Based on two case studies (dairy value chain in Kenya and Morocco), the study provides a methodological framework and analyze the enabling institutional factors for the development and thriving of producer organizations.

The present resilience analysis is focused on the Isiolo, Marsabit and Meru couties in the Republic of Kenya. It relates to the baseline survey that is part of the Impact Evaluation strategy designed by the FAO Representation in Kenya in order to assess the effects of specific FAO interventions. In...

Using mobile technology to scale the impact of agricultural development service provision.

Lydia Kamba, from Kabiru village, Turima Tweru, Ngondi, Tharaka Nithi County, Kenya, started practicing conservation agriculture in 2015. Increased incomes from agriculture activities have helped building their house and paying school fees.Since the start of the FAO program in 2015 in Kenya, more than 26,000 farmers adopted conservation agriculture in...

Farmers are experiencing the need to adapt to climate change, and are developing different strategies. This article contributes to the understanding of farmers’ adaptation choices, their determinants and their implications, in relation to the household income. In 2014, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and 220 household surveys were carried out with...

Kenya is withholding approval for field trials of genetically modified (GM) maize because some officials argue that a ban on GM imports applies to controlled growing tests as well, according to a person familiar with the deliberations. Talks involving representatives from the health and environment ministries and the Kenya’s...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ethiopian Ministry for Livestock and Fishery to hold the first Africa Sustainable Livestock 2050 (ASL2050) Technical Consultation on the 21st and 23rd of February 2017 and the ASL2050...

The socio-economic value of the role of small family farmers in developing countries is a long debated issue. Conventional thinking, points at the social role of small farmers mainly as absorbers of excess labor in rural areas and suppliers of food. In economic terms the relative production efficiency advantage, is...

This publication was initiated by the FAO Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa to identify, analyse and document existing watershed management practices in the Eastern Africa sub-region that contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation. There is opportunity to use this information to inform agriculture and watershed management-related policies, programmes and...

In eastern Kenya, the dry season is getting longer. With less rain, three out of four maize harvests fail. Researchers have identified sorghum as a more suitable crop for the changing climate. Now they have to convince farmers to make the switch.

The pilot projects of the Mitigation of climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) Programme of FAO in Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania have promoted climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and have been integrated into ongoing development programmes. The objective of the pilot projects was to show that smallholder farmers can improve...

The economic contributions of forests in Eastern African countries have not received the desired attention in terms of policy and budgetary allocation needed for sustained growth of these forests. This, among other reasons, has led to the reduction of forest zones and an increase in the import of forest-related products,...

Aveuglée par une politique de libre-échange poussée à l'extrême, la Commission européenne s'apprête à imposer à plusieurs États africains, dans l'indifférence quasi-totale, des Accords de Partenariat Économique (APE) déséquilibrés par un rapport de force à l'avantage du continent européen. Malgré les mises en garde nombreuses et répétées sur les effets dramatiques...

Close to 12 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are in need of food assistance, as farming families struggle with the knock-on effects of multiple droughts that hit the region. Shukri Ahmed, FAO Senior Economist, illustrates the food insecurity situation, most affected sectors, the support needed and FAO’s response....

The Regional Initiative seeks to strengthen the programmes, mechanisms, capacity and delivery of actions needed to operationalize commitments to end hunger by 2025, and to support mapping exercises that identify gaps and determine requisite interventions to enhance policy dialogue on food security and nutrition, both at regional and country levels....

The Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF) is an innovative Africa-led fund to support Africa for African development initiatives. Its main goal is to strengthen food security across the continent by assisting countries and their regional organizations to eradicate hunger and malnutrition, eliminate rural poverty and manage natural resources in a...

Sub-Saharan Africa is generally characterized by low production and productivity in the agriculture sector, despite rapidly growing human population which calls for closing the production gap in crops, livestock, forestry, aquaculture and fisheries. At the same time, ecosystems are under pressure, a situation which is further challenged by climate change,...

Bidco Africa Oil Refineries has partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the Conservation Agriculture initiative to encourage farmers to take up growing of soya beans and sunflower seeds in a bid to increase the supply of the two crops.

Based on experience and lessons learned in 2014-15, Africa’s Regional Initiative 2 (RI2) (originally entitled “Integrated Management of Agricultural Landscapes in Africa”) has been revamped for implementation in 2016-17 to sharpen its focus and to make it more programmatic. It takes a food systems approach with two integrated components, namely...

Populations in Africa are increasingly exposed to the negative impact of natural and human-induced disasters such as drought, floods, disease epidemics and conflicts which threaten the agriculture production systems and livelihoods of vulnerable communities. The initiative on “Building Resilience in Africa’s Drylands” was developed to enhance the capacity of these...