There is clearly a link between agricultural incentives and the environment, but quantitative data on such topics as soil quality and land use are inadequate for sound analysis.Mamingi studies the literature on how agricultural prices and macroeconomic policies affect agricultural supply and how…
This research report provides an in-depth understanding of many aspects of Senegalese agricultural policy, its historical impact, and more recent farmer responses to government attempts to recent farmer responses to government attempts to stimulate growth in the agricultural sector. Addressed…
Key findings and policy implications discussed in this document—Promoting Farm Investment for Sustainable Intensification of African Agriculture— include the following: Farmers are much more likely to invest in both productivity and land protection when they can produce cash crops. Livestock…
Report draws attention to the structure of landholding as a set of mechanisms through which demographic changes in agrarian societies can alter the natural environment: demographically-induced change in the structure of landholding: farm holdings generally become smaller as an ever-increasing…
The important position and role of mixed farming systems in land use intensification in subSaharan Africa is reviewed. This is done by examining the current situation that is followed with a justification for mixed farming. Further sections follow on changing patterns of land use, including the…
The workshop participants were clear that now is the time for choices, and that without the will to make those choices, the likelihood of success in boosting agricultural growth on a sustained basis would be small. Without such growth, it will not be possible to improve food security or halt…
In urban areas of Cote d'Ivoire, human capital is the endowment that best explains welfare changes over time. In rural areas, physical capital especially the amount of land and farm equipment owned matters most.Empirical investigations of poverty in developing countries tend to focus on the…
This case study of Zimbabwe has examined developments in biotechnology against the background of a well-developed national agricultural research, plant breeding and seeds system. It has then assessed the constraints to biotechnology research, technology development and diffusion in the light of…
Commercial farms in South Africa could become significantly more efficient if they became smaller. The government could encourage that trend by removing policies and distortions that favor large over small farms.Drawing on international evidence, van Zyl, Binswanger, and Thirtle discuss the…