In most developing countries, historically, the main strategy for improving the food sector has focused on increasing farm-level production. But in recent years, with the emphasis on value chain analysis, there has been much more focus on subsector studies, demand-driven approaches, and...

During the transition of the Vietnamese economy, adaptation of the financialsystem was one of the most challenging reforms. A major task of this reformwas to expand the financial system?s outreach to the newly emerging privatesector and household economies, especially in rural areas. Therefore,...

The importance of food standards in global agricultural trade has increased strongly, but the effects are uncertain. Several studies argue that these standards imposed by high-income countries diminish the export opportunities for developing countries and concentrate the benefits of trade with...

During the 2004 food crisis in Niger, the weakness of the main production system, millet, to produce enough food to sustain short term crises, has been revealed. Questions arise how the Nigerian smallholder systems can be assisted by research and development policies to intensify production and...

This study estimates the effects on poverty resulting from maize price changes associated with the operations of the maize marketing board in Kenya. We consider both supply and demand responses and the accompanying adjustments in rural labor markets in estimating a second order approximation to...

This study evaluates the welfare implications of tariff reforms in the cereals sector of the SADC region. Applying the global simulation model (GSIM), a multi-country partial equilibrium model, to the cereals industries of thirteen SADC countries, the study computes price and welfare effects of...

Concerns about the slow down in agricultural growth and the macroeconomic impact of rising fiscal deficits have refocused attention to public expenditures in the agricultural sector. Rising levels of agricultural subsidies have been blamed for crowding out much needed productivity-enhancing...

The present analysis, which exploits one of the first empirical data collected from smallholders in Sierra Leone since the end of the civil war, compares the impact of two poverty reduction strategies targeting smallholders in Sierra Leone: support to rice production is compared with support to...

This paper provides a micro-level foundation for discussions of income and asset allocation within the smallholder sector in Eastern and Southern Africa, and explores the implications of these findings for rural growth and poverty alleviation strategies in the region. Results are drawn from...

Smallholder farmers in southern Africa face acute food insecurity because the productive capacity of their soils has declined. These resource-poor farmers increasingly cannot afford mineral fertilizers Farmers mentioned the lack of fertilizers for their depleted soils as the most important...