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Agribusiness competitiveness: Applying analytics, typology, and measurements to Africa

Author : Shishodia, Mahika

Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Page : 44 pages

File Size : 13,3 MB

Release : 2017-07-02

Category : Political Science

ISBN :

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Book Description

Agribusiness has a major role to play in the transformation of the agricultural sector in Africa. With the demand for high-value food products increasing around the world, the production and export of these goods represents an opportunity to achieve increases in income and employment. To capture the benefits of this trend and capitalize on this opportunity for long-term agricultural growth, agribusiness in Africa must become more competitive. In addition to improving competitiveness, increasing agricultural productivity and food security are also major challenges in African agricultural development. In this paper, we compare the agribusiness competitiveness of African countries and develop typologies connected with their food security and agricultural productivity status. The typologies reveal various stylized facts on the competitiveness of agribusiness to help nations prioritize issues for agricultural development and growth. We develop the measures of agribusiness competitiveness and apply them to African countries. Additionally, we present policy implications and lessons for increasing the competitiveness of agribusiness in African countries.



Addressing transboundary cooperation in the Eastern Nile through the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Insights from an E-survey and key informant interviews

Author : Elnasikh, Sara

Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Page : 56 pages

File Size : 27,11 MB

Release : 2017-06-23

Category : Political Science

ISBN :

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Book Description

The Nile is the lifeblood of northeastern Africa, and its roles for and interdependency with the national economies it traverses and binds together grow as it moves from source to sea. With rapid economic development—population growth, irrigation development, rural electrification, and overall economic growth—pressures on the Nile’s water resources are growing to unprecedented levels. These drivers of change have already contributed to stark changes in the hydropolitical regime, and new forms of cooperation and cross-sectoral collaboration are needed, particularly in the Eastern Nile Basin countries of Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan. As direct sharing of water resources is hampered by unilateral developments, the need has increased for broader, cross-sectoral collaboration around the water, energy, and food sectors. This study is conducted to assess and understand the challenges of and opportunities for cooperation across the water-energy-food nexus nationally in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, as well as regionally across the Eastern Nile. To gather data, the paper uses an e-survey supplemented with key informant interviews geared toward national-level water, energy, and agriculture stakeholders, chiefly government staff and researchers. Findings from the survey tools suggest that most respondents strongly agree that collaboration across the water, energy, and agriculture sectors is essential to improve resource management in the region. At the same time, there is ample scope for improvement in collaboration across the water, energy, and food sectors nationally. Ministries of water, energy, and food were identified as the key nexus actors at national levels; these would also need to be engaged in regional cross-sectoral collaboration. Respondents also identified a wide range of desirable cross-sectoral actions and investments—both national and regional—chiefly, joint planning and operation of multipurpose infrastructure; investment in enhanced irrigation efficiency; joint rehabilitation of upstream catchments to reduce sedimentation and degradation; and investment in alternative renewable energy projects, such as wind and solar energy.



Food and nutrition security in transforming Ghana: A descriptive analysis of national trends and regional patterns

Author : Van Asselt, Joanna

Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Page : 56 pages

File Size : 46,55 MB

Release : 2017-06-16

Category : Political Science

ISBN :

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Book Description

In recent decades, Ghana has experienced high economic growth and transformation, which contributed to the nation achieving the Millennium Development Goal targets on reducing extreme poverty and hunger. Against this background and in view of achieving the food and nutrition security targets of the Sustainable Development Goals, Ghana started a process of reviewing its food security and nutrition strategies and policies, including the overarching Zero Hunger Strategy. This discussion paper aims to contribute to this process by providing an update on the state of Ghana’s food and nutrition security. In addition to providing an overview of long-term historical trends at the national level, this analysis provides an overview of regional patterns of food and nutrition insecurity and recent changes across Ghana’s 10 administrative regions. Finally, the analysis identifies regional “hot spots” of food and nutrition insecurity. This paper confirms that Ghana has achieved substantial improvements in food and nutrition security overall, especially over the past decade. Nationwide, progress has been made in improving households’ economic access to food by reducing poverty and extreme poverty and in reducing chronic and acute child undernutrition. However, progress in reducing micronutrient malnutrition—particularly anemia and especially among young children—has been more modest. Across Ghana, large rural-urban gaps and regional differences—mainly between the north and the south—remain for most dimensions of food and nutrition security. In addition, Ghana is increasingly facing new nutrition-related public health problems that result from overnutrition and diets too rich in calories. Overweight and obesity among adults are rising rapidly in both urban and rural areas, leading to an increase in the risk of noncommunicable diseases. The rising double burden of malnutrition—that is, the coexistence of overnutrition and undernutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies—constitutes a challenge to public health and social protection policy. These new nutritional realities may make some existing food and nutrition security policies obsolete or even detrimental to nutrition security.



