Malawi is a small country located in southern Africa with only 119,000 km2 for a population of about 16.7 million people. With agriculture as the mainstay of the economy, Malawi’s high population density of 140 people/km2 requires that agricultural productivity and other ecosystem services must be optimized. As part of...

Water is precious in Eritrea, where farmers have to cope with droughts and crop failures. With support from the government and an IFAD-funded project, farmers and herders are expanding spate irrigation, an ancient form of water management. By harnessing floodwaters and collecting run-off, farmers can provide enough water for the...

This paper uses panel data on 46 African countries from 2001 to 2014 to estimate the impacts of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), an agriculture-led integrated framework of development priorities in Africa, on agricultural expenditure and productivity, income, and nutrition. A difference-in-difference treatment-effects model (based on when a...

The ten-year efforts of the Kaydara Agroecology School Farm, in Senegal, led to concrete benefits for the community and for the environment. Gora Ndiaye, founder of the "African Gardens" association, summarizes the some important features of the project.

Agriculture and social protection are fundamentally linked in the context of rural livelihoods in Africa. Poor and food-insecure families depend primarily on agriculture and partly on non-farm income and private transfers for their livelihoods, and are the main target of social protection interventions (FAO, 2015a). When embedded within a broader...

Cattle of the Sudanese Hamerenya breed have some special qualities, including docility and a high milk yield. Through an IFAD-supported programme, farmers in the Adi Quala subdistrict in Eritrea were able to take out small loans to invest in the purchase of Hamerenya cattle. The programme also helps the farmers...

Produit dans le cadre du projet Mécanismes de reddition des comptes dans la gouvernance foncière, ce rapport examine la redevabilité dans les transactions foncières au Sénégal. Il passe au crible le cadre juridique national qui régit les investissements fonciers et explore les occasions de reddition de comptes et la manière dont...

East Africa could be the lucky exception to the disastrous effects of climate change as scientists predict increased precipitation as temperatures rise. Scientists working with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) — Kizito Kwena, William Ndegwa, Imad Ali-Babiker and Hezron Mogaka— say the flipside...

For over a decade, CIAT has tested agronomic and soil management practices in Western Kenya. From minimum tillage to integrated soil fertility management, two trials, established in 2003, are the most comprehensive picture of tropical soil health in Kenya. What these trials allow us to do is show-case changes in soil...

African countries need to focus on enhancing their adaptive capacities and reduce their vulnerability to climate change. Translating that momentum quickly into the agriculture sectors, neglected in the Paris Agreement, should be central to a holistic and comprehensive transformation of African economies.

Despite continuous positive economic growth at an average of 5% per year, Africa needs accelerated economic development if it is to cope with the increasing demands for food, water and energy challenged by a rapidly growing population, rapid urbanisation and climate change. The pressure on African countries to boost productivity...

An analysis of the various constraints highlights issues of isolation, value chain weaknesses and low stakeholder capacity. In addition, low infrastructure development, with structurally high costs affect the competitiveness of all sectors of the economy. This situation prompted the Bank to finance the Infrastructure Rehabilitation for Food Security Support Project...

Stakeholders have committed to a robust plan of institutionalizing conservation agriculture in Kenya.  This will be achieved through interventions on commercialization, promotion of large scale adoption at national level and making agriculture attractive to the youth, especially as a form of employment. The two day First National Conservation Agriculture Conference...

The article shares some of the most compelling insights from a four days Learning Exchange gathering in Uganda, facilitated by the AgroEcology Fund and the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa. The meeting brought together grassroot organizers, advocates and donors to discuss, learn and come up with new successful strategies for...

Rising labor costs associated with increased rural-to-urban migration have compelled Ghanaian farmers to increase the use of tractors and other agricultural machines to conduct farming operations in the country (Diao et al. 2014). The adoption of these mechanical technologies is consistent with the tendency among Ghanaian farmers to save labor,...

This is the seventeenth volume of Gender, Poverty, and Environmental Indicators on African Countries published by the Statistics Department of the African Development Bank Group. The publication also provides some information on the broad development trends relating to gender, poverty and environmental issues in the 54 African countries. Gender, Poverty and Environmental Indicators on African...

This study took place in Ghana (Accra and Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem Municipal District) 20- 30 April 2015. The study was led by Luke Harman of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) along with local partners Dr Kofi Marfo and Mrs Joyce Haleegoah. The Ghana country study set out to focus particularly on the...

This report begins by evaluating Africa’s data landscape to monitor poverty. It maps out and assesses in detail the availability and quality of the data needed to track monetary poverty (expenditures, prices, GDP) and also reflects on the governance and political processes that underpin the current situation. Carrying the work...

L’utilisation du feu et de la fumée pour extraire le miel des ruches ou de colonies naturelles permet une protection des piqûres d’abeilles. Cependant cette pratique non seulement nuit à l’environnement et à la santé des colonies mais impacte de manière négative la qualité du miel. L’utilisation d’un enfumoir métallique...

Au Sahel, environ 65 pour cent de la population active travaillent dans le secteur agricole et leurs conditions de vie sont ainsi tributaires des aléas climatiques, des marchés et des facteurs environnementaux. Plus de la moitié sont des femmes. Les crises récurrentes constituent de réelles préoccupations pour l’atteinte d’une sécurité...