This report summarizes an appraisal of input utilization and marketing in Mozambique, focusing on the following research questions: (1) What are current smallholder yields for major commodities, and what is the potential for increasing yields through the use of improved technologies? (2) To what...

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...

This report is a synthesis of views presented at the Confronting the Silent Challenge of Hunger USAID Conference, June 28-29, 1994. The purposes of the conference were to provide information to assist AID in defining and articulating its development strategy related to agriculture and food...

This paper examines the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency response in southern Africa through the lens of the 2002/03 food crisis in the region. The authors outline improvements in information and operational procedures needed to enhance the response to future events. They also discuss...

The objective of this report is to analyze the effects of smallholder commercialization on food crop input use and productivity in rural Kenya. The main research issues were: (1) To examine the determinants of smallholder fertilizer use on food crops, with a focus on the effects of household and...

This paper discusses the use of hand-held programmable calculators as a research tool for economists working on price policy issues in LDC’s.

Over the last ten years, international donors and African governments have singled out “inappropriate policies” as a major factor influencing the poor performance of the agricultural sector and the chronic problem of human hunger. Faced with increasing budget deficits, declining export...

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...

The objective of this research was to provide USAID with a diagnostic-prescriptive assessment of the mango commodity system that would be useful in the design and management of USAID’s project portfolio. A secondary objective was to demonstrate how a market-guided food systems approach could...