FAC blog
Opinions and comments from Future Agricultures researchers on agricultural politics, science and society in Africa
Latest articles
The effects of COVID-19 on local food systems and rural livelihoods: An e-Dialogue overview
February 15, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog As COVID-19 took hold in March 2020, the main focus was on ensuring we stayed healthy and safe from infection. However, it soon became clear that the pandemic would have much further reaching effects than just the disease itself –
‘Living under contract’: reflections after 25 years
February 10, 2022 / FAC blog Contract farming in different forms has become increasingly common in farming systems across the world, not least in Zimbabwe, but does it benefit smallholder farmers or exploit them?
The differential effects of COVID-19 on food systems and livelihoods in Africa
February 9, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog The COVID-19 crisis has caused severe disruptions to agri-food systems across the world. In sub-Saharan Africa, where many people already suffer from shocks and stresses related to climate change, conflict and poverty, the pandemic further threatened the economic and nutritional
COVID-19 underlines frailties in Zimbabwe’s food systems
February 8, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog Zimbabwe enforced its first lockdown on 30 March 2020 in an attempt to contain the further spread of COVID-19. On that day, the Ministry of Health and Child Care had officially recorded eight confirmed cases and a single death. The
Assessing the impacts of COVID-19 on food systems and livelihoods in Mngeta division, Tanzania
February 8, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog Since the onset of COVID-19, which was first announce in Tanzania early in March 2020, consecutive waves of the pandemic have resulted in a series of health, social and economic impacts. This was revealed in A Multi-Phase Assessment of The
A way forward for Ethiopia’s rice sector: Outcomes of a national event
February 3, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog This blog is the second in our two-part series on the APRA Ethiopia team’s recent national event, entitled “Rice Sector Transformation Event in Ethiopia – Lessons from APRA Programme”, which aimed to discuss the country’s rice sector, including the trends
Food insecurity and cost of living in Kenya’s rural population amid relaxation of COVID-19 containment measures
February 1, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog After Kenya confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 12, 2020, the country underwent a series of movement restrictions and closures to stymie the spread of COVID-19 infections. The containment measures helped to slow the local spread of coronavirus,
Agrarian change and rural transformation in sub-Saharan Africa: Emerging challenges and regional realities
January 27, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog On 20 January 2022, an e-dialogue was convened to analyse the dynamics of agricultural commercialisation and agrarian change across East, West, and Southern Africa. The programme began with participants engaging in three parallel regional presentations and discussions, and culminated in
Omicron for Christmas: what was the experience in rural Zimbabwe?
January 26, 2022 / FAC blog The Omicron wave peaked in Zimbabwe just before Christmas. With people moving about for the festive season and large numbers coming back from South Africa and elsewhere for the holidays, the fear was that the spread would be dramatic, with
Transforming the rice sector in Ethiopia: Lessons from APRA Programme
January 25, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog The APRA Ethiopia team held a national event to discuss the country’s rice sector, including the trends in the production, import and consumption of rice, the key challenges facing the sector, and the policy and development lessons for addressing the
A multi-phase assessment of the effects of COVID-19 on food systems and rural livelihoods in Nigeria
January 17, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Nigeria, there have been serious concerns about the impact of the pandemic on agri-food systems, given that most of the population depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihoods. These concerns are compounded
Hard pressed but not crushed: A story of resilience and adaptation to COVID in Ghana
January 12, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog The COVID-19 pandemic has killed and destroyed – not only lives – but livelihoods as well. The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted food systems in Ghana since its emergence in the country in March 2020. According to the United Nations World
As Omicron sweeps through Zimbabwe, how are people responding?
January 10, 2022 / FAC blog It was just a few weeks ago that our last report noted the arrival of a new variant identified in South Africa. In the interim Omicron has swept through the country. This initially resulted in panic, with a rush to
A multi-phase assessment of the effects of COVID-19 on food systems and rural livelihoods in Zambia: The case of small-scale farmers surrounding Mkushi Farming Block
January 6, 2022 / APRA blog FAC blog Following the identification of the first COVID-19 case in Zambia on 18 March 2020, the government announced some lockdown measures intended to prevent the spread of pandemic. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has not only led to loss of human
The story of Ghana’s cocoa and oil palm commercialisation outcomes retold at a national dissemination workshop
December 20, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Together with stakeholders from public and private institutions countrywide, the APRA Ghana family gathered at ALISA Hotel in Accra to discuss the key findings emerging from three streams of APRA studies since 2016. Historically, cocoa and oil palm have remained
Beyond impressive results: Are we ready to act?