Overview of the evolution of agricultural mechanization in Nepal: A focus on tractors and combine harvesters

Author : Takeshima, Hiroyuki

Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Page : 54 pages

File Size : 35,69 MB

Release : 2017-07-21

Category : Political Science

ISBN :

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Book Description

This study was conducted to understand the evolution of agricultural mechanization in Nepal, specifically its determinants on both the demand and supply sides, as well as impacts on agricultural production and associations with broader economic transformation processes, in order to draw lessons that can be conveyed to other less mechanized countries. Mechanization levels in Nepal, a largely agricultural country, were relatively low until a few decades ago. However, significant mechanization growth, including the adoption of tractors, has occurred since the 1990s, against a backdrop of rising rural wages, particularly for plowing, combined with growing emigration and growth in key staple crop yields and overall broad agricultural production growth, as well as improved market access and participation. This growth in mechanization has taken place despite the general absence of direct government support or promotion. The growth of tractor use in the plains of the Terai zone has transformed agricultural production rather than inducing labor movement out of agriculture, raising overall returns to scale in intensification and enabling the cultivation of greater areas by medium smallholders than by resource-poor smallholders. Tractors have also facilitated the intensification of crop production per unit of land among very small farmers, enabling mechanization growth despite the continued decline in farm size, although these farmers may not have benefited as much as medium smallholders. Potential future research areas with policy relevance include mitigating accessibility constraints to tractor custom hiring services, identifying appropriate regulatory policies for mechanization, and providing complementary support to some smallholders who may not fully benefit from tractor adoption alone.



Pathways from agriculture to nutrition in India: Implications for sustainable development goals

Author : Babu, Suresh Chandra

Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Page : 40 pages

File Size : 34,26 MB

Release : 2017-06-09

Category : Political Science

ISBN :

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Book Description

emphasizes the importance of identifying different pathways from agriculture to nutrition for better nutritional outcomes. Using a disaggregated dashboard approach with agriculture, food consumption, and demographic and health survey data, this study examines the progress of Indian states toward the Sustainable Development Goals. There is evidence of both disconnects and linkages among food security indicators along the agriculture-nutrition pathways. Through a broadened and comprehensive approach under one coordinating body with a good set of improved interventions and governance, Indian states can attain food and nutrition security by 2030. Such evidence based policy making is need of the hour to observe impact on the ground, rather than framing policies based on ideologies. At a time when the focus is more and more on impact, the shift



Is the WTO dispute settlement procedure fair to developing countries?

Author : Metivier, Jeanne

Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Page : 58 pages

File Size : 15,67 MB

Release : 2017-06-16

Category : Political Science

ISBN :

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Book Description

Since the inception of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995, member countries have been heavily relying on the organization's dispute settlement procedure (DSP). Exploiting a new database on WTO litigations between 1995 and 2014, this paper describes disputes initiated over this period and identifies potential sources of bias concerning the participation of developing countries. The analysis builds on three different models to determine country i's probability of initiating a dispute against country j. Either it depends only on the two countries' structure of trade, that is the number of products exported by i to j (a situation we refer to as the rules-based model), or it is also affected by country i's or country j's specific characteristics (the unilateral power-based model), or it is also affected by bilateral economic and trade relations between countries i and j (the bilateral power-based model). We find that country i's structure of trade with j plays an important role in explaining the probability that i initiates a dispute against j under the DSP. Furthermore, country i's legal capacity and both countries' political regimes also affect this probability. However, we do not find that bilateral relationships between i and j, such as participants' capacity to retaliate against each others have an impact on dispute initiation.



