This work examined the determinants of the adoption of improved Irish potato technologies by farmers in three divisions of the Western Region of Cameroon. Data were collected from 170 farmers from 14 villages in our study area using a mixed-method approach—structured questionnaires, focus group discussion, key informant interviews, and participatory observations with individual farmers and farmers belonging to cooperative and common initiative groups. The study employed descriptive statistics and regression analysis to assess the adoption status of farmers and its determinants.
This brief summarizes a report on the first large survey of maize traders in Nigeria in the past several decades. The sample of about 1400 traders covered one state in the South and four in the North, with traders in city wholesale markets in the North (Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina) and South (Ibadan) and regional markets in secondary cities in the North.
The USAID Bureau for Food Security (BFS) has made available this Technical Brief on USAID role in Supporting National Agricultural Research Systems. USAID has launched its Feed the Future (FTF) program, which aims to address the root causes of hunger and poverty and which recognizes the importance of agricultural research as a critical (although not sufficient) input towards the solution in the longer term. Moreover, it is an input that has been relatively under exploited.
The Agribusiness Linkages Global Development Alliance (GDA) was to contribute to sustainable rural development throughout Egypt by enhancing the capacity of smallholder farmers to profitably serve as reliable suppliers of high-value horticulture to processors and other buyers by integrating 3,000 farmers into a sustainable and competitive high-value horticultural value chain anchored by HEINZ in the governorates of Sohag, Qena, Luxor, and Aswan in Upper Egypt; El Minya and Assiut in Middle Egypt; Beni Suef, Giza and Fayoum in Northern Upper Egypt; and the Nubaria area in lower Egypt.
USAID’s Avansa Agrikultura Project is a horticulture value chain activity aimed at addressing the key challenges of rural poverty, natural resource degradation, food insecurity, and under-nutrition.Through the promotion of sustainable production practices, increased functionality of farmer groups and associations, improved market linkages, and increased availability and access to quality agricultural inputs and services, including access to finance, the project will aim to stimulate and support increased economic activity and growth for Timorese citizensi
The Agriculture Innovation Partnership (AIP) project, a Feed the Future (FTF) project implemented through partnerships between United States (US) land grant and Indian universities, was to improve the livelihoods of rural populations through several education-related activities to create technical innovations, teaching capacity, and develop extension links within Indian higher educational institutions. These innovations were intended to diversify agricultural productivity and strengthen rural development to be more responsive to local market demands
While the development commu nity has recently begun the turn toward climate-sensitive program ming, climate-related efforts have focused on big transformations and big polluters. Energy generation and deforestation are easily identified sources of greenhouse gas emissions for which we have data and policy tools, and therefore a certain degree of comfort. Certainly, global emissions are greatly influenced by energy generation, distressing rates of deforestation in what remains of the world's tropical forests, and other large sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded the Assets and Market Access Innovation Lab (AMA IL) to advance knowledge and understanding of development approaches and technologies in order to increase rural households’ ability to acquire, protect, and effectively utilize productive assets. This evaluation assessed AMA IL’s overall program performance across five themes: research quality; outreach and dissemination; policy; capacity building; program management; and future directions.
This Economic and Sector Work paper, “Enhancing Agricultural Innovation: How to Go Beyond the Strengthening of Research Systems,” was initiated as a result of the international workshop, “Development of Research Systems to Support the Changing Agricultural Sector,” organized by the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of the World Bank in June 2004 in Washington, DC.
African agriculture is currently at a crossroads, at which persistent food shortages are compounded by threats from climate change. But, as this book argues, Africa can feed itself in a generation and help contribute to global food security. To achieve this Africa has to define agriculture as a force in economic growth by: advancing scientific and technological research; investing in infrastructure; fostering higher technical training; and creating regional markets.