Maize is the most important staple in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with highly seasonal production. High storage losses affect food security, but good estimations are lacking. A new method using focus group discussions (FGDs) was tested with 121 communities (1439 farmers, 52% women) in Kenya's six maize-growing zones, to estimate the maize losses to storage pests and analyze farmer practices. As control strategies, half of the farmers used chemical pesticides (49%), while hermetic bags (16%) and botanicals (15%) were also popular.

Agriculture is a significant and primary sector of the Indian economy and is crucial for ensuring the food, nutrition, and livelihood security of about 80% of the population. Even though India has achieved ‘selfsufficiency’ in food grains production through Green Revolution, it faces challenges like loss of soil fertility, waterlogging, ground, and surface water pollution, intensified pests and diseases, increased farm input prices, and regional disparity (Cummings, 2019).

We study the impact of one-season transfers framed for agricultural investment combined with agricultural support services on decision making among smallholder households in Senegal and Malawi using data from randomized control trials. In Senegal, we find evidence that the program increased the decision power of male household heads at the expense of other males in the household after two years. We cannot disentangle the impacts of the farm planning program and the lump sum transfer that comprised that program.

Despite decades of research and dissemination of improved sweetpotato varieties, uptake at scale remains low and envisaged development goals of food security and livelihoods remain elusive. This is despite demonstrated impacts of such technologies in combating food and nutrition insecurity, amidst global challenges like climate change.

A key factor hindering the advancement of agricultural productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa is inadequate agricultural technologies that address specific local problems. The modalities employed for technology transfer often overlook the unique local contexts and the specific needs of the intended recipients. This study investigates various approaches that can be used to effectively disseminate livestock production technologies through radio received by smallholder farmers.

In the context of climate change, the sowing date and cultivar choice can influence the productivity of sorghum, especially where production is constrained by low soil fertility and early terminal drought across the challenging agro-ecologies of north-eastern Nigeria. Planting within an optimal sowing window to fit the cultivar’s maturity length is critical for maximizing/increasing the crop yield following the appropriate climate-smart management practices.

The role of market concentration and potential market power exertion in the agri-food industry is a topic of longstanding interest and concern to policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers. This study provides a comprehensive overview of recent trends in market concentration upstream, midstream, and downstream the agri-food industry at the global, regional, and country level, and assesses how and to what extent concentration could be affecting market conduct and performance of food systems in developed and developing countries.

The Guide includes detailed protocols and procedures for evaluating cacao in various forms, such as unroasted cacao bean coarse powder, cacao mass, and chocolate. These methodologies have been developed over several years by a diverse group of experts, enabling objective assessments of cacao quality and flavour. It provides a universal language for describing cacao attributes, for a shared understanding among cacao professionals worldwide.

One of the key activities (Deliverable 7) under the APART project is “Improving impact of aquaculture and beel fisheries on human Nutrition”. WorldFish with partners is supporting the implementation of this activity. This consolidated report summarizes all the work done by WorldFish and partners as part of deliverable 7. The project has developed and tested several Social Behavioural Change Communication (SBCC) resources (e.g.

Fusarium wilt of banana is a devastating disease that has decimated banana production worldwide. Host resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Cubense (Foc), the causal agent of this disease, is genetically dissected in this study using two Musa acuminata ssp. Malaccensis segregating populations, segregating for Foc Tropical (TR4) and Subtropical (STR4) race 4 resistance.

Financial inclusion has become an important goal of the global development agenda, particularly for post-conflict and fragile states. Enhancing financial inclusion is vital for a country like Burundi which aims to achieve inclusive growth in its attempt to break free of its fragility. However, the adoption of instruments of financial inclusion such as bank account, microfinance account and mobile money account is low due to weak institutional capacity leading to high-risk exposure and a greater risk of economic instability.

BACKGROUND