December 20, 2021 / APRA blog Events FAC blog In its efforts to disseminate the results of a five-year research project, the APRA Malawi team held a national dissemination event at Ufulu Gardens in Lilongwe on 30 November 2021. The event brought together stakeholders from government, donor, civil society,
Can agrarian transformation in Ethiopia’s Fogera Plain be scaled? Lessons from a national engagement workshop
December 16, 2021 / APRA blog Events FAC blog Ethiopia is facing a decline in national rice self-sufficiency and rice imports, which cost the country about US$200 million in 2019. However, there is a pathway to reversing this trend and recovering the national rice sector… The solution? An effective
Ogun State community meetings push for policy on medium-scale farming
December 13, 2021 / APRA blog Events FAC blog Following the conclusion of their research into the opportunities and challenges of medium-scale farming as a pathway to inclusive agricultural commercialisation and improved livelihood outcomes for farming families across Nigeria, researchers on the APRA Nigeria Work Stream 1 (WS1) team
New COVID uncertainties in Zimbabwe
December 10, 2021 / FAC blog The unfolding drama of the pandemic continues. With a new variant identified in the region (Omicron) thanks to the effective work of South African genomics monitoring, Zimbabwe has been subjected to international travel restrictions. However, despite the global concern about
Prospects for smallholder commercialisation in Malawi
December 8, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog This blog is based on APRA Working Paper 75, which presents a historical and contemporary agrarian inquiry into the reality of agricultural commercialisation in Malawi. The study’s key message is that smallholder agricultural commercialisation is possible, but it cannot be
APRA Malawi research team shares research findings
December 6, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Since 2016, the APRA Malawi team has been working to understand the underlying factors of smallholder commercialisation in the groundnut value chain in Mchinji and Ntchisi. Now, following the publication of their research findings, the team is turning its attention
Streetwise explanations for extremely low new COVID-19 cases in Malawi
December 2, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog From September, throughout October and as we now enter November, Malawi has seen its new daily COVID-19 cases sharply reduce to an all-time low. In fact, zero new daily COVID-19 cases have become very common during this period as reported
COP26: Some reflections from Glasgow
November 30, 2021 / FAC blog The COP26 marathon is finally over and on Saturday the Glasgow Climate Pact was agreed. Over ten pages there is lots of urging, noting, inviting, acknowledging, stressing and so on, but few decisions, beyond agreeing to meet again next year
Changing norms for land and labour on cocoa farms in Western Ghana: Flexibility rules
November 29, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog When in the 1880s farmers in southern Ghana began to plant cocoa, their main concerns were finding land to plant and mobilising labour to do so. The issue of finding land remained paramount until at least the 1990s, when the
A multi-phase assessment of the effects of COVID-19 on food systems and rural livelihoods in Ethiopia: The case of Fogera Plain
November 25, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog The COVID-19 pandemic has not only led to the loss of human life and resulted in an unprecedented challenge to public health, but has also seriously affected food systems and work opportunities.Following the confirmation of the first COVID-19 case in
Stakeholders’ take on inclusive agricultural value chains in Tanzania: Feedback from a national workshop
November 22, 2021 / APRA blog Events FAC blog The Tanzanian government, in its efforts to provide food, income, employment and foreign income to its population, is committed to improving the country’s rice and sunflower value chains. This commitment was reiterated at a national feedback workshop held on 26th
APRA Nigeria team shares research findings in Kaduna State
November 17, 2021 / APRA blog Events FAC blog To disseminate their research results and the policy implications that arise from the APRA Nigeria Work Stream 1 (WS1) research, project team gathered community members in two areas of Kaduna State on the 15th-16th November 2021. These events were the
Agricultural commercialisation in Africa, COVID-19 and social difference
November 15, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog African policymaking has turned to agricultural commercialisation as an engine of growth in the 21st century. But the effects have not been the same for everyone, entrenching long-term social difference based on gender, wealth, age and generation, ethnicity and citizenship.
The role of small-scale processors in supporting agricultural commercialisation among smallholder rice farmers in East Africa: Lessons from Ethiopia and Tanzania
November 10, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Until recently, attention to upgrading the rice value chain has been limited in many of Eastern Africa’s rice-producing countries. Yet, it is this mid-stream section (the millers and traders) – the so-called ‘hidden middle’ – which is essential to sustaining
COP26: why a more sophisticated debate on livestock and the climate is needed
November 8, 2021 / FAC blog Last week I was in Glasgow at COP26, shuttling between events in the Blue Zone and the fringe across the city. It was overwhelming, with a cacophony of conflicting voices and views. The first week including a flood of announcements
Zimbabwe’s bumper harvest: what explains the success?
November 4, 2021 / FAC blog As farmers turn to the next season with the beginning of the rains, the country is in a good position having reaped a bumper harvest in 2020/21. An estimated 2.7 million tonnes of maize were produced, triple the amount in
How are different groups affected by the changing land tenure systems in Ghana’s oil palm growing districts?
November 1, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Oil palm is Ghana’s second most important cash crop after cocoa, and the sector is an important contributor to the country’s economy. The production of cash crops in Ghana has largely been dominated by small-scale farmers in mostly rural areas
Precarious prospects? Agricultural commercialisation and climate change in semi-arid Tanzania
October 29, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Commercialisation has long been considered a path out of poverty for farmers across Africa, as elsewhere in the global South; it is also increasingly seen as a means to strengthen farmers’ resilience to climate change. A study carried out in
Lessons from Zimbabwe’s tobacco farmers for the COP26 climate change talks
October 28, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Zimbabwe holds important lessons for the COP26 global climate change talks. This blog, originally published in The Conversation, reflects on the findings of APRA Working Paper 64.
