Agricultural policy processes and the youth in Malawi
Agricultural policy processes and the youth in Malawi

Author: Mariam A. T. J. Mapila

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2014-04-23

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13:

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Evidence exists which shows growing disillusionment with and disinterest in agricultural-based livelihoods among the youth in Africa south of the Sahara. This disillusionment raises concerns for the future of agriculture for the developing world as it can lead to higher rural urban migration, unemployment and lowered agricultural productivity. The engagement of youth in agricultural policy formulation processes is seen as one avenue for motivating youth engagement in agriculture. This research seeks to develop a contextual understanding of the level of engagement of youth in agriculture thus providing evidence which can be used to stimulate youth involvement in the sector. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study analyzes the determinants of the engagement by southern African youth in agricultural policy processes using Malawi as a case study.

Agriculture for development in Iraq? Estimating the impacts of achieving the agricultural targets of the national development plan 2013–2017 on economic growth, incomes, and gender equality
Agriculture for development in Iraq? Estimating the impacts of achieving the agricultural targets of the national development plan 2013–2017 on economic growth, incomes, and gender equality

Author: Al-Haboby, Azhr

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2014-05-30

Total Pages: 28

ISBN-13:

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This paper estimates the potential effects of achieving the agricultural goals set out in Iraq’s National Development Plan (NDP) 2013–2017 using a dynamic computable general equilibrium model. The findings suggest that raising agricultural productivity in accordance with the NDP may more than double average agricultural growth rates and add an average of 0.7 percent each year to economywide gross domestic product during the duration of the plan. As a consequence, the economy not only diversifies into agriculture, but agricultural growth also lifts growth in the food processing and service sectors. Achieving the yield targets for cereals (especially wheat) and for fruits and vegetables will have the largest impact on economic growth and household incomes. Household incomes will rise by an estimated 3.3 percent annually. This increase in household incomes will benefit the poorest households and female-headed urban households the most due to a combination of lower food prices and higher incomes from labor and land. Reaping these benefits from agricultural growth will critically depend on the implementation of policies and investments to ensure that additional agricultural produce can be marketed efficiently domestically and compete with imports.

Women’s individual and joint property ownership
Women’s individual and joint property ownership

Author: Doss, Cheryl

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published:

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13:

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Increasingly, women’s property rights are seen as important for both equity and efficiency reasons. While there has been debate in the literature about women are better off with individual rights in contrast to rights jointly with their husband, little empirical work has analyzed this question. In this paper, the relationship of women’s individual and joint property ownership and the level of women’s input into household decisionmaking is explored with data from India, Mali, Malawi, and Tanzania. In the three African countries, women with individual landownership have greater input into household decisionmaking than women whose landownership is joint; both have more input than women who are not landowners. The relationship with other household decisions is more mixed, as is the relationship between housing and input into household decisionmaking. No similar relationship is found in Orissa, India.

Youth and Jobs in Rural Africa
Youth and Jobs in Rural Africa

Author: Valerie Mueller

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2019-11-28

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0192587315

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This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Sub-Saharan Africa's rural population is growing rapidly, and more young people are entering the labour market every year. This raises serious policy questions. Can rural economies absorb enough job seekers? Could better-educated youth transform Africa's rural economies by adopting new technologies and starting businesses? Are policymakers responding to the youth employment challenge? Or will there be widespread unemployment, social instability, and an exodus to cities and abroad? Youth and Jobs in Rural Africa: Beyond Stylized Facts uses survey data to build a nuanced understanding of the constraints and opportunities facing rural youth in Africa. Addressing the questions of Africa's rural youth is currently hampered by major gaps in our knowledge and stylized facts from cross-country trends or studies that do not focus on the core issues. Youth and Jobs in Rural Africa takes a different approach, drawing on household and firm surveys from selected African countries with an explicit focus on rural youth. It argues that a balance between alarm and optimism is warranted, and that Africa's "youth bulge" is not an unprecedented challenge. Jobs in rural areas are limited, but agriculture is transforming and youth are participating, adopting new technologies and running businesses. Governments have adopted youth employment as a priority, but policies often do not address the specific needs of rural populations. Youth and Jobs in Rural Africa emphasizes that by going beyond stylized facts and drawing on more granular analysis, we can design effective policies to turn Africa's youth problem into an opportunity for rural transformation.

Farmers’ preferences for climate-smart agriculture
Farmers’ preferences for climate-smart agriculture

Author: Taneja, Garima

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2014-04-02

Total Pages: 44

ISBN-13:

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This study was undertaken to assess farmers’ preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for various climate-smart interventions in the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The research outputs will be helpful in integrating farmers’ choices with government programs in the selected regions. The Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) was selected because it is highly vulnerable to climate change, which may adversely affect the sustainability of the rice-wheat production system and the food security of the region. Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can mitigate the negative impacts of climate change and improve the efficiency of the rice-wheat-based production system. CSA requires a complete package of practices to achieve the desired objectives, but adoption is largely dependent on farmers’ preferences and their capacity and WTP. To assess farmers’ choices and their WTP for the potential climate-smart technologies and other interventions, we used scoring and bidding protocols implemented through focus group meetings in two distinct regions of Eastern and Western IGP. We find that laser land leveling (LLL), crop insurance, and weather advisory services were the preferred interventions in Eastern IGP. Farmers preferred LLL, direct seeding, zero tillage, irrigation scheduling, and crop insurance in Western IGP. Through the bidding approach, farmers implicitly express their WTP for new technologies that could transform current agricultural practices into relatively low-carbon and more productive farming methods. But actual large-scale adoption of the preferred climate-smart technologies and other interventions would require access to funding as well as capacity building among technology promoters and users.

Agriculture, Diversification, and Gender in Rural Africa
Agriculture, Diversification, and Gender in Rural Africa

Author: Agnes Andersson Djurfeldt

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 0198799284

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This book contributes to the understanding of smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa through addressing the dynamics of intensification and diversification within and outside agriculture in contexts where women have much poorer access to agrarian resources than men

Agricultural Input Subsidies
Agricultural Input Subsidies

Author: Ephraim Chirwa

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2013-09-26

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 0199683522

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This book takes forward our understanding of agricultural input subsidies in low income countries.

Agricultural extension: Global status and performance in selected countries
Agricultural extension: Global status and performance in selected countries

Author: Davis, Kristin E., ed.

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2020-09-02

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 0896293750

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Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters. Agricultural Extension: Global Status and Performance in Selected Countries provides a global overview of agricultural extension and advisory services, assesses and compares extension systems at the national and regional levels, examines the performance of extension approaches in a selected set of country cases, and shares lessons and policy insights. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the book contributes to the literature on extension by applying a common and comprehensive framework — the “best-fit” approach — to assessments of extension systems, which allows for comparison across cases and geographies. Insights from the research support reforms — in governance, capacity, management, and advisory methods — to improve outcomes, enhance financial sustainability, and achieve greater scale. Agricultural Extension should be a valuable resource for policymakers, extension practitioners, and others concerned with agricultural development.

Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa
Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2019-03-13

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 9251308713

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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.