Program evaluations often overlook economywide spillovers and constraints. We estimate the impact of Malawi’s Farm Input Subsidy Program using a computable general equilibrium model informed by household-level studies. We find that indirect benefits account for about two-fifths of total...

Jatropha curcas L. (or physic nut), a previously underutilized tree species in smallholder farming systems, is fast gaining formal recognition as a very important tree crop in improving rural livelihoods. The Government of Zimbabwe is vigorously promoting the growing of Jatropha in marginal...

Zambian farmers have long experience with maize hybrids and input subsidies. The successful development and diffusion of improved maize seed in Zambia during the 1970s–80s was supported by government commitment to parastatal grain and seed marketing and subsidized provision of services to...

This paper evaluates the trends in staple food price volatility in Kenya for maize, wheat and Irish potatoes relative to three other Eastern Africa countries (Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda) using the unconditional and the conditional standard deviation. The paper tests the volatility of food...

Given the changes taking place in the world today, farmers are confronted with a number of challenges such as climate change, variations in input usages, need for quality products, limited resources, and need to conform to legal and compliance issues. Sadly, the agricultural extension approach...

L’objet de cette étude vise à déterminer le marché le plus compétitive pour la filière crevette béninoise et les actions politiques nécessaires à l’amélioration des avantages comparatifs sur les deux marchés. Au total 341 acteurs ont été choisis au hasard au niveau des villages...

Using household survey data from a random sample of 180 households in Gweru and Lupane district, we found the distribution of vulnerability among households was skewed with mean 0.76. On average 89% of the households had a probability of more than 0.5 making them vulnerable to food insecurity...

The recent proliferation of short food supply chains (SFSCs), such as the direct sale, meets farmers’ needs to valorize local food productions and increase their profitability. The short food supply chain achieves the theoretical concept of sustainability in economic, environmental and social...

The participation of smallholders in export horticulture is often seen as problematic because of the high transaction costs involved and this has further been exacerbated by the introduction of food safety standards in the destination markets. Farmers have to participate in institutional...

The paper argues that basic rights approach is more applicable food policy in Africa than the traditional basic needs approach. The problem pertains to the introduction of right to food as a policy innovation in an environment wherein policy authorities are generally averse to rights issues that...