Commercialisation of quality seeds could enhance rice yields in Tanzania
October 25, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Research finds that the productivity of Tanzania’s rice sector could improve due to commercialisation of new varieties.This blog comes against a backdrop of studies, programmes, interventions, and activities by the public and private sectors which work towards commercialisation of rice,
Biodiversity and climate change: why tree planting schemes may not be the answer
October 18, 2021 / FAC blog The first phase of the delayed Biodiversity Convention of the Parties (COP15) ended last week. There has been much talk of linking the twin crises of biodiversity and the climate. Grand plans for protecting 30% of the planet by 2030
Moving up, or out? The political economy of agricultural value chains and commercialisation in Africa
October 14, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Some initial – and selective – reflections on 11 case studies of agricultural value chains and commercialisation across sub-Saharan Africa demonstrate that the policy choices to promote a value chain depend, to a large extent, on its importance to the
Why are farmer-based organisations so weak in southwestern Ghana’s oil palm growing communities?
October 12, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Oil palm, the second most important industrial crop in Ghana, holds the potential to improve farmers’ livelihoods and alleviate rural poverty. It is a quintessentially commercialised crop, being cultivated for sale in local and foreign markets as well as industrial
Monocrop or diversified enterprise portfolio? Lessons for inclusive commercialisation from Singida Region, Tanzania
October 6, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Many people have attributed the Singida Region in Tanzania’s rapid development during the last twenty years to the evolution of the sunflower value chain. The successes of this value chain’ development include increased oilseed production, expanding processing capacity and declining
The politics of control in Zimbabwe’s COVID times
October 4, 2021 / FAC blog The COVID-19 situation in Zimbabwe has improved since our last report, with infection rates and deaths declining in all areas. The alert level has been reduced to Level 2, with restrictions relaxed. At the same time, the vaccination drive has
Holistic adoption of System of Rice Intensification can increase yields: A case of Mngeta, Kilombero District, Tanzania
September 27, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog This blog highlights the findings of APRA Working Paper 66, which discusses the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) interventions and their potential effects on paddy yield and commercialisation in Kilombero district, Tanzania. The study compared the adoption of SRI interventions
Does livestock enhance or reduce crop commercialisation? A case of Singida in Central Tanzania
September 22, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog Livestock is an important component of mixed crop-livestock farming systems in Singida Region in Tanzania, contributing to household income, and reducing poverty in the region. The use of ox-plough to perform farm operations, such as ploughing, and the application of
Challenging simplistic land degradation and restoration narratives in Zimbabwe
September 20, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog In the last blog, I reviewed the results of our land use analysis using a combination of Landsat satellite imagery, document/archival analysis and field interviews from Mvurwi area in northern Zimbabwe from 1984 to 2018, now out as APRA Working
APRA features at the Second Scientific Conference held at the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania
September 16, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog The Agricultural Policy Research in Africa (APRA) participated in a scientific conference at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), Tanzania from 24th May–27th May 2021. Themed ‘Agricultural Technologies, Productivity and Market Competitiveness in Tanzania: Towards an Upper-Middle Income Economy’, the conference
Dynamic drivers of land use change in Zimbabwe
September 13, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog What are the drivers of land use change and how do they interact over time? Are the changes, uni-directional and linear, or are the dynamics more complex? This is the question we posed for our study site in Mvurwi in
Influence of rice commercialisation on poverty reduction levels in Kilombero Valley, Tanzania
September 9, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog The commercialisation of smallholder agriculture has been considered a key strategy for sustainably reducing poverty and achieving equitable growth across many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In Tanzania, linking farmers to markets is pursued as an important strategy towards commercialisation and
Worker-peasants and peasant-workers: new labour regimes in rural Zimbabwe
September 6, 2021 / FAC blog Much academic debate about rural farm labour has focused on the idea of linear transitions in labour regimes through processes of agricultural commercialisation. This sees farmworkers as either moving towards a class of wage-labour, profiting from modernising, efficient, large-scale agricultural
Are smallholder farms or medium-scale farms more productive in Nigeria?
September 2, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), support for smallholder-led agricultural strategy has been motivated by the stylised fact that smallholder farmers are more productive. This stylised fact is known as inverse relationship (IR) between farm size and productivity, which has been widely
Enhancing nutrition for a stronger, sustainable post-COVID-19 rice sector in Africa
August 31, 2021 / APRA blog FAC blog In the second blog of a series following APRA’s participation in an Independent Food Systems Dialogue on sustainable value chains for Africa’s rice sector in a post-COVID 19 context, we examine the nutrition-related outcomes of the dialogue. The event, which