Wheat consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is increasing rapidly, faster than any other major food grain. Between 2000 and 2009, per capita wheat consumption in SSA increased at a rate of 0.35 kilogram (kg)/year, outpacing maize and rice. Total wheat consumption increased by nearly 650,000...

Since 2002, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has funded programs to promote maize, dairy, and horticulture enterprises among smallholder farmers in Kenya under the Strategic Objective 7 of Increased Rural Household Incomes. On behalf of USAID, Tegemeo Institute has...

Despite upward trends in fertilizer application rates on maize fields over the last twenty years, there remains a perception in Kenya that fertilizer use is not expanding quickly enough and that application rates are not high enough to reverse the country’s growing national food deficit. In...

Despite the resurgence of parastatal marketing boards and strategic grain reserves over the last decade in eastern and southern Africa, there is little empirical evidence about how their activities affect smallholder input use and cropping decisions. This paper uses panel survey data from...

In many African countries, as well as in other parts of the world where a significant part of the rural population is poor and food insecure, policymakers face what is called the food price dilemma. On the one hand, they need to provide farmers with incentives to increase the quantity of...

Crop production forecasts are widely recognized as an important input into food balance sheets and for anticipating production shortfalls. However, the role of accurate crop production forecasting systems in mitigating food price instability and transitory food insecurity is often...

This paper describes the different food policy courses pursued in recent years by four countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, and documents their differential effects on farmer and consumer behavior. Results are based primarily on a survey and synthesis of recent analysis. The paper...

The objectives of the study are: to assess the direction and magnitude of changes in real staple food prices since the implementation of food sector policy reforms in Africa; to identify the major factors affecting changes in these food prices; and to assess the resulting effects of food system...

This paper summarizes empirical results from a synthesis of a set of country studies undertaken by Michigan State University and partner institutions in five African countries, each of which is based upon large-scale rural household surveys. The results demonstrate that the post-death land/labor...

This study surveys the empirical record of grain marketing and pricing policy in selected Eastern and Southern Africa countries. The paper addresses five key issues with major implications for food policy in Africa: (a) why the anticipated supply response to market liberalization has not yet...