EU's Common Agricultural Policy coherent with development goals

ODI 2011/09/19

This briefing paper by the Overseas Development Institute calls for a fresh look at the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in relation to international development goals and within the new global context. It concludes that more research is needed to reconcile reforms to the CAP with the EU’s development policy towards third countries.

The State of Food and Agriculture 2010-2011

FAO 2011/09/19

This publication examines gender issues in agriculture and rural employment. The report finds that although women make important contributions to rural economies, often they do not have the same access to resources and opportunities to increase their productivity as men; underlining that encouraging gender equality also supports agricultural development. The report also highlights the ongoing uncertainty about food price changes and the increased price volatility, calling for more international action in the face of continuing fears over global food market turmoil.

Agriculture at crossroads

IAASTD 2011/07/25

This Assessment is a constructive initiative and important contribution that all governments need to take forward to ensure that agricultural knowledge, science and technology fulfills its potential to meet the development and sustainability goals of the reduction of hunger and poverty, the improvement of rural livelihoods and human health, and facilitating equitable, socially, environmentally and economically sustainable development.

Postharvest Grain Losses In Sub-Saharan Africa

World Bank 2011/06/01

Low-income, food-deficit countries have become especially concerned about the global and national food situation over the past three years. While the proximate cause of this heightened concern was the surge in food prices that began in 2006 and peaked in mid-2008, concerns remain for other reasons, among them the higher market-clearing price levels that now seem to prevail, continuing price volatility, and the risk of intermittent food shortages occurring repeatedly far into the future. For lower-income Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries, ongoing contributing factors include persistently low productivity, difficulty adapting to climate change, financial difficulties(inability to handle the burden of high food or fuel prices or a credit squeeze), and increased dependence on food aid.

Strengthening Innovation Capacity of Nigerian Agricultural Research Organizations

Catherine Ragasa, Suresh Babu, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi and Baba Yusuf Abubakar

IFPRI 2010/12

The Nigerian agriculture sector has grown by an annual average of 7 percent over the past 10 years. However, this growth has been mainly due to land expansion rather than productivity increase. Yield gaps remain very high, ranging from 80 t0 250 percent of the current yield in major crops. Significant changes are needed to revitalize Nigeria’s agriculture research systems; these changes require new relationships and new capacities to bring forth innovations that will produce greater productivity and increased incomes for agricultural producers.

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords: improving cultivation, producers, agriculture, research, innovations, income, productivity, yield

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INDICATORS: SOUTH AFRICA

By Frikkie Liebenberg, Nienke M. Beintema and Johann F. Kirsten

IFPRI 2004/03

This country brief reviews the major investment and institutional trends in South African agricultural research since the early 1970s, including a new set of survey data for the 1990s collected through the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) initiative (IFPRI–ISNAR 2001–02)

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords: improving cultivation, investment, Africa, science, agriculture

Review of Agricultural Extension in India: Are Farmers’ Information Needs Being Met?

Claire J. Glendenning, Suresh Babu and Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere

IFPRI 2010

Despite a wide range of reform initiatives in agricultural extension in India in the past decades, the coverage of, access to, and quality of information provided to marginalized and poor farmers is uneven. This paper aims to ascertain why farmers are not accessing information and where information gaps exist, despite the variety of extension approaches in India. Using information provision and access as the basis for analysis, the paper reviews some of the major agricultural extension programs in India by considering their ability to provide information and facilitate information sharing and use in farming communities.

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords: improving cultivation, farmers, agriculture, information, variety, India, communities

NIGERIA: RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

IFPRI 2011/02/12

Agricultural research and development (R&D) spending in Nigeria doubled during 2000–08, largely as a result of rising salaries, as well as substantial investments in the rehabilitation of research infrastructure and equipment. Although this growth is impressive, the need for research-related infrastructure is still substantial, and the lack (or inadequacy) of research equipment and facilities is still cited as a serious constraint in the conduct of agricultural research.

