Book chapter

Book chapter

Across Africa buying and selling connects people. For a small-scale farmer, this trade takes place primarily within a limited geographic area based on access to market centers of a given size. The maps illustrate these areas using different colors to represent marketsheds—geographical areas and associated populations that are part of real or potential trade networks with a given market. From any location within a marketshed, it takes less time to travel to the corresponding market compared to any neighboring markets.

This paper was written to help bolster the case and present visual evidence demonstrating why it is important to seriously consider spatial soil fertility variability in Ghana and to promote area-specific fertilizer recommendations. Using geostatistical analysis of soil samples collected from farmer plots in three districts (Tamale Municipality, Savelugu-Nanton, and West Mamprusi in northern Ghana), the paper analyzes spatial variations in soil fertility.

Book chapter

Book chapter

Book chapter

Absolute levels of staffing in public agriculture research and development (R&D) vary considerably across the 39 countries in Africa south of the Sahara participating in the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicator (ASTI) survey (Map 1). In 2011, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, and Tanzania each employed more than 500 full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers.

Book chapter

Africa has long needed to significantly and sustainably intensify its smallholder agriculture. But achieving large-scale, sustainable increases in productivity is a complex process. Less-than-ideal growing conditions, limited suitable space for expansion, and a lack of infrastructure and support services may limit farmers’ prospects and give them few incentives to invest.

Book chapter

The Atlas of African Agriculture Research & Development is a multifaceted resource that high­lights the ubiquitous nature of smallholder agriculture in Africa; the many factors shaping the location, nature, and performance of agricultural enterprises; and the strong interde­pendencies among farming, natural resource stocks and flows, rural infrastructure, and the well-being of the poor.