At the present moment in history, humanity is faced with several major challenges, one of them being that of feeding an increasingly populous and urbanised planet. The challenge is even greater as it becomes clearer that it is not just a matter of producing enough fibres and primary products...

How can information technology (IT) contribute to rural development? What are the channels through which impacts can be realized, and what are the practical means for realizing potential benefits? This paper examines several ongoing projects that aim to provide IT-based services to rural...

Of late, incorporating smallholder land, through partnerships with agribusiness firms that cultivate export crops has received some attention among scholars, policy- makers and non-government organizations (NGOs). Some see such partnerships as a means of raising smallholder incomes, and...

This study aims to identify the critical factor(s) that determine the embeddedness level (EL) of rural entrepreneurs. In order to achieve this aim, existing applied studies on the embeddedness of entrepreneurs undertaken in different rural areas were systematically collected to create a database...

"The goal of this study is to evaluate the fiscal condition of the Brazilian public sector, focusing on the situation of state governments in the North and Northeast regions of the country and on international financing for rural development. The paper comprises six sections, including this...

The paper discusses the decisions on the CAP in the context of the Berlin summit. In a rather broad perspective the agricultural sectoral and related objectives are analyzed for their consistency and compatability with higher ranking societal objectives. The policies' allocational and...

The decline of industry in Southern Africa has prompted James Ferguson to question the bases on which the region's poor may justify claims on resources, if not through their labour. This article builds from Fergsuon's work by looking at the continuing importance of chieftaincy to distributive...

The persistent agrarian crisis facing sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the recent food price hikes have provoked greater urgency among governments, civil society actors and development agencies to identify public policies that can accelerate agricultural transformation towards achieving food...

Southern African countries' interest in biofuel is due of its rural development potential. Finding models to optimize this benefit is therefore paramount. High-energy-density crops with low perishability allow farmers to grow small quantities on existing lands. Highly perishable, low-density...