There are many interesting illustrations of the strong economic impact of commercial farmers in Southern Africa. For example, over just the last five years, tobacco production in Zimbabwe dropped dramatically from 240 to 60 million while at the same time in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique tobacco...

The European food system is undergoing significant change driven both by global competitive forces and local conditions. Market globalization and technological innovation are interacting with the reform of EU's agricultural policies (CAP) and a renewed interest by the European society in the...

The emergence of biotechnology in crop and livestock applications has been an issue of great controversy. Proponents argue that the potential benefits are dramatic while opponents have raised many concerns about the technology's risks. The Starlink debacle is a prime example of the undesirable...

The paper presents an analysis of cooperative investment decision based on the coalition theoretical framework (Staatz 1983, 1987, 1989). According to this framework, cooperatives can be considered as coalitions of groups with different interests. The behavior of any cooperative is determined by...

Over the years agricultural technology has created remarkable commodity production growthrates and enhanced general economic growth through food production, manufactured goods and tradefor most nations. Biotechnology holds the promise of continuing this remarkable record. There is a longlist of...

The rise of supermarkets in Kenya has given rise to a new group of medium-sized farms managed by well-educated farmers. Focusing on kale, the essay shows that nearly all supermarket-channel farmers have the capacity to supply larger volumes year round and have transportation vehicles, an...

Supermarkets are rapidly penetrating urban food retail in Kenya and spreading well beyond their initial tiny market niche into the food markets of lower-income groups. Having penetrated processed and staple food markets much earlier and faster than fresh foods, they have recently begun to make...

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...