Smallholder farmers operate in vertical supply chains. Therefore, an understanding of key opportunities and constraints up through the value chain becomes necessary for sustaining smallholder growth. Yet market analysis is of little value unless key private and public sector stakeholders agree...

A report prepared by Michigan State University for the World Bank under contract No. 7144132, Strengthening Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa through Trade Liberalization and Regional Integration

A report prepared by Michigan State University for the World Bank under contract No. 7144132, Strengthening Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa through Trade Liberalization and Regional Integration

This paper presents a critique of commercialising smallholder farming for agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. First it questions the validity of an overarching ‘metanarrative’ approach to development. Then it discusses the different types of knowledge, values and method and draws attention to...

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been rapidly urbanizing for many years. Current estimates from the UN are that urban population growth in East Africa is over 4% per year, while in Southern Africa, which has higher urbanization levels, the growth is estimated at 2%. Overall in East and Southern...

We examine the implications of the rise of a middle class in East and Southern Africa for food consumption patterns and the food system. A unique classification of food items shows that highly processed food has one-third of the purchased food market, wit

The sector-wide approach currently dominates as the strategy for developing the agricultural sector of many African countries. Although it is recognized that agricultural research plays a vital role in ensuring success of sectorwide agricultural development strategies, there has been little or...

This research focuses on the performance in the Magoye ripper in maize and cotton production in Eastern and Southern Provinces during the 2004/2005 productions year. Findings include the following: In maize production, the ripper enabled higher yields compared to traditional animal ploughing, by...

Inorganic fertilizers will play a role in government programs, but whether or not a single policy is valuable for all farmers depends upon the net gain for the farmers. The research here seeks to demonstrate how to answer the question “Is fertilizer profitable in Zambia for maize and cotton in...

With the risk of the drought in the agricultural production areas of Zambia, conservation farming (CF) was introduced as a set of technologies that can improve productivity while reducing plant stress due to moisture constraints. Under animal traction, CF involves using the Magoye ripper to...