The development of the maize seed industry and private seed companies in selected Sub-Saharan Africa countries over the past 95 years is outlined. The study provides evidence that seed industry development is an evolutionary learning-by-doing process of fitting together a set of interactive and...

This study represents one of the first attempts to examine the process of adjustment within the farming and marketing sectors to the reform of agricultural markets in Egypt. Even though it is primarily based on rice sector data, it gives the following interesting insights into the initial...

This paper investigates the respective roles of spatial integration and arbitrage costs in explaining the adjustment of local prices to policy changes using the example of Ghana. We introduce a model of price formation and market integration that incorporates the price transmission process...

It is argued that dairying is vital to future viability of many small farms in East Africa and that high transactions costs for dairy production and marketing limit participation by asset- and information-poor smallholders. Case studies from Kenya and Ethiopia illustrate the role of dairy...

The author argues that African rural areas behave differently from rural areas in fully commercialized market economies. In commercialized economies, price signals quickly induce factor flows, including items such as investment and technological change. A need for more food is quickly translated...

The high use of modern inputs in Egypt's agricultural system well before the reforms has been very favorable to the development of private markets, particularly in the fertilizer sector. The level of adoption being very high, the usual demand constraints did not operate and traders' entry was...

"The overall objective of this research project is to assess the impacts of different types of government policies (pertaining to the domestic and external sectors) on the status of food security in the country, with particular emphasis on the paddy/rice sector....The study concludes by drawing...

" Indonesian economy has experienced some major changes during the last three decades and transformed from a predominantly agricultural economy to one that relies more heavily on its non-agricultural sector. Within agriculture, there has also been a change in the contribution of different sub...

"Using detailed trader surveys in Benin, Madagascar, and Malawi, this paper investigates the presence of increasing returns in agricultural trade. After analyzing margins, costs, and value added, we find little evidence of returns to scale. Motorized transport is found more cost effective for...

"Although there is little consensus on the impact of trade liberalization on poverty and food security, it is nevertheless widely acknowledged that there is a need for governments to establish safety-nets to guard against any potentially harmful effects on the poor and vulnerable sections of...