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords: improving cultivation, nigeria, africa, investments, research, development, growth

Current world fertilizer trends and outlook to 2011/12

Food and Agricultural Organization 2008

This report presents world nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizer medium term supply and demand projections for the period 2007/08 to 2011/12. The FAO/Fertilizer Industry Working Group made the forecasts in October 2007. The balances in Annexes 2-4 present a medium-term indication for possible changes in fertilizer nutrient demand and supply by region and subregion. Changes in installed supply capacity, operating rates and demand vary annually. Annex 1 provides explanatory notes on supply and demand balances.

Keywords: improving cultivation, supply, demand, balance, fertilizer, production

Proven Successes in Agricultural Development

Edited by David J. Spielman and Rajul Pandya-Lorch

IFPRI 2010

n the late 1950s around a billion people—about one-third of the world’s population—were estimated to go hungry every day. Famines were threatening millions in Asia and Africa in particular, and prospects for feeding the world’s booming population looked bleak. In response to this alarming picture, scientists, policymakers, farmers, and concerned individuals initiated a concerted push to boost agricultural production and productivity in developing countries.

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Keywords: improving cultivation, famine, policy, farmers, research, Asia, Africa, vision, developing, countries, people, threat

How Might the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy Affect Trade and Development After 2013?

Alan Matthews

International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) 2010/12

The Commission’s Communication on the CAP post 2013 published in November 2010 sets out three options for the future shape of Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy. This paper explains the background and rationale for the debate on CAP reform at the present time. It describes the content of the preferred reform option and examines the implications for trade and for developing countries. Despite fears raised by the rhetoric of maintaining the EU’s production capacity to guarantee food security, the proposals maintain the market orientation of previous CAP reforms. Virtually all the proposed changes concern measures which are classified in the Green Box in the EU’s reporting of its WTO commitment obligations.

Keywords: improving cultivation, commitment, trade, reforms, market, capacity, measure

GCARD Regional Review for Asia Pacific: South Asia Report

Mruthyunjaya and Praduman Kumar

Food and Agricultural Organization 2010/11

The Report reviews recent documents in the public domain. We have given importance to the most recent documents relating to the Terms of Reference of the task assigned to us. However, availability of needed documents, data and limited time to prepare the report constrained report preparation and submission. Standard methodology is used for commodity/commodity group prioritization of agricultural research for development in South Asia.

Keywords: improving, cultivation, commodity, south Asia, methodology, agriculture, public, report, availability

Making the most of agricultural investment: A survey of business models that provide opportunities for smallholders

Sonja Vermeulen and Lorenzo Cotula

IIED 2010/11

Recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in agricultural investment. In many cases, this new momentum has translated into large-scale acquisitions of farmland in lower- and middle-income countries. Partly as a result of sustained media attention, these acquisitions have triggered lively if polarised debates about “land grabbing”. Less attention has been paid, however, to alternative ways of structuring agricultural investments that do not involve large-scale land acquisitions.

Keywords: improving cultivation, middle, income, land, agriculture, farmland, grabbing

Intellectual Property Rights, Private Investment in Research, and Productivity Growth in Indian Agriculture

Deepthi Kolady, David J. Spielman and Anthony J. Cavalieri

International Food Policy Research Institute 2010/11

With the growth of private investment in developing-country agriculture, new advances in the biological sciences, and rapid integration of developing countries into the global trading system, intellectual property rights (IPRs) have become an important concern for policymakers, corporate decision-makers, and many other players in the agricultural sector.

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute. http://www.belugafile.com/

Keywords: improving cultivation, developing countries, global, trade, policy, decision, rights

Agricultural Growth and Investment Options for Poverty Reduction in Rwanda

Xinshen Diao, Shenggen Fan, Sam Kanyarukiga and Bingxin Yu

International Food Policy Research Institute 2010/11/26

Successful agricultural development strategies require an understanding of the linkages between alternative agricultural growth options and poverty reduction, if they are to identify appropriate investments in the most effective development programs. The relationships between growth and poverty reduction are not straightforward, however, and there exist trade-offs among different options. This monograph analyzes agricultural growth and investment options for poverty reduction in Rwanda based on an economy-wide approach.

Reproduced with permission from the International Food Policy Research Institute. http://www.belugafile.com/

Keywords: improving cultivation, development, agriculture, growth, poverty, investment, reducation