The media narratives with respect to EU external policies and their effects on developing countries generally paint a picture of unequal power dynamics and negative externalities, particularly with respect to international trade and land grabbing. In this paper, I use trade data to argue that...

The recent White Paper on Irish Aid made coherence one of the guiding principles of Ireland's development cooperation policy (Government of Ireland, 2006). Agriculture is at the heart of much of the debate about possible incoherence between trade and development policy. This paper presents the...

One of the key economic development challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is its low agricultural productivity. Governments, donors, and foreign investors have underinvested in African agriculture even though research evidence shows that higher agricultural productivity would boost economic...

The recent spikes of global food prices induced a rapid increase in mass media coverage, public policy attention, and donor funding for food security, and for agriculture and rural poverty. This has occurred while the shift from “low” to “high” food prices has induced a shift in...

Agricultural investments are the key determinant of economic growth and development of the sector, its flexibility and stability as well as better income and civilisational situation of farmers. Their funding is a serious challenge, though. This follows from slow capital circulation – which is...

This study assesses the development effectiveness of World Bank assistance in addressing constraints to agricultural development in Africa over the period of fiscal years 1991-2006. This Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) review of World Bank assistance to agriculture in Africa has a twofold...

This paper is prepared as a background document for the China Country Assistance Evaluation. While the brief refers to agriculture, the interpretation here is that the focus should be upon the people who tend to specialize in agricultural production. One of the questions is the degree to which...