Building Competitiveness in Africa's Agriculture

Author : C. Martin Webber

Publisher : World Bank Publications

Page : 204 pages

File Size : 34,8 MB

Release : 2009-12-16

Category : Business & Economics

ISBN : 082137964X

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Book Description

Value chain based approaches offer tremendous scope for market-based improvements in production, productivity, rural economy diversification, and household incomes, but are often covered by literature that is too conceptual or heavily focused on analysis. This has created a gap in the information available to planners, practitioners, and value chain participants. Furthermore, few references are available on how these approaches can be applied specifically to developing agriculture in Africa. 'Building Competitiveness in Africa s Agriculture: A Guide to Value Chain Concepts and Applications' describes practical implementation approaches and illustrates them with scores of real African agribusiness case studies. Using these examples, the 'Guide' presents a range of concepts, analytical tools, and methodologies centered on the value chain that can be used to design, implement, and evaluate agricultural and agribusiness development initiatives. It stresses principles of market focus, collaboration, information sharing, and innovation. The 'Guide' begins by examining core concepts and issues related to value chains. A brief literature review then focuses on five topics of particular relevance to African agricultural value chains. These topics address challenges faced by value chain participants and practitioners that resonate through the many cases described in the book. The core of the book presents methodological tools and approaches that blend important value chain concepts with the topics and with sound business principles. The tools and case studies have been selected for their usefulness in supporting market-driven, private-sector initiatives to improve value chains. The 'Guide' offers 13 implementation approaches, presented within the implementation cycle of a value chain program, followed by descriptions of actual cases. Roughly 60 percent of the examples are from Africa, while the rest come from Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The 'Guide' offers useful guidance to businesspeople, policy makers, representatives of farmer or trade organizations, and others who are engaged in agro-enterprise and agribusiness development. These readers will learn how to use value chain approaches in ways that can contribute to sound operational decisions, improved market linkage, and better results for enterprise and industry development.



Agribusiness for Africa's Prosperity

Author : United Nations Industrial Development Organization

Publisher : UN

Page : 0 pages

File Size : 40,52 MB

Release : 2011

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 9789211064469

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Book Description

In recent years, a renewed focus on agriculture has been evident in policy and development agendas for the African continent, yet little knowledge has been generated on the interlinkages of production, agroindustry and markets, as well as the potentials and challenges for developing these. This publication analyzes the challenges, the potential and opportunities of African agribusiness in the current period of dramatic changes in global agro-industrial markets, and builds a case for agribusiness development as a path to Africa's prosperity. Written by international experts, from agribusiness practitioners, to academic experts and UN technical agencies, this volume fills what the United Nations Industrial Development Organization perceived as a significant gap in knowledge concerning these issues.





Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa

Author : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher : Food & Agriculture Org.

Page : 150 pages

File Size : 49,36 MB

Release : 2019-03-13

Category : Technology & Engineering

ISBN : 9251308713

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Book Description

This framework presents ten interrelated principles/elements to guide Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa (SAMA). Further, it presents the technical issues to be considered under SAMA and the options to be analysed at the country and sub regional levels. The ten key elements required in a framework for SAMA are as follows: The analysis in the framework calls for a specific approach, involving learning from other parts of the world where significant transformation of the agricultural mechanization sector has already occurred within a three-to-four decade time frame, and developing policies and programmes to realize Africa’s aspirations of Zero Hunger by 2025. This approach entails the identification and prioritization of relevant and interrelated elements to help countries develop strategies and practical development plans that create synergies in line with their agricultural transformation plans. Given the unique characteristics of each country and the diverse needs of Africa due to the ecological heterogeneity and the wide range of farm sizes, the framework avoids being prescriptive.