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Good institutions are a fundamental pre-requisite to successfully achieve structural transformation in growing developing countries (UNECA, 2016). Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a rapid growth but a weak and slow structural transformation process, which is mainly characterized by the reallocation of labour from agriculture to low skilled services. The focus of this paper is to explore how political and economic institutions affect structural transformation in a panel of 11 sub-Saharan African countries. Our empirical analysis reveals a positive and statistically significant effect of quality of institutions and economic freedom measures on structural transformation between sectors, which translates into movement out of agriculture. Better institutions appear to not improve productivity [...]

The publication complements the FAO Guiding Framework on gender-sensitive value chain development by providing practical tools and examples of successful approaches to address the gender-based constraints that affect agrifood value chains. The guidelines are intended to assist practitioners in integrating gender equality dimensions more effectively in the design and implementation of value chain interventions in the agricultural sector. See also: Developing Gender-Sensitive Value Chains. A Guiding Framework

The purpose of this compendium is to offer, in a single document, an overview of salient policy changes and related private sector measures concerning global and national markets for oilseed, oils/fats and meals in a particular year – in this case 2017. The compendium reproduces, in tabular form, all the policy and industry news items published throughout 2017 in the FAO Oilcrops Monthly Price and Policy Update (MPPU). The main purpose is to facilitate the work of policy makers, market experts, analysts and other stakeholders by providing a short, concise overview of policy developments relevant to the oilcrops industry at the global, regional and national level. Although [...]

FAO’s previous contribution to the development of contract farming saw the publication in 2015 of the UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD Legal Guide on Contract Farming, which focused on the bilateral relationship between an agricultural producer and a contractor. This Legislative Study develops that research and focuses on the regulatory frameworks for contract farming, aiming to highlight different possible approaches for different contexts. Responsible contract farming can be a powerful tool for small scale farmers in developing countries to move towards larger scale commercial production. It can create economic wealth, contribute to supply chain efficiency through the production of higher quantities of better quality products, and contribute to achieving domestic [...]

HELPING SMALLHOLDER PRODUCERS TO ACCESS MARKETS IN MARGINALIZED AREAS OF KENYA AND SOUTH SUDAN Low agricultural production and low household incomes mean that food security in the northwest of Kenya and the southeastern part of South Sudan continues to be a challenge. With smallholder producers and small and medium-sized entrepreneurs often marginalized and excluded from access to markets at national and regional levels, there was an urgent need to devise innovative approaches to developing and reinforcing efficient business linkages between value chain actors. Project duration: July 2013 –June 2017 Download Project Highlight pdf  

ENHANCING SAFETY IN FOOD PROCESSING ENTERPRISES IN KYRGYZSTAN AND TAJIKISTAN In order to realize the considerable potential of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the production and export of processed food (milk, dairy and meat products, fruit and vegetables), it is necessary to improve the compliance with hygiene and sanitary requirements in these countries’ food processing enterprises, and enhance food safety management processes. This involves increasing government awareness on modern food safety management systems and strengthening capacity for food safety at the food enterprise level. Therefore, the project aimed to enable the target countries to comply with international requirements for hygiene and manufacturing [...]

STRENGTHENED FOOD SAFETY AND QUALITY CONTROL OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS IN THAILAND The primary aim of the project was the institutional strengthening of food safety and quality control in the supply chain management of livestock products. However, its impact was felt far beyond this. Livestock production and meat/poultry processing are among the largest food sectors in Thailand and the contribution of small-scale meat producers is significantly high. These producers, generally family businesses, benefited by improving the safety and quality of their products, and by aligning their practices with the relevant national and international standards. Domestic and international market prices of Thai meat [...]

This policy brief is part of the ESA Policy Brief Series. It aims to improve the understanding about the design, implementation and impact of public-private partnerships for agriculture. For this reason, FAO gathered 70 case studies from 15 developing countries along with evidence from field-based support to agri-PPP initiatives in Central America and Southeast Asia. This brief presents the lessons learned for policy makers from this study.  See the complete series here.

The economic empowerment of rural women is critical for the continuing improvement of agriculture and further development of the rural sector. Increased participation of women in value-added productive activities requires an understanding of all of the barriers that limit their participation along the value chains. Addressing these barriers can transform women’s role in this sector and catalyse their economic empowerment. This study was conducted to contribute to the generation of knowledge for informed policies and interventions, which can close the gender gap in rural areas in order to strengthen the livelihoods of rural populations, reduce poverty and generate sustainable rural [...]

The study summarizes the results emerging from the 2017 update of the Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) indicators for the 2005-2016 period for 14 sub-Saharan African countries. These indicators - comparable across commodities, countries and years - are commonly used to assess the extent of policy support in agriculture. They measure the effect of trade and market policies and inefficiencies on the degree of price incentives faced by farmers in key commodity value chains, as well as the level and composition of public expenditures in support of the agriculture sector. Despite results being very heterogeneous across countries [...]