A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of sub-clinical and clinical mastitis and the associated factors in cows from selected smallholder dairy farms in Zimbabwe. Physical examinations were conducted on all lactating cows for evidence of signs of clinical mastitis. Composite milk samples were collected from all lactating...

Large-scale foreign land acquisitions - land grabs - are major and real concerns for African populations.   The consequences of land deals are highly significant for local populations and the environment. Some see economic opportunities for local communities through employment and income generated from leasing or selling land. Others see land...

Staff of the three UN food agencies -- the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) - received an Award of Excellence which recognized their outstanding collaboration in Mozambique. The country teams have been working together effectively to bring...

Although Madagascar’s economy is agrarian, much of the land is unsuitable for cultivation because of mountainous terrain, extensive lateralization, and inadequate or irregular rainfall. Only about 5 percent of the land area is cultivated at any one time, of which 16 percent is irrigated. In addition to providing livelihoods for...

Le travail effectué par le Programme d’Appui Participatif à l’Agriculture Familiale et à la Pêche Artisanale (PAPAFPA), et précédemment par le Programme d’Appui à la Promotion de l’Agriculture Familiale (PNAPAF) qui le précédait (financé par la coopération française et le FIDA), a généré des résultats probants en matière de structuration...

One direct way in which agricultural input subsidies can provide social protection to the poor is by targeting the poor with very high subsidies to ensure that they are able to access inputs. Although the Malawi Agricultural Input Subsidy Programme (MAISP) generally targets resource-poor households, the targeting guidelines also accord...

The lost decades for China in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s look remarkably like the lost decades of Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. Poor land rights, weak incentives, incomplete markets and inappropriate investment portfolios. However, China burst out of its stagnation in the 1980s and has enjoyed three decades...

ICARDA is pleased to share the scaling out of some important research outcomes and their impacts in 2013. For example, the innovative adaptation of raised bed machines to small-scale farming – developed with farmers and private sector in Sharkia province in Egypt – delivers a 24% saving in irrigation water...

Afin de promouvoir la participation des femmes à la mise en œuvre des activités du projet de Relance des cultures Vivrières et du petit Élevage dans les Savanes (PREVES), et favoriser leur intégration dans les instances de décisions de leur communauté,  l’Unité de Coordination et de Gestion  du PREVES, en...

Our Conservation Farming channel is for anybody interested in the promotion of Conservation Farming and Climate Smart Agriculture and we hope you will find it useful.

Les 130 exploitations familiales étudiées dans 9 pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest et d'Afrique Centrale n'ont pas les mêmes caractéristiques selon qu'elles soient implantées en zone sahélienne ou en zone de savane (superficies plus grandes et meilleure sécurisation foncière, taille légèrement plus importante des familles au Sahel qu'en Savane). Ce sont des exploitations agropastorales dans...

Over the past two decades, there has been a high promotion of microfinance institutions (MFI) in Tanzania. In 1990s there was only 825 MFI which increased to 1,875 in 2005. Currently, the country is estimated to have more than 5000 MFI. The promise of MFI lies in the belief that microfinance...

La récente crise des prix des matières premières agricoles a été utilisée par certains investisseurs publics ou privés pour justifier la course aux terres en Afrique sub-saharienne. Elle a simultanément relancé le débat sur les modèles de développement agricole et remis en avant l’opposition entre  small-scale et  large-scale farming. Après...

Smallholders are small-scale farmers, pastoralists, forest keepers, fishers who manage areas varying from less than one hectare to 10 hectares. Smallholders are characterized by family-focused motives such as favouring the stability of the farm household system, using mainly family labour for production and using part of the produce for family...

The study seeks to establish why some smallholder horticultural famers in Chihota communal areas market their produce in communal markets which are known to generate less revenue for any given quality and quantity of produce than urban formal markets. It uses primary data collected from 119 farming households randomly selected...

The problem of climate change in Africa has the potential of undermining sustainable development efforts if steps are not taken to respond to its adverse consequences. This study reviews existing and available literature on farmers’ perceptions and adaptations to climate change in sub-Sahara Africa. It is evident that the majority...

Rapid population growth, urbanization and rising incomes will present an unprecedented opportunity for growth of commercial agriculture and agribusiness in coming years. The value of food consumed in urban areas is set to expand by four times to 2030, but given evidence of a continuing decline in competitiveness much of...

The Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) Study is a project led by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the New Partnership of Africa’s Development (NEPAD) Planning and Coordinating Agency and supported by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP). COHA is a...

This paper sheds light on how to harvest the "youth dividend" in Sub-Saharan Africa by creating jobs in agriculture. The agriculture that attracts the youth will have to be profitable, competitive, and dynamic. These are the same characteristics needed for agriculture to deliver growth, to improve food security, and to...

The concept of family farming is the recipient of much high-level political capital right now...  The United Nations has declared 2014 the International Year of Family Farming, the primary aim of which is to promote, develop and strengthen all types of familyoriented agriculture - from horticulture and livestock to fisheries and forestry - as a socially...