Limited access to timely and adequate information has been identified as a major hindrance to smallholder agriculture in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. This has negatively affected the socio-economic welfare of smallholder farmers, resulting in high numbers of foodinsecure households. This...

African farming systems are highly heterogeneous: between agroecological and socioeconomic environments, in the wide variability in farmers' resource endowments and in farm management. This means that single solutions (or 'silver bullets') for improving farm productivity do not exist. Yet to...

This report is a summary of emerging issues affecting African agriculture, recent experiences and policy proposals that can guide interventions in improving the sector’s productivity. Agriculture is at the centre of rural poverty reduction in Africa and urgent measures are needed to increase...

The study examined the profitability and resources-use efficiency of millet/cowpea mixed farmers production in Niger state Nigeria. The primary data for the study was obtained using structured questionnaire administered to 80 randomly sampled farmers in Kotangora Local Government Area of Niger...

The management of new technology for farming is important, as it has an influence on the profitability of the farm. With the development of new technology, new breeding methods have been developed and have an influence on the profitability on a sheep farm. This article studies the difference in...

Non-tariff measures (NTMs) gain in importance in view of tariff reductions, by multilateral and bilateral agreements. African agri-food exports have benefited from considerable tariff reduction by the European Union (EU), but the share in EU imports has not risen. This paper describes possible...

The present analysis, which exploits one of the first empirical data collected from smallholders in Sierra Leone since the end of the civil war, compares the impact of two poverty reduction strategies targeting smallholders in Sierra Leone: support to rice production is compared with support to...

To keep up with the recent trends in consumer demand for food products, an understanding of the associated customer characteristics is needed. This study identifies significant characteristics and factors of households who are likely to purchase basic household food when prices are high. The...

In poor countries the agricultural sector is essential to growth, poverty reduction, and food security. In Sub- Saharan Africa, the agricultural sector employs 65 percent of the labor force and generates 32 per cent of GDP growth (Christian Friis Bach and all, 2008).More than half of rural...

This study tests the null hypothesis that it is sufficient to interview only the household head to obtain accurate information on household income. Results show that using a husband’s estimate of his wife’s income does not produce statistically reliable results for poverty analysis....