In this study we investigate whether the increasing investment in smallholder oil palm plantations that contributes to deforestation is motivated by financial gains or other factors. We evaluate the financial viability of smallholder farmers selling fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) to intermediaries or agro-industrial companies with mills, or processing the FFBs in artisanal mills to produce palm oil. We use data collected in four oil palm production basins in Cameroon and carried out a life cycle assessment of oil palm cultivation and CPO production to understand financial gains.

Although agriculture is the backbone of the African economy, it has faced considerable challenges in the past sixty years. Africa has moved from being a self-sufficiency continent before the 1960s, to net food importers, with a handful of countries facing severe food shortages from drought, desertification, climate change and wars. In this article, we use the case of Northern Ghana to explore some of the salient dynamics that have resulted in the current crisis in the African agricultural sector over time.

Agricultural systems in Southeast Asia are rapidly transitioning from subsistence-oriented to market-oriented agriculture. Driven by the highly complex and variable decision processes of individual farm households, these transitions have produced a diverse landscape mosaic across the region. Elucidation and characterization of underlying decision-making processes, and the factors that influence land use choices, are thus essential for sustainable land use planning.

The report describes the approach and results of community wealth ranking (CWR) exercises conducted in 2015-2016 to ascertain the wealth groups and their characteristics of selected banana-producing communities in two regions of Uganda and four of Tanzania. The CWR information gathered was aimed at informing current and future banana breeding initiatives in and

Latin America and the Caribbean economies began to slow down and stagnate during the 2008 economic crisis. This situation has been aggravated by the current health crisis, which is expected

Most food in sub-Saharan Africa is produced on small farms. Using large datasets from household surveys conducted across many countries, we find that the majority of farms are less than 1 ha, much smaller than previous estimates. Farms are larger in farming systems in drier climates. Through a detailed analysis of food self-sufficiency, food and nutrition security, and income among households from divergent farming systems in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda, we reveal marked contrasts in food security and household incomes.

Dairy development is a promising pathway out of poverty for smallholder farmers as demand for animal-sourced foods is projected to rise. Feed is a critically limiting factor in productivity of smallholder dairy systems in East Africa. This study aims to introduce and provide proof-of-concept for a relatively simple approach to quantify feeding systems and feed gaps in data-scarce smallholder systems. Feed gap here is defined as the difference between livestock feed demand for an attainable milk production level (attainable feed demand) and actual feed supply at individual herd level.

The Agriculture Sector Gender Policy has been reviewed and revised through six key thematic areas – Gender and Social Inclusion (GeSI) and the five thematic areas in Agriculture that intersect with gender, namely, Agriculture Value Chain Development (AVCD); Food and Nutrition Security (FNS); Climate Change (CC); National and Devolved Governance; and the Strategic Analysis Knowledge Support System (SAKSS), in eight Regional Economic Blocs (REB). Evidence of gender gaps and their determinants in agricultural productivity in Africa exists.

Food systems that support healthy diets in sustainable, resilient, just, and equitable ways can engender progress in eradicating poverty and malnutrition; protecting human rights; and restoring natural resources. Food system activities have contributed to great gains for humanity but have also led to significant challenges, including hunger, poor diet quality, inequity, and threats to nature.

Ustadi and CTA have jointly implemented the project “Youth economic empowerment through agribusiness in Kenya (VijaBiz)” in the Nakuru and Kilifi counties in Kenya. The project aimed to create sustainable employment for rural youth through active engagement in agribusiness for wealth creation and poverty reduction. More specifically, VijaBiz built entrepreneurship capacity for 163 youth agribusiness groups in cereals, dairy and fishery value chains in the Kilifi and Nakuru counties.

Consumption of potatoes and potato products is growing rapidly in Southeast Asia. There are significant opportunities for improved potato production and utilization of technologies in this part of the world to address poverty, food security, and environmental degradation. Potato production is also a highly profitable activity. The market for fresh consumption of potatoes is expanding in most of Asia in response to income growth and urbanization.

Cassava is a commodity root crop grown globally for food and industrial purposes. In Colombia, it is the ninth most planted agricultural product involving more than 140 thousand farmers. Despite the key role it plays in the Colombian agricultural sector, information regarding the crop’s management or how cassava growers select on cultivars to grow for different purposes is limited or inexistent. This working paper exploits two separate primary data surveys at household-level in the Caribbean region and Cauca main cassava growing areas of Colombia.