day starts early in Lamu, an ancient archipelago on Kenya’s northern coast. Fishermen, sailors and boat makers can be seen striding towards the sea, where moon-powered tides and sea waves are the undisputed masters. Hours later, their skiffs return
APRA Brief 14: Participation, Voice and Governance in African Investment Corridors
February 12, 2019 / APRA Briefs Publications An investment or growth corridor is a geographical area of a country or group of countries surrounding a major transport route, which supports economic activity either end of, and along, the route. Drawing on APRA’s work studying growth corridors in
APRA Brief 13: The Political Economy of Agricultural Commercialistion in Malawi
February 12, 2019 / APRA Briefs Publications Malawi is a predominantly agrarian economy. With around 85 percent of the country’s population relying on agriculture for their livelihoods, it is estimated that the sector makes up as much as 35 percent of GDP, 80 percent of export earnings,
APRA Brief 12: The Political Economy of Agricultural Commercialisation in Africa
February 12, 2019 / APRA Briefs Publications This brief seeks to identify key factors that influence the strength and composition of coalitions in favour of and against policies that promote agricultural commercialisation, or that influence the commercialisation trajectory that unfolds within a country or sector. It also
Corridors Mini-Series: The Political Economy of Agricultural Growth Corridors in Eastern Africa
February 11, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog A new wave of agricultural commercialisation is being promoted across Africa’s eastern seaboard, by a broad range of influential actors – from international corporations to domestic political and business elites. Growth corridors, linking infrastructure development, mining and agriculture for export,
Shortages and Price Distortions in Zimbabwe
February 7, 2019 / FAC blog The commercialisation of agriculture is a function of state policy and the macro-economic conditions of the country. Interviews with Zimbabwe’s medium-scale farmers, held in January 2019, revealed that economic conditions in the country are negatively affecting the viability of agricultural
Malnutrition Amidst Flourishing Farming: What is the Way-Out?
February 4, 2019 / FAC blog Traditionally, farming provides foods, money and shelter to several rural households and enables support for other members of the society – subsistence farming provided this support for a long time before the advent of commercial farming. Traditional farming focused on
‘SRI’ in Kilombero Valley: Potential, Misconception and Reality
January 25, 2019 / FAC blog The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) has been promoted in rice growing areas worldwide – including Tanzania’s Kilombero district – aiming to reduce the cost of production while improving farm-level productivity, and thereby increasing household income and food security. Kilombero
Waste to Wealth: Indigenous Cocoa Farmers in Nigeria
January 17, 2019 / APRA blog FAC blog The subject of poverty, particularly among rural households, has been a dominant discourse among academics in Nigeria for over three decades – despite the economic potential that abounds in the country’s agricultural sector, and the cocoa sector in particular. Often,
APRA Annual Review Workshop 2018
January 11, 2019 / APRA blog News From 3–6 December 2018, APRA staff met in Accra, Ghana for the annual APRA review workshop. With the broad scope of the APRA programme – comprising studies being undertaken across six African countries within three work streams – the annual
The First National Rice Promotion Event: Is rice getting more attention in Ethiopia?
January 9, 2019 / News Ethiopia’s first National Rice Promotion Event was held on 21 December 2018 in Addis Ababa, to examine the current status of rice research and development in Ethiopia, and to identify key issues that demand interventions. Specifically, the event – and
APRA Annual Review Workshop 2018
January 7, 2019 / FAC blog It has successfully happened again! Following Cape Town in 2017, the APRA Annual Review Workshop train landed in Accra, Ghana from 3–6 December 2018. This year, the City Escape Hotel in Prampram (an eastern suburb town located 34 kilometres from
Zimbabweland’s top 20 posts of 2018
December 18, 2018 / FAC blog The most popular blogposts published in 2018 are listed below. Debates in Zimbabwe have been dominated by the July election and their aftermath, and several popular blogs covered this period, both before and after the elections. The deepening economic crisis and
Should Aid Subsidise Foreign Business to Invest in African Agriculture
December 11, 2018 / FAC blog Promoting private sector investment in order to achieve global development goals is a persistent (if controversial) theme in the 21st century. From Paul Collier’s recent anti-NGO polemic (“If you want to help Africa, let business lead the way”) to DFID’s
Can Rice Commercialisation Transform Agrarian Society in Ethiopia?
