An in-depth quantitative analysis is undertaken in this paper to assist the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat, member countries, and development partners in setting future regional investment priorities for agricultural research and development in the SADC region. A...

The principal objective of this paper is to review and assess the policy implications and potential for Nigeria to transform its domestic rice sector and become more competitive with imports in order to ultimately displace them over time. Preliminary results show that import restrictions alone...

A major rationale for conducting policy research is the contribution the results can make to policy improvement efforts. Over the years, funders of international policy research have placed increasing emphasis on making sure that the research they fund influences policymaking, challenging...

A primary motivation for this study is to identify a key set of policy options for improving fertilizer markets in West Africa (among Economic Community of West African States member countries) in ways that ultimately will help improve the efficiency of regional markets and lower the transaction...

This study examines the role of research in agricultural policy making in Malawi at a time when the Africa Union and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development have been seeking to promote greater evidenced-based decision making in agriculture. Drawing on both theory and actual past...

The improved performance of the agricultural sector in Africa south of the Sahara during the most recent decade (2000–2010) has raised questions about the drivers behind the growth. Skeptics argue that rising commodity prices, as world markets experience a commodity boom, are the main...

Use of agricultural input and farm support subsidies in Africa has returned strongly to the development agenda, particularly following the recent high food and input prices crisis. Many of the donors who opposed them in the past and subsequently put pressure to discontinue them due to their high...

This paper assesses the degree to which the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative (AFSI) has been implemented in Ghana within the framework of managing for development results (MfDR), and to evaluate progress in various outcomes, including economic governance, agricultural growth, poverty,...

"This paper describes how governments and philanthropic donors could drive innovation through a new kind of technology contest. We begin by reviewing the history of technology prizes, which operate alongside private intellectual property rights and public R&D to accelerate and guide productivity...

This paper uses historical census data from Burkina Faso to characterize local demographic pressures associated with internal migration into river valleys after onchocerciasis eradication, combined with a new survey of village elders to document change over time and differences across villages...