November 27, 2018 / APRA blog FAC blog Driving through the Fogera Plain on a sunny September morning, lush paddy fields strewn out in front of us, it is hard to imagine we are in Ethiopia – the land of teff, a native grain crop which has been
Nigeria: Vieiwing Iwara’s Cocoa Sector Through a Gendered Lens
November 22, 2018 / APRA blog FAC blog The commercialisation of agriculture is pivotal in the development of rural economies, and ultimately helping farmers to escape poverty. In Nigeria, cocoa production is paramount for raising farmers’ income and economic status. The commercialisation of subsistence agriculture can help to
When Pastoralism Meets Oil: Learning From Oil Finds in Turkana, Kenya
November 16, 2018 / FAC blog Eastern Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies. Foreign capital has streamed into this region over the past ten to fifteen years – into large infrastructure programmes consisting of roads, railways, ports and pipelines, and into
The Political Economy of Agricultural Commercialisation in Zimbabwe
November 15, 2018 / FAC blog The Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) programme of the Future Agricultures Consortium has recently produced a series of papers on the political economy of agricultural commercialisation. The paper on Zimbabwe by Toendepi Shonhe argues that “debates on Zimbabwe’s agricultural
Isene Village, Tanzania: A Story of Sunflowers and Empowerment
November 12, 2018 / APRA blog FAC blog It is often the case that when crops or enterprises become commercialised, women lose out as men step in and take control of resources as well as selling produce. Unless such practices are addressed, emerging opportunities for female empowerment will
An Interview with APRA Nigeria Researcher, Thomas Jayne
November 5, 2018 / News In a recent interview for SciDev.net, APRA Nigeria researcher Thomas Jayne discusses the state of agricultural commercialisation in Africa, with specific reference to emerging technological innovations. “There’s a lot more capital moving into agriculture than there used to be,” Jayne
APRA at the 19th NAAE Conference
November 5, 2018 / FAC blog It is an accepted fact that agriculture in Nigeria has suffered as a result of the oil ‘resource curse effect’ and inappropriate policies and institutions, such as weak market institutions. Although the discovery of crude oil has lessened the country’s
APRA Brief 11: The Political Economy of Agricultural Commercialisation in Ethiopia: Discourses, Actors and Structural Impediments
November 5, 2018 / APRA Briefs Publications This brief examines the political economy of agricultural commercialisation in Ethiopia, by analysing the changing political landscape and electoral trends spanning the past three decades. It gives an overview of the emphasis placed on agriculture, and the promotion of agricultural
APRA Brief 10: Women’s Empowerment and the Commercialisation of African Agriculture
November 1, 2018 / APRA Briefs Publications This brief presents a summary of key issues in research on women’s empowerment, drawn from an APRA working paper commissioned to support the design of APRA’s research on pathways to agricultural commercialisation in Africa. In the context of African agriculture,
APRA Brief 9: Partnerships, Platforms and Policies: Strengthening Farmer Capacity to Harness Technological Innovation for Agricultural Commercialisation
November 1, 2018 / APRA Briefs Publications This brief uses three STI revolution storylines based on case studies from Ethiopia, Zambia, and Ghana to highlight the enabling factors that make STI a vehicle for agricultural commercialisation. The storylines based on the three case studies were identified considering
Policy and Advocacy Forum: Empowerment of Women in Agriculture
October 30, 2018 / News On 6 September 2018, APRA Malawi team member Loveness Msofi Mgalamadzi attended the ‘Policy and Advocacy Forum: Empowerment of Women in Agriculture’, held in Lilongwe, Malawi. This one-day meeting was organized by the Civil Society Agricultural Network (CISANET), with support